CCLP receives $351,000 grant

The Colorado Center on Law and Policy 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 foundation has made in Colorado, and will provide resources to enhance group efforts to reduce poverty – creating tools such as online databases and statewide conferences that promote better collaboration among poverty-reduction advocates.

Reducing poverty is one of the chief goals of the Colorado Center on Law and Policy. U.S. Census Breau figures show the state’s poverty rate is 12.3 percent, including the 132,000 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.”

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