Invest in local community

Here in Southwest Colorado, Compañeros is all about community. Every day, we help immigrant families find resources they need to feel safe, informed and supported – from legal help and education to simply connecting people with someone who understands their story. In a time when fear of immigration enforcement runs high and local news is harder to come by, that sense of connection matters more than ever.

But while our work is rooted right here in the community, the state systems meant to fund this kind of work often feel a world away. Too often, state grants go to big, Denver-based organizations that then turn to groups like ours for help reaching local families. Wouldn’t it make more sense for the state to fund the people already doing the work in the community?

This summer, Communities Lead Communities Thrive (CLCT) hosted listening sessions in rural and urban communities across the state, hearing directly from small nonprofits about how the state can do better. We all said the same thing: the grant process is too complicated, too confusing and too disconnected from what small, rural nonprofits actually need.

The system isn’t designed for groups like Compañeros. The applications are long, reporting is complicated and the reimbursement model means we have to spend money first and hope we get paid later. That’s not realistic for small organizations already stretching every dollar.

If Colorado truly wants its funding to make a difference, it has to account for rural realities – and trust the expertise of the people already doing the work. We know our communities best because we live here, too.

The state doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel. It just needs to meet communities where they are, with simple applications, fair funding models and trust in the local leaders and organizations who show up every day to make every corner of Colorado stronger.

Because when the state invests directly in the people closest to the work, everyone benefits.

– Enrique Orozco, co-executive director, Compañeros: Four Corners Immigrant Resource Center