The Kresge Foundation bolsters Colorado's poverty-reduction movement
The Colorado Center on Law and Policy, one of Colorado's leading advocacy organizations, has received a $371,000 grant from The Kresge Foundation to strengthen poverty-reduction efforts across the state.
The three-year grant is the first of its kind The Kresge Foundation has made in Colorado. It will provide unprecedented resources to enhance Colorado Center on Law and Policy's capacity to lead and participate with groups working to reduce poverty. The money will help the organization create tools such as online databases and statewide conferences that promote better collaboration among poverty-reduction advocates. It will enhance the organizations' ability to identify solutions, to spread those solutions across the state, and to reduce unnecessary duplication of effort.
Reducing poverty is one of the chief goals of the Colorado Center on Law and Policy. U.S. Census Bureau figures released in September show the state's poverty rate at 12.3 percent, including 192,000 Coloradans who fell into poverty since 2000.
"Those figures are shocking, but they tell only a small part of the story," said Tracey Stewart, program manager of the Colorado Center on Law and Policy's Family Economic Security Program. "In reality, the number of people who don't have enough income to pay basic expenses is about twice as high as the official poverty rate. That's about one in four Coloradans living on the edge financially. The problem won't get better on its own, which is why we need a coordinated, strategic effort among poverty-reduction advocates in Colorado. The Kresge Foundation's grant will go a long way toward promoting the systemic change that is required to help families reach long-term economic security."
The Kresge Foundation is a $3.1 billion private, national foundation that seeks to influence the quality of life for future generations through its support of nonprofit organizations working in its seven program areas: Arts and Culture, Community Development, Detroit, Education, the Environment, Health, and Human Services. In 2010, the Board of Trustees approved 481 awards totaling $158 million; $134 million was paid out to grantees over the course of the year. For more information, visit kresge.org.
The Colorado Center on Law and Policy is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and advocacy organization promoting justice and economic security for all Coloradans.
Media contact:
Perry Swanson, communications director
Mobile: 719-232-4458
Released Oct. 14, 2011