Pueblo, Colorado is the birthplace of David Packard and the city where he spent much of his childhood. Pueblo was one of the largest steel-producing cities in the United States and has played a major role in Colorado’s agricultural industry, including hosting the Colorado State Fair each year. While the community of Pueblo today faces challenges such as generational poverty and food insecurity, several local organizations and leaders are working hard to ensure a successful future for all of Pueblo community members.
What We Funded in Pueblo
For 47 years, the Foundation funded a wide range of agencies, projects, and programs to enhance the lives of Pueblo’s children, families, and the broad community. While we did not limit the issues we considered within the context of community, we strived to ensure that the work complemented or supported the issues our founders cared most about – the environment, children and family support, and access to reproductive health.
The Foundation’s funding was that of broad-based community support. We involved local leaders and citizens as advisors for grants, and prioritized operational and program support rather than funding capital and infrastructure, while striving to remain responsive to community needs. We also helped to build local nonprofit leadership, and to work collectively with others toward community change. Click here to read more about the some of the work accomplished by the dedicated leaders and organizations we funded in Pueblo.
Going Forward in Pueblo
Today, the Packard Foundation no longer carries out direct grantmaking in Pueblo. In 2019, in order to ensure the needs and priorities of the Pueblo community were carried out by the people closest to the issues, the Foundation together with the Caring for Colorado Foundation launched the Sperry S. and Ella Graber Packard Fund for Pueblo, an endowment established with a $20 million one-time grant to Caring for Colorado’s Centennial Fund. Named after the parents of David Packard, the fund is now managed entirely by Coloradoans through the Caring for Colorado Foundation. For more information on the Fund for Pueblo, including how to apply for a grant, visit Caring for Colorado’s website here.