Photos by Keith R. Cerny Some of the recipients of the El Pomar Colorado Assistance Fund (CAF III) grants hear the amounts being announced by a member the San Luis Valley Regional Council. The grants totaled $70,000 and included $15,000 awards to both La Puente and South Central Colorado Seniors.

ALAMOSA — Twenty-seven nonprofit organizations working in the San Luis Valley received more than $100,000 in grants on Wednesday from Colorado Springs-based El Pomar Foundation. Focus areas for the grants included; education, economic development, and capacity building for small nonprofit organizations. All of the grants were recommended by El Pomar’s San Luis Valley Regional Council, an advisory board of community leaders representing the six counties in the San Luis Valley. In total, the council presented $136,500 in grants to 27 nonprofits working in the region during a ceremony on Wednesday night in Alamosa.

Brother Richard Blakeslee (Educator, St. Andrew Avelino Youth Guild), Keith Cerny (Publisher, Valley Courier), Carol Lee Dugan (Director, Rio Grande Library District), Valarie Finnegan (Owner, Bill Clark Truck Line), Tom Gilmore (Former President, Adams State College), Stephanie Steffens (Representative, CO Office of Economic Development and International Trade), and Zeke Ward (Project Manager, Bright Idea Energy Solutions) are members of the San Luis Valley Regional Council.



The grants include:



* $22,000 to Center Consolidated School District to help with the creation of an Adult Education/Learning Center that will provide testing and assessment tools, classes, and other adult programs promoting self-improvement.

* $10,000 to Conejos County Library to purchase technical equipment, and tables in order to offer internet access to patrons at the Antonito branch.

* $3,000 to Friends of the Southern Peaks Library for their Story box Special, an early literacy outreach program to children from birth through five who are in home daycare settings.

* $17,500 to La Jara Elementary PTA to support a new community fitness trail located on the La Jara Elementary School grounds. This project will install 10 fitness stations that accommodate ages five and up along a half mile recycled rubber trail.

* $7,500 Conejos County Tourism Council for the second and third phases of the Murals of Conejos County Self Drive Mini-Tour project

* $5,000 to the Town of Saguache to help leverage additional state and national funding sources for the renovation of the historic 4th Street Business District.

* $10,000 to Alamosa Live Music Association to support “Sundays at Six” Free Summer Concert Series and hire a part time administrator to coordinate fundraising and concert booking activities.

* $25,000 in a matching grant to The Mineral County Fairgrounds Association / Creede Community Recreation Park to support the second phase of master planning and design development of a sustainable, green, multi-purpose facility that will serve the Creede / Mineral County community for generations to come. This organization will receive the grant after securing $25,000 in funding from other sources.

* $1,800 to American Red Cross to provide 40 low-income youth with babysitters training.

* $1,500 Alamosa Community Green House to promote and develop the Preschool Garden Program and hire a part-time Preschool Coordinator.

* $2,300 to The Boys and Girls Club of the San Luis Valley to help support staff training.

* $2,000 Conejos Community, Economy & Environment Progressing Together to help support board development and training.

* $2,500 to Creede Repertory Theatre to help fund the cost of replacing the phone and voicemail systems.

* $1,500 to Crestone Performance Inc. to assist with purchasing PA sound equipment.

* $2,000 to Homelake Historic Preservation and Restoration Foundation and Veterans Historic Society to help purchase a laptop computer, LCD projector and software to aid in group presentations.

* $1,000 to The San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council for technology and software upgrades including a GIS upgrade.

* $1,800 to The San Luis Valley Habitat for Humanity to support an intensive two-day retreat with a professional consultant for the board of directors

* $2,200 to The San Luis Valley Regional Science Fair to assist with cost of printed materials, postage, telephone, mileage, envelopes and letterhead, and box rental.

* $3,900 to The Town of South Fork to support the reconstruction of the Wharton Bridge. This project will replace the original bridge removed years ago and reconnect the town with major development currently located on the county side.

* $2,500 to Veterans Green Jobs to build personnel capacity to do extensive in-person outreach to county officials, churches, social service organizations, economic development councils.

Education, economic development, and capacity building for small nonprofits have been important issues in the region for a number of years and the Council looked to identify nonprofits and schools throughout the region working in those areas.

“Receiving funding from El Pomar gave us flexibility in trying an innovative approach in working with adult learners,” said Consolidated School District Superintendant George Welsh. “We were able to shape our own vision for the center instead of trying to fit into someone else’s box.”

Council members also expressed their enthusiasm for these projects in the region.

“The partnership between El Pomar Foundation and the Regional Councils has had tremendous impact in San Luis Valley, especially in the area of education,” said San Luis Valley Regional Council member Valarie Finnegan. “Education is the foundation for change, and it is wonderful that we have been able to address all spectrums of education from children’s literacy to adult learning with these grants.”

San Luis Valley nonprofits also benefited from emergency grants recommended by the Council through El Pomar’s Colorado Assistance (CAF) Fund III. CAF III is a $1 million statewide grant fund created to assist those Coloradans most affected by the economic crisis through grants to nonprofits offering emergency services and abuse prevention services.

The CAF III grants presented in the San Luis Valley included:

* $15,000 to South Central Colorado Seniors

* $15,000 to La Puente

* $3,000 to La Gente

* $10,000 to Valley Wide Health Services

* $8,000 to Alamosa County

* $10,000 to Mineral County

* $9,000 to Tu Casa

El Pomar initiated the first installment of the Colorado Assistance Fund in fall 2008, and the second installment in summer 2009. Each installment included $1 million in grants to nonprofits across the entire state of Colorado. In total, $175,000 in funding through CAF I, II and III has been distributed in the San Luis Valley.

El Pomar Foundation, based in Colorado Springs, is one of the oldest and largest private foundations in the Rocky Mountain West. El Pomar contributes more than $23 million annually through grants and Community Stewardship Programs to support Colorado nonprofit organizations involved in health, human services, education, arts and humanities, and civic and community initiatives.

Spencer and Julie Penrose founded El Pomar in 1937.