In 1887, a Denver priest, two ministers and a rabbi recognized the need for cooperative action to address their city’s welfare problems. The religious leaders created an organization to serve as an agent to collect funds for local charities, as well as to coordinate relief services, counsel and refer clients to cooperating agencies, and make emergency assistance grants in cases which could not be referred, and called it the Charity Organizations Society, the first "United Way" organization.  Today the United Way is an international and national network of more than 1,300 locally governed organizations that work to create lasting positive changes in communities and people’s lives.

Mission: To improve lives by mobilizing the caring power of communities.

Vision: We will build a stronger America by mobilizing our communities to improve people’s lives.

This is done by:

• Energizing and inspiring people to make a difference
• Crafting human care agendas within and across our communities
• Building coalitions around these agendas
• Increasing investments in these agendas by expanding and diversifying our own development efforts and supporting those of others
• Measuring, communicating, and learning from the impact of our efforts
• Reflecting the diversity of the communities we serve