The story begins with a table.
Yellowstone Country Assistance Network didn't start as a program or a building. It started as a place where people with different views of the same community sat down together, and that's still how we work.
The people making decisions about poverty should see it from more than one side.
In 2000, federal changes to the Community Services Block Grant called for something important: the people making decisions about poverty should represent more than one point of view. Park County formed a tripartite board.
On November 6, 2000, the Wyoming Department of Health officially designated the Park County Tripartite Board as the Community Services Block Grant eligible entity for Park County.
That designation did more than create a funding structure.
It created a table.
A table where public leaders, community organizations, and people representing low-income residents could look at the same community from different perspectives.
The name YCAN would come later. The idea came first.
YCAN didn't begin with a large staff. It began with a community board.
In 2006 and 2007, the Park County Tripartite Board brought together people from Cody, Powell, and Meeteetse. Public representatives sat alongside private-sector members and representatives of people with low incomes.
On February 22, 2007, three members of that community, Dan Groskop, Barbara Correll, and Terri Sporkin, signed YCAN's Certificate of Incorporation. Yellowstone Country Assistance Network became a Wyoming nonprofit public-benefit corporation.
The board didn't come after the organization. The board helped create it.
Its founding documents already described something close to how YCAN works today: a clearinghouse for resources and information that could provide funding to nonprofit organizations and agencies serving people with low incomes.
In November 2007, the Wyoming Department of Health formally redesignated the Park County Tripartite Board under its new name, recognizing that the same Community Action work was continuing.
YCAN belongs to the communities it serves, and its tripartite board remains responsible for governing it.
The Park County Tripartite Board, 2006–2007
Recorded here so these names stay part of YCAN's public history.
- ChairDan GroskopIncorporator
- Vice ChairBarbara CorrellLow-Income Representative · Incorporator
- TreasurerTerri SporkinLow-Income Representative · Incorporator
- Agency DirectorBeth WhartonStaff
Barbara had more than a seat at the table.
Barbara Correll knew what it meant to live with limited resources.
As a Low-Income Representative, she served as Vice Chair of the Park County Tripartite Board. In 2007, her name and signature appeared on YCAN's Certificate of Incorporation. She was one of the people who created the organization.
Barbara went on to serve YCAN as board chair, giving countless hours to the organization and her community.
Community Voice at YCAN was never supposed to be ceremonial.
People experiencing poverty aren't here so an organization can say it "heard their perspective." They belong in governance.
- They can write the rules.
- They can question the system.
- They can vote.
- They can lead.
And, as Barbara did, they can build the organization itself.
Our language changed because our understanding grew.
Help people build the skills and knowledge to solve problems and remove obstacles caused by poverty conditions.
Work alongside communities to change the conditions that create poverty, strengthen local systems, and expand opportunities for future generations.
Today we ask not only how a person can get past an obstacle.
We ask why the obstacle is there.
- What rule created it?
- What information didn't connect?
- What resource is missing?
- What delay made the situation worse?
- Which organizations need to meet?
- What are people living through that our data isn't showing us?
That evolution doesn't erase our history. It builds on it.
- 2000gave us the table.
- 2007gave the work an independent home.
- 2018brought Hot Springs County to the table.
- 2026brought Teton County.
- All alongwe've learned to look at what happens between the programs.
Today, we call that space the Confluence.
It's where community voice, local partners, public systems, data, funding, and lived experience meet.
No one organization sees the whole river.
But together, we can see where it's going, and where something upstream may need to change.
Today, the table is on Zoom.
In 2000, the table was a room in Park County. Today, it's a screen that reaches from Cody and Powell to Thermopolis and Jackson.
Across a frontier service area, meeting on Zoom at noon means a board member doesn't have to drive hours to have a voice. Distance is no longer the reason someone can't sit at the table.
The table changed shape. What happens at it hasn't.
Community voice, public officials, and private-sector leaders still look at the same community together, and still govern it together.
One employee. A network of communities.
Today, YCAN has one employee: its CEO and CSBG Grant Director. That doesn't mean one person is expected to do everything.
In fact, the opposite is the point.
YCAN works through local partners, professional contractors, community organizations, its tripartite board, and the systems already operating in Park, Hot Springs, and Teton Counties.
We don't measure organizational strength by the size of our payroll. We ask whether the structure lets local resources work together effectively, responsibly, and close to the people they're meant to serve.
- The board
Governs.
- The CEO
Administers the organization and carries out the board's direction.
- Community partners
Keep relationships with households and provide the case management or specialized services they know best.
- Contractors
Provide specialized administrative and professional capacity.
- YCAN
Contributes resources, eligibility work, accountability, planning, and connections.
- Together
One organization doesn't have to do everything for a community to accomplish something together.
A board built an organization.
The organization helps build connections.
The structure has changed. The principle hasn't.
Community Action works best when the community is part of the action.
Three counties. One table. Many partners.
Yellowstone Country Assistance Network is a private Wyoming 501(c)(3) nonprofit and the CSBG Eligible Entity for Park, Hot Springs, and Teton Counties, guided by a volunteer Tripartite Board.
Our mission: to work alongside communities to change the conditions that create poverty, strengthen local systems, and expand opportunities for future generations.
Park County
Where it began in 2000. Today our focus is recovery and stability, working with local treatment and recovery partners.
Hot Springs County
Joined our service area in 2018. Today our focus is housing and basic stability, through the Philips Help Center in Thermopolis.
Teton County
Joined our service area in 2026. Eviction prevention through One22, and a Community Needs Assessment to learn before building more.
The Tripartite Board
Still the table at the center, now on Zoom: community voice, public officials, and private-sector leaders governing together.
The table is still open.
Whether you serve on the board, partner with us, or tell us what you're seeing in your community, you're part of what YCAN becomes next.