Colorado Springs has always had an impressively strong history of philanthropy. Today that has grown to almost 5,000 nonprofits in the metro area, almost 1,000 in the city itself.

It all began, along with the city, in the 1800s and here are some of the city’s first nonprofits and charities:

1897: Early Connections Learning Centers founded as Colorado Springs Day Nursery.

It was all about the little ones, recognized in state records as Colorado’s oldest childcare organization and one of the first nonprofits in Colorado Springs.

A group of 14 well-to-do women knew an important way to help the town’s working women and, in 1897, created the Colorado Springs Day Nursery Association, which offered day care. Leading the group was philanthropist Alice Cogswell Bemis from New England, who had made Colorado Springs her home for her respiratory health. Her endowments also included Colorado College and the Young Women’s Christian Association.

According to Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum, the center was first housed in the Unitarian Church on North Tejon Street. In 1923, the leader’s daughter, well-known philanthropist Alice Bemis Taylor, planned something special in memory of her mother, creating an elegant William Stickney design Tudor mansion for children at 104 E. Rio Grande St. Now on the National Register of Historic Places, it has stained glass windows, beautiful wood throughout and painted murals with Mother Goose rhymes. Each worker building the center received a $20 gold piece from the Cripple Creek mines as a thank you.

According to the Pioneers Museum, from the 1930s to the 1950s, the now-renamed Child Nursery Centers, with its own infirmary, also offered care and temporary quarters for hundreds of needy children. From 1973 to the early 2000s, it provided daycare and, in 2010, became Early Connections Learning Centers, with multiple locations but always including the original building. A 2026 addition is the Alice Bemis Taylor Center for Early Education at 415 Sahwatch St. downtown.

1875: Colorado Springs Relief Society

Members of all the town’s churches donated food, clothing and money for the poor and those stricken with tuberculosis. In 1890, the name was changed to Colorado Springs Aid Society and the group coordinated with other charities such as the Salvation Army to aid the poor “of good character” but unable to care for themselves. In 1899, the society became the Associated Charities to coordinate distributing contributions. In 1900, it helped 216 families with 6,700 meals and 2,600 beds. In the 1940s, the mission changed to counseling under the name Family Service of Colorado Springs.

1878: YMCA of the Pikes Peak region

The YMCA of the Pikes Peak region started as a project by volunteer women for a library and reading room for residents in 1878, almost 30 years before the city’s actual library in 1905 at 23 W. Kiowa St.

A new YMCA building was ready in 1901 at 207 N. Nevada Ave., and Theodore Roosevelt was there for the dedication, saying YMCA “promotes industry, temperance and self-reliance … it is a taxpayer’s best friend.” It had low-cost rooms for young men, offering them an opportunity to help avoid homelessness. The YMCA had exercise classes, educational opportunities, night classes for workers and hobbies like photography and sports.

It grew to become the largest YMCA west of the Mississippi River.

Swimming has been a traditional physical activity at “The Y” from its beginning and continued through the years with classes and, over time, aquatics activities such as water aerobics.

As the city and area grew, branch locations were added throughout the region as well as at schools and neighborhood centers, reaching more than 126,000 people and growing, including numerous families, each year.

Families are particularly drawn to creative, fun activities such as the race series, including a Thanksgiving Turkey Trot with a Kids Tiny Trot.

Starting in 2014, the YMCA added partnerships to manage city recreation centers and outdoor aquatic facilities.

A capital campaign was started in 2019 to improve and rebuild core regional facilities “to modernize youth development and wellness infrastructure.”

1889: The Salvation Army Colorado Springs

The Salvation Army USA reports services were provided by The Salvation Army Colorado Springs area as early as 1889, under the umbrella of the Intermountain Division Headquarters. There were programs here and throughout Colorado in family support, assistance for veterans, emergency aid and spiritual support. There were many volunteer opportunities. The Salvation Army became known for its holiday Red Kettle drive for donations and holiday meals for the community.

The Salvation Army dates back to London in 1875, founded by a Methodist minister as a mission to the poor, offering “soup, soap and salvation.”

1913: Myron Stratton Home

Winfield Scott Stratton was a carpenter by trade, a quiet man who hit the jackpot in the biggest way in Cripple Creek gold mines, selling his Independence Mine for $11 million in 1899. The blue-collar man gave back to Colorado Springs with a trolley car network, the Mining Exchange Building, land for major buildings and more.

Stratton lived alone, fending off constant requests for money before dying an alcoholic in 1902. He had a will, a very specific will, leaving the final $4.4 million for a free home for the elderly who needed an affordable place to live and for children whose parents couldn’t care for them. It was to be a beautiful place to live, pastoral. It was named for his father, the Myron Stratton Home.

The campus on South Nevada Avenue/Colorado Highway 115 turned 100 years old in 2013, and social changes necessitated it remain only for affordable housing and services for low-income seniors and no longer children. Other parts of the large campus now have areas for headquarters for several human services nonprofits, the Myron Stratton Consortium, that would fit Stratton’s support.

1914: American Red Cross Southern Colorado

The charter for American Red Cross Southern Colorado was in November 1914. This chapter served the southeastern portion of the state, including the Pikes Peak region, according to Gazette Charities and El Pomar Foundation. It also serves as the Service to Armed Forces station for Fort Carson, Peterson AFB, Schriever AFB and the Air Force Academy.

1914 was the first year for all Colorado-based Red Cross chapters and would include a large number of trained volunteers.

The Southern Colorado chapter, headquartered in Colorado Springs, has provided humanitarian services since its founding, including disaster relief, military support and lifesaving skill training such as CPR. It is there when and where it is needed. It has grown to serve 22 Southeastern Colorado counties and maintains branch offices including Pueblo. In the beginning the chapter was recognized as a World War I medical supply hub.

1922: Pikes Peak United Way founded as Community Chest

From the Great Depression to wars to disasters and community needs, the name changed but what is now Pikes Peak United Way was always there. Its founding was in 1922 as Pikes Peak Social Welfare Fund and progressed through the Great Depression’s Community Chest in the 1930s and 1940s and the War Chest, followed by United Fund and today’s Pikes Peak United Way for El Paso and Teller counties. As the needs and the times changed, the nonprofit has changed with them.

Among the community needs receiving special focus were the private 2-1-1 number for local health and human services information, the 2012 Waldo Canyon fire Assistance Fund, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and the most recent major focus, Family Success Center in less-served Southeast Colorado Springs.

Today’s Pikes Peak United Way mission is “to enhance youth success and family stability in the Pikes Peak region by leading and lifting the most vulnerable in our community with mentorship, life resources and real job opportunities.”

1928: Pikes Peak Community Foundation founded as Colorado Springs Community Trust

Local citizens organized a trust in 1928 as a “permanent charitable endowment improving Colorado Springs’ quality of life.” Colorado Springs Community Trust was managed by US Bank, Bank One and Wells Fargo. In 1996 the Trust’s board established a community foundation “to best serve the needs of philanthropists and a growing community.” Pikes Peak Community Foundation and Colorado Springs Community Trust combined in 1998, becoming the foundation in 2009. More than $125 million has been distributed in the region.

1937: El Pomar Foundation

One of the most respected foundations in the state, El Pomar Foundation was the gift of entrepreneurs and philanthropists Julie and Spencer Penrose of The Broadmoor. Spencer died in 1939 and Julie headed the foundation until her death in 1956. Guided by a foundation board, it follows their mission “to enhance, encourage and promote the current and future well-being of the people of Colorado.” More than $25 million is given annually through grants and charitable disbursements.