DENVER — Prosperity Denver Fund has reported a significant increase in the amount of funding it’s awarded to students and nonprofits this Spring, totaling $690,292 in grants.
Prosperity Denver Fund manages and distributes grants to nonprofits that provide financial help to Denver students pursing college or career opportunities after high school, a financial aid solution to many students searching for financial assistance following federal funding cuts.
The fund was created through a 2018 voter passed sales tax.
“In 2023, the City Council expanded our reach to include credentials, apprenticeships and other types of post-secondary journeys beyond college. And so we're excited, because City Year is an example of that. But the most exciting thing that's happening right now is the growth in Prosperity Denver Fund in the spring. We usually have just a small catch-up cycle and do most of our fund distribution in the fall. This spring, we had 21 organizations, 15 of which were new, and that included City Year Denver,” Prosperity Fund Denver CEO Rebecca Arno told Denver7.
Arno said typically in the spring, the fund distributes about $50,000, but this spring the fund has awarded more than $690,000 in grants.
“Prosperity Denver Fund is really one of the only organizations like it in the country, and Denver residents should be so proud of having this locally funded organization that helps students as they think about what their futures are going to be, and that then helps our community by creating wonderful professionals who stay here in Denver and build their families and their lives here,” Arno said.
John Albright, the executive director of City Year Denver, a nonprofit that supports young adults who complete year-long community service programs and a recipient of a spring grant, said the partnership with Prosperity Denver Fund has helped his organization reach even more students.
“We're extremely grateful to the taxpayers of Denver for their investment in young people and to be part of the solution in helping to sort out what is a fractured high school to career journey for young people, and City Year wants to be part of that solution. So we're partnering with Prosperity Denver Fund to be able to offer a series of credentialing pathways for our core members, our AmeriCorps members in behavioral health and in education, which are two really high demand career fields in Denver and in Colorado in general,” Albright said.
Hannah Morros, a City Year Denver AmeriCorps Alum said the fund helped her earn one of her degrees.
“I wanted to work with students or children in some capacity, and I found the City Year program. From that year of being a student success coach and being in the classroom, I realized that I had a passion for teaching, and I loved it, so I decided to pursue another year with City Year and become a teaching fellow through the Teaching Fellow Program City Year, which paid for my master's degree,” Morros said.
Overall, Prosperity Denver Fund has enrolled more than 80 organizations to receive funding since its inception in 2018.
