For many Colorado families, there's less breathing room between one paycheck and the next. Rent, groceries and gas take more of what comes in, leaving little for the unexpected. Even putting food on the table can mean taking on debt. Nationwide, more than one in four working-age adults used credit cards to pay for groceries and then carried a balance or missed a minimum payment.
Behind those numbers are people trying to find their way through financial pressure. When Alison first met with a Savings Collaborative financial coach, she was so overwhelmed by debt and financial worries that she began to cry. Over the following months, they worked together to understand her options and find a way forward. As Alison puts it: “Now, I feel a sense of hope that I will figure it out and live financially stress-free again one day.”
Savings Collaborative changes what's possible.
The Savings Collaborative helps working families reduce debt and build savings they can fall back on, giving them greater security and more choices for the future. Members save small amounts automatically in a multilingual app, earn incentives for saving consistently, and can turn to a certified bilingual financial coach when a decision gets hard: a debt in collections, a first credit history, a budget for a home. When an emergency hits, a low-cost emergency loan keeps a car repair or a slow month from undoing a year of progress. Our Guidance Engine connects these pieces, so each person gets the right tool at the right moment.
Housing programs, community organizations, public agencies, and colleges connect people with the Savings Collaborative when money decisions matter most — buying a first home, starting college, or changing jobs. These decisions can shape a family's finances for years to come. The Savings Collaborative brings trusted guidance and easy-to-use tools within reach, so families can weigh their options, make informed choices and move forward with greater confidence.
What members have built together, little by little:
Help more people build financial security, month after month. A monthly gift of $10, $25 or $50 helps more families have somewhere to turn when money gets tight.
For new monthly gifts made through Colorado Gives Day on December 8, Colorado Gives Foundation will match the first month's donation up to $100, while matching funds remain available.
The Savings Collaborative builds financial resilience and generational wealth.
Colorado is a beautiful place to call home. It can also be a hard place to make ends meet. A car breaks down, off-season work hours disappear, or a medical bill comes due—and the margin between getting by and falling behind can vanish. So we started with a question: what would it take to change the financial reality for working families?
In 2018, we took that question to Colorado's Roaring Fork Valley. Listening deeply to the community, we built the first savings model alongside the people it was meant to serve. We started small, with only 15 savers who together saved $500. Over time, that effort grew into the Savings Collaborative. Since the beginning, we’ve put communities at the center of our work, helping people learn by doing, and bringing guidance and tools into the moments when financial decisions are made.
From that small beginning, here's what we've built together: a growing community of people who have built a savings cushion, paid down debt, improved their credit, bought reliable cars, moved into their first homes and gained more room to plan for what comes next. What began in the Roaring Fork Valley now reaches families across Colorado through nonprofits, housing programs and public agencies.
The question that started us still guides us. We want a financial setback to be something people can get through—not the beginning of mounting debt and stress. And we want more of our neighbors to have the financial security and freedom to pursue the lives they dream about.
Organization name
The Savings Collaborative
other names
Savings Collaborative, LaMedichi
2020
Tax id (EIN)
85-4176243
Category
Human Services, Education
Organization Size
Large Organization
Address
959 CEDAR CRKGarfield County, CO, US
Pitkin County, CO, US
Eagle County, CO, US
Boulder County, CO, US
Denver, CO, US