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The Colorado Trust today announced it has made $28,500 in grants to strengthen the work of five nonprofit organizations working to improve the health and well-being of rural Coloradans. The Colorado Trust, a grantmaking foundation dedicated to expanding health coverage and improving health care for all Coloradans, made the grants after meeting with nonprofit organizations at Rural Philanthropy Days in Saguache, Colorado.

Rural Philanthropy Days (RPD) connects funders with nonprofit organizations that serve rural Colorado. This three-day event, which takes place twice each year, was created in 1991 by the Community Resource Center (CRC) to strengthen nonprofit-funder relations and to address critical needs in rural communities across Colorado.

“Growing up in a doctor’s family in La Junta, Colorado, I know firsthand how important access to health is in rural communities,” said Ned Calonge, MD, President and CEO of The Colorado Trust. “Rural Philanthropy Days offers us a unique opportunity to see the needs of the community and the essential good works of the nonprofits serving their communities. We are proud to continue our long-time support of rural Colorado through this important program.”

In addition to providing $10,000 to support the CRC to manage the 2011 RPD events , The Colorado Trust also awarded grants to the following five nonprofit organizations that participated in the event:

• La Puente Home − $8,500 award to provide access to health and social services for homeless individuals in the San Luis Valley region
• Boys and Girls Club of the San Luis Valley − $5,000 award to support healthy after-school programs to youth throughout the valley
• Center School District − $5,000 award to support school-based mental health services at Center High School and Skoglund Middle School
• San Luis Valley Mental Health − $5,000 award to support the Nurturing Parenting Program that provides healthy meals and educational activities for families suffering from substance abuse and mental health problems
• San Luis Valley Area Health Education Center − $5,000 award to support the Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Speakers program to help train speakers to navigate health care services and educate health care personnel about the unique language needs of their community.

In addition to the five grants awarded in Saguache, The Trust awarded grants to four organizations that participated in the June 2011 RPD event held in Edwards.

For additional information about the grant programs, please contact The Colorado Trust or visit www.coloradotrust.org.