 The United Way of America has roots in Denver, where in 1887 church leaders began the Charity Organization Society, which coordinated services and fund raising for 22 agencies.Myron Reed, a leading Christian socialist, pastor of the affluent First Congregational Church and a leader in the city's Charity Organization Society, questioned that organization's efforts to distinguish the "worthy" from the "unworthy" poor, spoke out for the rights of labor unions as well as for African American and Native American rights while denouncing Chinese and eastern European immigrants as dependent tools of corporations who were lowering "American" standards of living.Around the same time Colorado gained the nickname "The World's Sanatorium" for its dry climate which was considered favorable for curing respiratory diseases, tuberculosis in particular.