TeamUp AmeriCorps

Here at United Way of Southwest Colorado we do 2 things: Help People in Need & Help Youth and Families to Succeed.

Team UP, a program of the United Way of SWCO, uses collective impact to make sure youth and families across Southwest Colorado succeed.

• About Us
  Led by the United Way of Southwest Colorado, Team UP AmeriCorps places AmeriCorps members directly at local organizations (aka Host Sites) to expand or implement new programs and projects. Members serve for a one-year term of National Service to improve outcomes in Education, Economic Opportunity, and Healthy Futures through projects and programs designed by the Host Site to maximize their impact on the community.
• Our Impact
  In the fall of 2015, several concerned individuals in southwest Colorado came together to try a collective impact model of working together to solve community problems. Collective impact is a community working collaboratively together to address complex social issues with the following key principles: a common agenda, shared measurement, mutually reinforcing activities, continuous communication, and a strong backbone organization. The primary area of concern for this collective group was child and family well-being, an area which dozens of organizations were already working independently to affect, but in which few demonstrable gains existed.
  
  This initiative, Team UP Collective Impact, developed eight Desired Community Results which serve as a framework for our efforts across the region. The eight results were chosen because they are known to be critical to the success of children from cradle to career.
  1. Every child is born healthy and thriving.
  2. Every child enters school ready to learn.
  3. Every child progresses to high school graduation at or above grade level.
  4. Every child is living in a safe and supportive home and school environment.
  5. Every youth reaches adulthood able to pursue his or her full potential.
  6. Families are able to support themselves on a living wage.
  7. Families have access to affordable health and behavioral health services.
  8. The community promotes an inclusive culture.
  
  Starting in the fall of 2019, United Way has been utilizing AmeriCorps State & National members to provide direct service that contributes to these Desired Community Results. Through the Team UP AmeriCorps program to date, over 20 nonprofits, schools, and government agencies in 4 different counties have directly benefited by hosting members to further existing and create new ways to improve community member’s lives in rural southwest Colorado. Many more agencies have indirectly benefited by broadening their reach through the impact that the members’ service has had on their clients. The AmeriCorps program began with interventions to address the first four of the Desired Community Results but has evolved to address many more. In addition to focusing on these 8 result statements, Team UP AmeriCorps also works to address specific areas of need that have arisen as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Team UP AmeriCorps members serve in a wide range of areas, but the common theme that ties all of the positions together is the goal of improving the well-being of children and families in rural southwest Colorado communities.