Let’s be honest: Two years ago, the Uncompahgre Valley Alliance was in poor shape.

Many shifting circumstances led to our Alliance’s decline. But your affiliate is no longer dwelling in the past.

Members and supporters banded together recently, motivated by the notion that they could shape our Alliance back into the organizing powerhouse it once was. Before we could bring this vision to life, we had to ask ourselves a couple big questions :

What were we even going to work on? What could we potentially win for our community while also building our collective power?

Two years of intensive listening and planning created the conditions for a choice. For those who missed it, we started in June of 2022 by knocking on doors and talking with neighbors. After five months of canvassing neighborhoods in Montrose, we transitioned to small group conversations which wrapped up in September 2023. No matter the venue, we asked folks to tell us what was troubling them and their loved ones. They shared many different sentiments with us from “I would like to take the bus to the farmers market,” to “I went to seek medical care and found it to be very expensive.” It was at people’s doors and in dedicated conversation spaces where we first learned that people were having a hard time moving themselves around in the community.

The affiliate’s initial leadership team, a committee consisting of Kendra Stucki, Lisa Thomas, Amy Dickinson, Becky Shankle, Laura Baker, and Svetlin Nachev, considered all the data, stories, and feedback from the deep listening campaign. Utilizing a consensus decision-making process, they decided that helping people move around in Montrose County (ie. public transportation) would be the best way to actively engage our members and demonstrate our Alliance’s importance to the community.

Rural communities are often overlooked by statewide public transportation initiatives, but the people who call this place home still have places to be and people to see. If you do not have a car or are unable to drive one, your mobility is severely limited in this county and region. From all the people who mentioned public transportation throughout our deep listening journey, there was a strong sense that they felt stuck. A community’s health and success relies on people’s ability to be active participants. So, when folks are struggling to get to work or can’t fully participate in local events because they lack transportation, everyone feels the effects.

All Points Transit provides the public bus service in Montrose. And while they strive to move more people more often, context is helpful to understand their limitations.

All Points Transit was incorporated as a 501c3 in 1990. That’s right – the responsibility of public transportation is shouldered by one nonprofit organization with a small paid staff. They are primarily funded by state and federal Department of Transportation grants, small local government grants (from the city of Montrose, Montrose County, Ouray County, and the town of Ridgway), and Medicaid funding which makes their popular on-demand service, “Dial-a-Ride,” a reality. They also rely on the Oktoberfest fundraiser that is held in Montrose every fall to bring in funds. By no means does All Points Transit have all the resources they need to bring all their ideas to life. That’s where we come in.

Members and supporters of the Uncompahgre Valley Alliance are already finding ways to flip the script and ensure that Montrose County residents can go where they need to go.

Our campaign team’s first focus will be to interview public bus users. In partnership with All Points Transit, we will gather data that will help us identify a specific issue that we can attack first. From there, we will be identifying a target (also called a “decision maker”) that can get us the result we want.

No matter what issue our Alliance works on, we follow the same formula: Listen. Identify the issue. Research. Write the campaign plan. Bring people into the work. Take action. Evaluate. Then do it all over again!

Our core group has done all the preliminary work to put our Alliance back in the saddle. We will show that grassroots people power can have an impact on how people move around Montrose County.
And, at the same time, we are rebuilding and strengthening Uncompahgre Valley Alliance.

Whether it’s more buses, new routes, or any other realistic solution, our relational organizing will be the reason it happens. If you live in Montrose County, are passionate about public transportation and rural connectivity, and want to step into your community, please get in touch with us. If you know someone who relies on public transportation we also would like to be in touch.

It’s all hands on deck now!