Telluride Foundation: Awards Over $1 Million In Community Grants

30 Dec Telluride Foundation: Awards Over $1 Million In Community Grants

The holiday season is a time for giving, and thanks to the Telluride Foundation’s especially generous donors, 67 regional organizations are receiving grant money.

On December 29, the Foundation’s Board of Directors met to finalize its Community Grant awards, one of the Foundation’s core programs that funds organizations that  in turn benefit the region and provide essential services. In its 15th year of giving Community Grants, the Foundation awarded $1,003,400 to nonprofit and governmental organizations serving the region, bringing the total grants given in 2016 by the Foundation to just over $4 million. The Foundation has provided over $40 million in grants to the region since its inception in 2000 – and that is without an endowment.

“I was overwhelmed by the need of so many organizations in the region,” said DeeDee Decker, Telluride Foundation Board and Grants Committee Member. “As a new board member, I was excited to be asked to be on the Grants Committee to represent Ouray County because that enabled me to see the value of the Foundation first hand.”

In its 2016 annual Community Granting cycle, the Foundation received 76 applications seeking over $1.3 million.

The Foundation awarded grants ranging from $1,900 to $100,000, with 26 percent going to health human services; 26 percent funding arts and culture; 21 percent to education; 15 percent to early childhood development; 7 percent to athletic groups; and 6 percent to the environment/animals. Local groups receiving grant awards included organizations serving Telluride, Rico, Ouray, Ridgway, Norwood, Nucla, Naturita, and Paradox.

The Telluride Foundation supports regional organizations that serve San Miguel, Ouray, west Montrose and portions of Dolores counties.

“The Foundation’s policy for a grant recipient to take one year off every five years is working well. The policy is meeting its  intent of reinforcing nonprofit sustainability and financial health by encouraging financial reserves, diverse revenue streams, and earned income opportunities, in addition to reducing dependency on a single funder, such as the Telluride Foundation,” said Paul Major, President & CEO of the Telluride Foundation. “About 32 organizations volunteered to take a year off over the last two years, and we are hearing positive stories from nonprofits about how they have strengthened their finances and found new revenue sources during their year off.”

“Last year, the Foundation began accepting applications for capital projects within the Community Grant program and we had four such requests this year,” said April Montgomery, VP Programs at the Telluride Foundation. “The Grants Committee was pleased to award $100,000 to the new Norwood Library construction project, given that the Library had already raised over $1.5 million in grant funding and the community had recently passed a mill levy increase. The Foundation recognizes the significance of rural libraries, which are often heart of the community.”

The Telluride Foundation’s Community Grant award recommendations are drafted by the seven-member Grants Committee, all of whom sit on the Foundation’s Board of Directors.

The committee’s job is to evaluate grant requests against a rigorous set of criteria and forward their slate of recommendations to the full Board for review and final approval. The Grants Committee is comprised of Ann Andrews, Chair; Joanne Brown; DeeDee Decker; Davis Fansler; George Glasier; Kevin Holbrook; and Megan McManemin. Their recommendations were reviewed and approved by the Board of Directors at its meeting on December 29. The Foundation’s next round of local grant applications will be due in Fall 2017 and announced at the end of December 2017.

The Foundation’s generous donors not only enable its annual Community Grant awards, but also have allowed the Foundation to expand its funding and the reach of its Impact Initiatives, including its Telluride Venture Accelerator, broadband expansion initiative, ArtX contemporary art programming initiative, STEM educator professional development & apprenticeship initiative, family emergency Good Neighbor Fund, and Paradox Community Development Initiative.

The Telluride Foundation exists to create a stronger Telluride community through the cultivation and promotion of philanthropy. It is a nonprofit, apolitical community foundation that provides year-round support for local organizations involved in arts, education, athletics, charitable causes, land conservation, and other community-based efforts through technical assistance, education, and grant making. As a grant maker, the Foundation awards grants to qualified applicants that serve the people living and/or working in the Telluride region for the purpose of enhancing the quality of life within the region.

For more information on the Telluride Foundation, go here.

Organizations, 2016 Grant Awards:

Grant Award For Adult ESL Program, Telluride School District, $15,000 to provide English language classes to non-native-English-speaking adults.

Ah Haa School For The Arts, $25,000 for general operating support.

Arts Community and Education (ACE) of Norwood: $4,000 to improve the existing sound system and funding for grant/accounting assistance.

Basin Clinic, $12,500 to provide sliding scale indigent care for primary and urgent care patients.

Bright Futures for Early Childhood and Families, $30,000 to support Parents as Teachers and pursuit of a Family Resource Center designation.

Colorado Avalanche Information Center.$5,000 to support the avalanche forecasting and education program.

Colorado Mountain Club, $4,000 to engage residents of San Miguel County to improve the sustainability and safety of non-motorized trails on public lands near Norwood, CO.

Dolphin House, $12,000 to support victims of child abuse in the San Miguel Watershed area.

EcoAction Partners, $5,000 to bring Greenlights LED Program to Rico and West Montrose County and for the SMPA IQ Program.

Friends of the Wright Opera House, $10,000 to grow the Wright’s theatre program.

Haven House of Montrose, $2,000 for transitional housing and child development programs for families who would be homeless.

Hilltop Health Services Corporation, $7,500 to provide advocacy, shelter &safe-house services for victims of domestic violence and/or sexual assault who live in Ouray and San Miguel counties.

Hispanic Affairs Project, $10,000 to provide community education, outreach and affordable immigration legal assistance to low-income individuals and families.

KOTO – San Miguel Educational Fund, $22,500 for general operating support and to improve KOTO’s signal to the West End.

Lizard Head Hockey Club, $5,000 for organizational and coaching support.

Lone Cone Library District Capital, $100,000 to assist in construction of a new library facility.

Mesa Land Trust, $6,000 to conserve land in Ouray County.

Mountain Sprouts Preschool, $10,000 for general operating support.

Mountainfilm, Ltd., $20,000 to support Mountainfilm’s 39th annual festival.

Naturita Library, $9,000 to provide the Naturita Community Library with multi-generation programming and operating costs.

Norwood School District, $5,000 to provide video production equipment for the Videography program.

One to One Mentoring, $40,000 for general operating support.

Ouray and San Miguel County WIC Program, $2,500 for the 2017 Farmer’s Market Nutrition Program.

Palm Arts Inc., $20,000 for dance program scholarships, Palm Presents, Palm subsidy fund, Palm kids and artists in schools programs, and cultural outreach.

Paradox Valley Charter School, $9,500 for  academic and arts focused after school programs.

Partners of Delta, Montrose and Ouray, $3,000 to support volunteer-based mentoring for at-risk youth in Ouray County.

Rainbow School and Daycare Center Inc., $30,000 for tuition assistance.

Reach Out And Read Colorado, $1,900 for general operating support.

Rico Preschool, $3,000 for general operating support.

Ridgway Chautauqua Society,$11,000for general operating support.

Ridgway Learn to Ski Program,$6,000 to support the “Learn to Ski” program for grades 3-8.

San Juan Field School,$6,000 to provide affordable and free avalanche education.

San Miguel and Ouray Counties Juvenile Diversion Program,$10,000 for general operating support.

San Miguel Resource Center,$44,000 for general operating support.

San Miguel Watershed Coalition, $10,000 to fund SMWC’s water quality monitoring, installation of two continuous water temperature loggers and the creation of a San Miguel River emergency response plan.

Second Chance Humane Society, $9,500 to support prevention and outreach programs that reduce pet overpopulation.

Sheridan Arts Foundation, $20,000 for nonprofit rental subsidies, scholarship funds for Young People’s Theater and West End students attending Wild West Fest.

Tamarisk Coalition, $5,000 to improve riparian habitat along the San Miguel River and engage local communities in river-health stewardship issues.

Telluride Arts, $25,000 for general operating support.

Telluride Adaptive Sports Program, $25,000 for general operating support.

Telluride Chamber Music Association, $6,000 for general operating support.

Telluride Choral Society, $6,000 for general operating support.

Telluride Community Television, $10,000 to help underwrite production costs.

Telluride Early Childhood Center, $20,000 to provide scholarships and  support parent education classes.

Telluride Education Foundation dba We R-1, $15,000 to enrich educational programs and  support teachers and paraprofessionals in the Telluride School District.

Telluride Film Festival, $20,000 to help underwrite the Nugget Theater.

Telluride Historical Museum, $20,000 for general operating support.

Telluride Mountain Club, $12,000 to support trails implementation, a trails crew and/or the Via Ferrata inspections.

Telluride Preschool, $15,000 to support scholarships, teacher salaries, and Colorado Shines quality improvements.

Telluride Ski and Snowboard Club, $20,000 for financial assistance and to expand and improve programming.

Telluride Society For Jazz, $15,000 for educational programming.

Telluride Theatre, $20,000 for general operating support.

Telluride Volunteer Fire Department, $5,000 to purchase uniforms-jackets and vests.

Telluride Youth Lacrosse Association, $5,000 for general operating support

Telluride Youth Soccer Club, $5,000 for general operating support.

The Pinhead Institute,$18,000 for the Pinhead Internship, Scholars in the Schools, No School Science Project, Punk Science and First Lego League programs.

Time Bank of the Rockies, $2,000 to increase services, outreach, and collaborations in San Miguel, Ouray and western Montrose counties.

Tri-County Health Network, $20,000 for general operating support.

Uncompahgre Partnership $6,000 to support a summer ‘Forestry Internship in Science and Engineering’ for two students from Norwood and/or Nucla High Schools.

Uncompahgre Volunteer Legal Aid, $10,000 for general operating support.

Uncompahgre Watershed Partnership, $4,000 for general operating support.

Voyager Youth Program, $15,000 for general operating support.

Watershed Education Program, $8,000 for STREAM-based experiential curriculum/field-trip experiences in the San Miguel watershed school districts.

Weehawken Creative Arts, $9,500 for general operating support.

West End Family Link Center, $13,000 to support services for basic needs.

West End Senior Citizens Collaborative (Region 10), $63,000 to provide community services, through an integrated partnership, to support seniors and disabled adults in the West End of San Miguel, Ouray and Montrose counties.

Wright Stuff Foundation d.b.a. Prime Time Early Learning Center, $40,000 for general operating support.