Pueblo's Cooperative Care Center hopes to expand its services in Pueblo West

Alexis Smith, The Pueblo Chieftain, Colo.
·3 min read

Jul. 6—At the June 28 Pueblo West Metro District board meeting, Pueblo Cooperative Care Center (CCC) Director Corey Higbee discussed his hopes to increase CCC's exposure in Pueblo West.

CCC is a faith-based organization that works to prevent hunger and improve the quality of life to residents throughout Pueblo County.

"We were initially formed in 1982, way back in the day when we had a Colorado Fuel and Iron Corporation," Higbee said. "They had a massive layoff. It started off with a couple hundred families needing assistance and it worked its way into thousands."

When this happened, Higbee added, five local churches came together to help those families in a time of need and crisis.

Since then, CCC has become the largest nonprofit emergency assistance program in Southern Colorado, serving those with low income, no income and the homeless who are in critical need.

"Up until 2017, we were serving between 20,000-25,000 individuals and families every year," Higbee said. "So, not a massive proportion of the Pueblo County population, but certainly a significant amount."

By 2018, CCC was serving 32,000 individuals and families. That number jumped to 38,000 in 2019, and then when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, that number nearly doubled.

"We were on a slight increase in 2020," Higbee said. "But at the end of the year, we were serving 64,000. So, coronavirus hit us very hard."

For the entirety of its 38 years in operation, Higbee said CCC's operation has been reliant on a core volunteer base.

"We had an average of 130 volunteers that came in and made our operations work effectively and we were able to sustain it with the support of those volunteers," Higbee added. "So, coronavirus not only hit us with the dramatic shift and increase in request for services, (but) we lost 130 of our volunteers."

CCC had a staff that was made up of six individuals, but during that time it grew to 18 and the operation was able to meet the needs of those throughout Pueblo County.

Higbee was joined by Kathy Ferguson, the director of CCC's Nutrition on Wheels (NOW) program.

NOW is a program that was started in alliance with the Pueblo Area Agency on Aging for homebound residents ages 60 and older who have no consistent means of accessing community resources.

Higbee said CCC has identified a targeted need for NOW's service in Pueblo West with approximately 4.5% of its clientele residing there.

When NOW was started, Higbee said the goal was to help 150 people by the end of the year. Ferguson said the program is now serving 857 individuals that it delivers necessities to twice a month.

"We not only bring them a sack of food twice a month, but we also bring them hope," Ferguson said. "To a lot of them, we are the only people they see, a lot of them are alone."

Ferguson noted the NOW program is also open to some disabled and veterans.

Services provided by CCC can be found on its website www.cooperativecare.org or by calling 719-543-4784.

Chieftain and Pueblo West View reporter Alexis Smith can be reached by email at asmith@chieftain.com or on Twitter @smith_alexis27.