Pueblo United Way gets $600k in ARPA funds for LEAD Center. Here's what city leaders said

United Way of Pueblo County will get city money for a project after council initially denied a previous grant.

The Pueblo City Council on Monday evening approved $600,000 for United Way of Pueblo County to build a nonprofit center after rejecting a higher grant ask earlier this year.

The council rejected a $975,000 ask from United Way in February, partially because of the price of the project and that the organization hadn’t provided ample details.

This grant, approved Monday, comes from the city's allotment of federal American Rescue Plan Act funding.

What United Way’s new project will do

United Way is branding the new building project as the LEAD Center. When open, it will help incubate nonprofits in Pueblo.

Other United Way chapters have similar centers, such as the one in Fort Collins.

The President and CEO of Larimer County’s United Way, Joy Sullivan, testified virtually at city council’s meeting. Sullivan said that she collaborated with people at Pueblo’s United Way chapter on dispersing grants and sees the valuable work they do.

“This LEAD center is going to continue to put Pueblo on the map as a leader in prioritizing its most disparately impacted communities and organizations that are trusted to work alongside them,” Sullivan said.

Several representatives from local nonprofits also testified in favor of the grant on Monday evening.

“I feel like the LEAD Center would be an awesome place for nonprofits to be able to meet, to be able to collaborate together and be able to have those discussions about what gaps are needing to be filled in our community. There are so many, especially with our youth,” said Michael Riley, the executive director of Southern Colorado Youth Development.

Mayor Nick Gradisar said that the city’s investment would help the local United Way secure additional funding.

“We believe that the investment of this money with United Way will allow them to raise the balance of the funds necessary for this project from other foundations and from other sources,” Gradisar said.

Before council rejected the earlier $975,000 ask, United Way was in initial discussions with the city to ask for $1.9 million, Gradisar said.

Why some councilors still had reservations

Councilor Vicente Martinez Ortega, who initially introduced a motion to table the first grant ask that came before the council in February, voted to fund the project but expressed reservations about duplicating services.

There are other organizations in Pueblo that already help nonprofits with technology and training, Martinez Ortega said. He also noted that the city has not prioritized a new homeless shelter.

“I will be voting for this. But this is not showing that we're prioritizing our homeless issues as a council or as our community,” Martinez Ortega said.

Councilor Regina Maestri, who voted no, also noted that the city hasn’t decided on the direction for the warming shelter for homeless people during cold winter days.

“We shouldn't be sheltering these people. That's what nonprofits are for. They're supposed to shelter people, or they’ll work with the homeless and so forth — so our priorities are really confusing here. They're really mixed up,” Maestri said.

Councilor Lori Winner joined Maestri in voting against the funding.

“I think that our homeless shelter needs to be a priority. I also know that commercial office space is probably the worst investment you can probably make — I think anybody would probably agree with that,” Winner said.

What happened in February: Pueblo City Council rejects United Way grant ask for nonprofit center

Previous coverage: Pueblo United Way requests $1 million in city ARPA funds for nonprofit 'LEAD Center'

Councilor Dennis Flores, however, said he was “happy to be voting yes.”

“We've got to stop working in silos, we've got to come together and to maximize our power,” Flores said, adding that the LEAD Center will be able to help local nonprofits be more collaborative.

Anna Lynn Winfrey covers politics for the Pueblo Chieftain. She can be reached at awinfrey@gannett.com or on Twitter, @annalynnfrey.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo City Council gives $600,000 to United Way for nonprofit hub