SAN LUIS VALLEY — The Colorado Trust, a private, statewide foundation dedicated to ensuring that all Coloradoans have the opportunity to thrive, has granted $30,000 to six nonprofit organizations ($5,000 each) in the San Luis Valley as part of the September 2024 iteration of Rural Philanthropy Days. These grants, a testament to the Trust's commitment to community health and development, will undoubtedly inspire and bring hope to the local nonprofit sector. 

Rural Philanthropy Days connects funders with nonprofit organizations and government agencies that serve rural Colorado. The biannual event was created in 1991 by the Community Resource Center (CRC) and the Anschutz Family Foundation to strengthen nonprofit-funder relations and address critical needs in rural Colorado communities. 

The September 2024 San Luis Valley Rural Philanthropy Days convened nonprofit and funder representatives from Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Mineral, Rio Grande, and Saguache counties. The Colorado Trust awarded general operating grants of $5,000 to each of the following organizations: 

• Center Viking Youth Club: Based in the town of Center, the club is dedicated to nurturing the overall health, character, and future of youth, focusing on their social, educational, and vocational development.
• Children's Specialty Clinic of the San Luis Valley: The Monte Vista clinic serves children with complex physical and behavioral health needs, offering a space for specialty providers to care for children where they are, geographically, emotionally, and financially.
• Crestone Peak Community Housing: The group develops quality housing and economic development opportunities in an environmentally responsible manner for economically disadvantaged people in Saguache County. The group is currently constructing senior housing near Crestone.
• San Luis Valley Immigrant Resource Center: This nonprofit organization based in Alamosa has provided immigration legal assistance, advocacy, and education for the past 37 years, primarily to people from Guatemala and Mexico.
• Saguache County Sustainable Environmental and Economic Development (ScSEED): The Saguache-based organization works to address civic and social connections, compatible economic development, agriculture and environmental conservation, and education and enrichment.
• Team of Empowered Allies: This new Alamosa-based nonprofit is dedicated to educating and empowering people by addressing the impacts of social and internalized queerphobia and fostering a supportive environment for exploring self-acceptance, pride, and community service.

Katrina Ruggles with the Center Viking Youth Club told the Valley Courier, "We are super excited and grateful. We are doing great work. I do grant management for the club, and I'm a counselor at the school, and the youth club and the school collaborate. When we went to a four-day week, we wanted to provide activities one day and the club is a nonprofit and we provide those activities. We just took a group to the Rural Philanthropy Days, and we presented how we engage youth to help lead and design programming; we are working on engaging youth to do programming meant to empower them to make positive change in all areas of their health and wellness. 

"We have seen positive changes, we have seen decreases in teenage pregnancy, increased our post-secondary attendance, decreased substance. That is what we wrote about in our grant. 

"Presenting at the Rural Philanthropy Days was great, we wrote the grant to Colorado Trust to support our work. We are very excited and grateful to receive the grant," she said.  

Ameille Warner, Executive Director with ScSEED, said, "As a nonprofit, our work relies heavily on grants and donations. We are very grateful to The Colorado Trust for their generous donation. This helps us with our work with many community organizations."  

ScSEED works with other small profits which are pursuing complementary goals and objectives and acts as an umbrella agency to assist these nonprofit organizations by providing financial and management services they might otherwise not be able to attain on their own. 

The organization works with the Crestone Energy Fair, the SLV Seed Exchange, Crestone Artists, the Saguache Community Gardens, and other nonprofits. The group also collaborates with the Saguache Board of County Commissioners, the Town of Saguache, the Saguache Tourism Council, and the Saguache Chamber of Commerce. 

Since 2009, The Colorado Trust has provided $993,000 in grants to rural Colorado nonprofit organizations via Rural Philanthropy Days and CRC to support the statewide Rural Philanthropy Days program. For more information about Rural Philanthropy Days, visit the CRC website.