Pueblo has a population of 150,000, with 19 percent uninsured. Of those uninsured, 85 percent are from working families with children. "A lot of kids are on Medicaid or in CHP+ (Child Health Plan Plus) in Pueblo, but we still find a substantial number of uninsured kids," says Brenda LaCombe, Program Manager for Pueblo StepUp. "We're working to find all eligible children and make sure they're enrolled in health insurance so kids can get both the medical and dental care they need," says LaCombe.

When the organization first started in 2002 with the help of a Caring for Colorado grant, "no one knew who we were and what we did," LaCombe says. That changed quickly as StepUp worked with medical clinics, physicians, Head Start programs and schools to help families enroll in Medicaid and CHP+ and schedule dental appointments for their children at the Pueblo Community Health Center.

"A lot of people, especially lower income families, are unaware of the preventive dental care they needed," says Executive Director Cindy Lau. "So we had two issues - they didn't know they potentially had access to dental coverage and they didn't know it was important."

Grants from Caring for Colorado helped StepUp get the word out that these benefits are important and useful for children.

"People thought we worked magic, but it was really about relationships," LaCombe says. "We called ourselves the 'connectors of dots' because we could get people where they needed

to go without giving them four or five phone numbers to call."

StepUp now enrolls more than 100 children a month for dental services, including preventive care and treatment for existing problems. In addition, StepUp promotes oral health education among its clients.

"We like to think we see fewer silver fillings in our Head Start children these days," Lau says. "Hopefully that's a positive sign that our children are coming through our programs and their parents have received our prevention messages. We have plenty of resources for the children and families are more aware now of what we offer."