Mobilizing our communities and creating sustained change to improve lives defines us. We continue to be dedicated to raising funds to support local health and human service programs, but impact on individual lives - not dollars - drives our efforts. We do not view ourselves as fundraisers alone, but as a vehicle identifying and responding to Boulder and Broomfield Counties' most pressing needs, creating partnerships, and solving problems at the root cause.

Foothills United Way focuses on four impact areas:

• Providing for Community Basic Needs
• Promoting Health and Healing
• Nurturing and Supporting Children and Youth
• Strengthening Seniors Lives and Independence

Additionally, Foothills United Way works to bring new, innovative programs to the community, such as:

• Individual Development Accounts Program (IDA): Designed to allow low income individuals the opportunities to create savings accounts, which can be matched by grant dollars. The account savings are used for the purchase of a home, post-secondary education or the start-up of a small business.

• Dolly Parton's Imagination Library: Designed to give every preschool child in our community the opportunity to have their own library books. The goal is not only to encourage reading in young children, but also to encourage parents and children to read together.

• Teaming for Technology (T4T): A collaboration between Foothills United Way, IBM, and the Corporation for National and Community Service, this program is designed to integrate technology within nonprofit organizations and the communities they serve, with the goal of increasing the efficiency and productivity or nonprofit organizations through the use of technology.

• Colorado 2-1-1: A simple three-digit phone number (2-1-1), which connects Colorado residents with a comprehensive statewide database of health and human services.