PitCo to award $1.5 million across 69 local nonprofits – The Aspen Times

The Pitkin County commissioners reviewed in their Thursday work session the proposed allocation of the Healthy Community Fund dollars for 2024. The county will award approximately $1.5 million among 69 regional nonprofits.

The HCF is a property tax fund first established 2002 and subsequently renewed by voters three times. The fund is set to sunset in 2027, so it will have to go before voters again for a renewal.

Of the $3,816,238 budgeted for 2024, $2,278,335 will fund mandated services like public health and senior services. The remaining $1,537,903 in discretionary funds were available to allocate to nonprofits across the Roaring Fork Valley

The county allows nonprofits across the valley and its three counties to apply for HCF funding because many people employed in Aspen or Pitkin County live in the greater Roaring Fork Valley, expanding the scope of local nonprofits.

The responsibility to recommend awarding the HCF grants falls to the Citizen Grant Review Committee (CGRC). Normally, the committee is a body of five locals who review the grant proposals and discuss prioritization. This year, the committee consisted of four members: Barbara Reid, Andrea Garr, Steven Wickes, and Michael Miracle.

Recruiting a youth committee member is proving more challenging, said Lisa Yorker, grants analyst for the county. The time commitment and workload seem to be incompatible with the schedule of local high schoolers, seniors in particular.

“We are looking at ways we can reduce that workload, these applications are substantial. There’s a lot of financial documents,” said Health and Human Services Deputy Director Sam Landercasper. ” So when you get 70-plus applications, it’s a lot to read.”

Commissioners pointed out HHS might be able to pull from Pitkin County Cares award winners, among whom were three youth winners.

Who’s getting the grant money

HHS-related nonprofits are the highest priority for the funding, followed by core public health functions and community nonprofits.

Requests of the HCF have slowly increased in the past few years, as has total granted funds—though at a slower pace.

For 2024, 74 agencies requested $2,165,100 in total. The CGRC recommended awarding $1,508,600 across 69 agencies.

Through the Collaborative Grant Program, 24 nonprofits submitted 12 partnership applications. The program’s aim is to increase capacity for participating nonprofits by pooling grant funds and agency resources.

The CGRC awarded three partnership applications $100,000: Aspen Family Connections and Aspen Youth Center, The Farm Collaborative and LIFT-UP, and Raising a Reader and Focused Kids.

“We’re really excited to look at how they report out to us that this has impacted their ability to expand their capacity, whether it’s more staff or increased fundraising or better outreach, more programming, etc,” Landercasper said. “We don’t really know what to expect yet, but we’re excited to see what happens.”

Under the HHS parameters, one new organization was awarded funding. La Clínica del Pueblo, a public health clinic, in Carbondale is recommended to receive $25,000.

Under community nonprofits, two new organizations and one previous applicant will receive funding. The CGRC recommended the Cook Inclusive Company, which will “provide therapeutic recreation and vocational services to the Roaring Fork Valley disability, Deaf, neurodivergent, and queer communities,” to receive $20,000. Literacy Outreach, a literacy program that targets adults, is set to receive $10,000. And the Aspen Historical Society is recommended to receive $3,000 to hire a local translator to translate the signage at the Marolt Ranching Museum to Spanish.

Commissioner Patti Clapper pointed out that the Aspen Historical Society has its own tax district and expressed hesitancy at awarding HCF money to an organization that collects taxes. Staff said the likely reason the money was recommended to AHS was that the translation project does not fall under the scope of funds collected in their tax district, but they would check again.

“We need to be careful when we’re giving money to somebody who’s already collecting local tax because then we’re giving tax money on top of tax money,” Clapper said.

The applicants not granted HCF dollars either did not fall under the fund parameters or the CGRC was unclear about services, according to the county. Those who were not recommended for funding were offered the chance to appeal, but the county said that no organization had done so.

Commissioner Greg Poschman asked about rewarding applicants who could demonstrate funding sources apart from the county.

“I always like to think of our funding as an incentive for others to get involved. And if we can challenge others to donate, it just leverages the money we put in,” he said. “And if somebody has done that, I wonder if we could give them more points.”

Lisa Yorker, grant analyst with the county, said that the county intends to meet with regional partners like the City of Aspen, Aspen Skiing Company, and the Aspen Community Foundation to discuss a regional approach to nonprofit funding.

The commissioners gave a unanimous “thumbs up” to the CGRC’s recommendations, which is part of the 2024 budget discussion. A proposed budget was presented to commissioners in October and a final budget will be approved in December.