ROUTT COUNTY HRC

Whole County, Whole Person, Whole Life

Learn more and apply here

The HRC exists to bring health and human service organizations together to network, collaborate, share the impact of our work, equitably distribute city and county funds to local nonprofits and advocate to strengthen the nonprofit infrastructure across the valley.

In the spring of 2024, the HRC engaged with Centrality Research to conduct a participatory planning process to determine the read map for the HRC for 2025-2028.

Centrality Research conducted interviews with key partners, members, civic leaders, government officials, and health and human service staff across the county about the needs of the health and human services sector and the aspirations for the HRC in its continued evolution.

This process reaffirmed that the HRC is a reputable coalition of organizations with the capability to organize, advocate, and align the realty and human services sector of Routt County to create lasting and systematic change to increase protective factors throughout all the county, for all residents, through all stages in life.

Thank you to our supporters:

Grant Selection Committee Members

  1. Nancy Engelken, Community Member
  2. Katie Boyle, Community Member
  3. Jessica Valand, Routt County Representative
  4. Sandy Evans Hall, Community Member
  5. Tom Krabacher, Community Member

  • Advocates of Routt County/Better Tomorrow
  • BookTrails Boys & Girls Club of Steamboat Springs
  • Colorado Workforce Center
  • Discovery Learning Center/ Family Development Center
  • First Impressions of Routt County
  • Grand Futures
  • GrandKids Child Care Center
  • Heritage Park Preschool
  • Holy Name Preschool
  • Horizons Specialized Services
  • Integrated Community
  • Junior Achievement
  • LiftUp of Routt County
  • Mind Springs Health
  • North Routt Community Charter School
  • Northwest Colorado Center for Independence
  • Northwest Colorado Colorado Community Health Partnership
  • Northwest Colorado Center for Independence
  • Northwest Colorado Health Partners in Routt County For Youth
  • Reaching Everyone Preventing Suicide (REPS)
  • Rocky Mountain Youth Corps
  • Routt County Council on Aging
  • Routt County Department of Human Services
  • Routt County United Way Routt County Youth Services Coalition
  • South Routt Recreation Association
  • STARS
  • Steamboat Reading
  • Totally Kids, Inc.
  • Yampa Valley Autism
  • Yampa Valley Community Foundation
  • Yampa Valley Housing Authority
  • Yampa Valley Medical Center
  • UC Health

HRC Members came together to synthesize information from interviews as well as a county-wide provider survey. Members of the HRC determined 5 areas which would allow the HRC to create the greatest collective impact.

view the plan

This will open in a separate pdf. If you cannot view or read it, please contact us.

NETWORKING

Foster connection to spark relationships, new ideas, innovation, collaboration, and create a deeper understanding between the HHS organizations of Routt County.

COLLABORATION

Continue to build, maintain, and encourage meaningful collaboration for greater impact throughout Routt County.

EDUCATION

Share stories to the community and local governments through tracking and analysis of data.

FUNDING

Supports the sustainability of HHS organizations by ensuring city & county funds and expanded funding opportunities.

ADVOCACY

HRC’s collective voice represents our organizations and our clients to create systems level changes aimed at the social determinants of health.

2027 Routt County Human Resource Coalition (HRC)
Funding Opportunity

Eligibility

  • All Routt County health and human service non-profits can apply for the City of Steamboat Springs and Routt County Community Support Funding.
  • All 2025 RC HRC awardees must submit a progress report by October 15, 2026
  • All reports must be submitted to Jennifer Bruen at director@unitedwayyv.org
  • Please note that financial documents are uploaded separately from the grant application. Be sure to complete both steps so that your application is complete.

If you have questions, have trouble with the application or financial upload process, or have concerns about any of the requirements, please contact Jen Bruen at director@unitedwayyv.org or 970-879-5605

Forms

Process and Timeline

FAQs

1) Must be in one of the three eligible sectors for these Community Support funds: Arts and Culture, Environment, and Human Resources (a.k.a. health and human services). If an organization addresses multiple service areas, for the purpose of determining eligibility, the coalition chairs determine an organization’s primary focus area with final approval by the City. If not in one of the coalitions, see the Granting Procedures document linked below for other ways to request funding from the City.

2) Must be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit or eligible public charity. If unsure about the eligibility of your category of organization, contact a coalition chair before applying.

The request must not be more than 30% of the total annual expenses in your organization’s board-approved budget in place at the time you apply (October, 2026). The review committee recognizes that each coalition’s pool of funding is meant to be shared among all eligible organizations with funding levels determined by the coalition’s allocation committee and guided by the City-provided scoresheet. Requesting a larger percentage of your coalition’s funding than received in previous years, other than for cost-of-living increases, isn’t generally recommended. It might be justified if your share of the overall sector’s lift for the community is increasing. A simple example would be a merger or acquisition. When Steamboat Creates acquired Young Bloods Collective, it would have been reasonable for them to request a proportionally higher grant from the city to cover the additional work (formerly funded to Young Bloods directly).

Organizations are typically encouraged to apply for Operational Funds as these carry fewer restrictions than Program grants. However, if there is a specific program that you feel aligns better with the requirements of the Community Support grants (e.g., alignment with City’s mission, vision, and values) please reach out to your coalition chair to discuss whether a program grant might be a better fit.

All applicants should review the City’s “Vision, Mission, Values & Goals” page and make a case, with evidence, for how their organization offers or augments expected municipal services and helps fulfill the City’s longer-term mission and vision. If your organization’s formally adopted values align with or support the City’s own values, please mention that as well.

First, consider specifically who you serve, why you prioritize them, or how your work benefits community members. A wide variety of positive impacts are valued, and it is ultimately up to each applicant to make the case for how their impact is compelling, from the lens of the City. Evidence is expected in your response — which can be quantitative and/or qualitative — demonstrating that the applicant’s efforts and impact are measurable and address a bona fide need within the community.

Any organization failing to demonstrate collaboration with other service organizations (nonprofits, government agencies, community-minded businesses, etc.) would score poorly in this section. An organization’s work is amplified through working with others. Effective organizations must collaborate, in numerous ways, to achieve community-level impact.

Grant reviewers may consider turnover rates for key staff and board members; thoughtful policies for succession planning and term limits; each individual’s connection to the organization’s mission; a diversity of lived experience to provide a variety of perspectives; and appropriate numbers of people for the work at hand. The actual mix of people and policies will vary, but the committee’s overall impression should be one of stability and resilience.

Heavy reliance on a single funding source— whether a donor, a specific grant, an annual fundraiser, or service fees— raises questions about revenue stability when circumstances change. Each organization will have a different array of funding sources, so the committee will assess whether there is a history of consistent funding and an array of sources that provide diversified stability if one or more key funding sources were to change.

In addition to diversified funding sources (see above) two key concepts for nonprofit financial health are solvency and transparency:

  • Solvency means cash reserves and/or liquid assets are appropriate relative to the budget. There should be no material concerns about the organization’s ability to meet its financial obligations. Best practices for nonprofit organizations recommend 3-9 months cash-on-hand, but understandably there may be reasons an organization has less or more than that amount, depending on timing or the unique circumstances. If your cash-on-hand is significantly higher or lower, please explain why in your application.
  • Transparency can be demonstrated with clear, concise, internally consistent financial statements that are easy to interpret. Revenue, expenses, and assumptions should be clearly explained and, for programmatic grants, appropriate to the request.

If you receive free or discounted rent on City or County-owned facilities, or any other form of non-monetary support, you must disclose it here. If you are contracted for services from the City and/or the County, please disclose that here. In-kind support does not necessarily make your organization ineligible for Community Support funding, however organizations receiving mill levies or other direct taxpayer-funded financial support may be ineligible. If unsure, contact your coalition chair.

• If your organization has received an audit within the past fiscal year, providing audited financials is always preferred.
• Your statement of financial position (balance sheet) includes both assets and liabilities as of a recent reporting date. If your organization has no assets or liabilities, this must be stated in the position document.
• Your statement of activity (profit and loss) includes, for the most recent full fiscal year, both your sources of revenue and your expense line items.

For Question #13 (not applicable for HRC), you will enter the numerical figure for the total expenses shown in the budget document you upload to Question #13a.
• Your uploaded budget must include both revenues and expenses for an entire fiscal year. A month-by-month cashflow report is not needed.
• It is recommended to provide a consolidated budget with categories for revenues and expenses such as “state grants,” “foundation grants,” “donations,” etc. Too many individual line items can be unhelpful to reviewers unless there are important details such as whether a specific funding source is secured or projected. Another example: if you receive multiple different state grants, listing them individually would indicate more funding diversity than a single “state grants” line item.
• Best practice is a balanced budget, meaning any discrepancy between total revenues and total expenses is clearly explained. For instance, a deficit might be funded by transferring funds from reserves. Or a surplus might be rolled forward to next year.

Approved Community Support funding from the City of Steamboat Springs is issued starting in January 2027. If the budget you uploaded for Question #13a does not extend through that month, then upload the projected budget that will be in place as of January 2027. If the budget for Question #14 is not yet final or board-approved, please include an explanation on your budget document.

Get Support

If you or someone you know in Routt, Moffat, or Rio Blanco Counties needs support, United Way of the Yampa Valley is here to help.

From housing assistance and food security to mental health services and childcare resources, we connect individuals and families with vital programs that strengthen our community. Whether you’re facing financial hardship, seeking healthcare, or looking for educational opportunities, local resources are available to provide guidance and relief.