DENVER, November 27, 2025—The Boettcher Foundation has unveiled its second cycle of 2025 Rural Catalyst Grant recipients, awarding $110,000 in capacity-building grants to nonprofit organizations within the Rural Leaders Collaborative. These awards empower creative projects designed to meet the distinctive challenges of Colorado’s rural communities.
“Rural Catalyst Grants this cycle reflect a broad investment in rural Colorado’s community infrastructure, health, education, economic development, and inclusive placemaking.” said Garrett Mayberry, grants program officer. In 2025, the Boettcher Foundation invested $260,000 in 45 strategic Catalyst Grant projects across Colorado, including 35 Rural Catalyst and 10 Leadership Catalyst initiatives that strengthen community and leadership infrastructure statewide.
Below is a summary of the organizations and projects awarded in this cycle:
- Black Canyon Boys & Girls Club: Serving vulnerable youth in Montrose through after-school and summer programs that focus on low-income and BIPOC families. This grant supports strategic planning and leadership coaching to help expand capacity and sustain impact during renovations. (Montrose, $5,000)
- City of Leadville: Transforming a vacant school into Lake County’s first Community Center to provide safe, affordable indoor space for families and youth. Funding supports a project manager to lead planning and design, ensuring alignment with broader community goals. (Leadville, $10,000)
- Cottonwood Restoration: Engages youth in ecological restoration and mental health advocacy in rural Saguache County. Grant funds youth leadership training, mental health workshops, and collaborative stewardship events. (Saguache, $5,000)
- Family Learning Center: Provides childcare to 100+ children in rural Colorado, supporting early education and family stability. The grant funds marketing efforts to support a capital campaign for facility expansion and operational sustainability. (Edwards, $5,000)
- Friends of Youth and Nature: Removes transportation barriers to nature-based programs for underserved youth on Colorado’s Western Slope. This grant supports purchase of a shared van enhancing access and collaboration among partner organizations. (Hotchkiss, $7,500)
- Gunnison County Juvenile Services: Works to improve youth health with prevention programs and local partnerships. Funds support strategic convenings across rural resort communities to develop shared youth wellness goals. (Gunnison, $5,000)
- Hope House NE Colorado: Reduces homelessness by coordinating housing navigation among participants, landlords, and service providers. Grant supports short-term staffing and partnership facilitation to expand stable housing access. (Sterling, $7,500)
- Integrated Community: Provides culturally responsive services to immigrant families in Northwest Colorado. Grant funds clinical guidance to launch the region’s first bilingual, affirming youth mental health program. (Steamboat, $5,000)
- Las Animas County: Conducts community surveys to identify effective communication channels and enhance outreach to immigrant and underserved populations. Grant supports bilingual canvassing, data analysis, and a public engagement event. (Trinidad, $7,500)
- Loving Beyond Understanding: Builds rural Colorado’s first LGBTQ+ coalition and strengthens leadership capacity. Funding supports coalition coordination, technology, outreach travel, and a strategic planning retreat. (Grand Junction, $7,500)
- Phillips County Family Education Services: Offers adult literacy and family education in rural northeastern Colorado. The grant develops a Resource Hub providing critical information on citizenship, housing, legal, and translation services. (Holyoke, $5,000)
- The Block Commissary Kitchen & Events: Provides shared-use kitchen space and community food entrepreneurship support in Fort Morgan. Grant expands events, coordination, strategic planning, and outreach to grow northeast Colorado’s food economy. (Fort Morgan, $5,000)
- True North Incorporated: Empowers adults with disabilities through vocational and life skills programming in Northwest Colorado. Funding supports a merger with a local provider to create an inclusive community hub and expand services. (Steamboat Springs, $5,000)
- Unify Montrose: Launches youth-designed, inclusive spaces for middle schoolers to gather and create throughout Montrose County. Grant funds pop-up events, youth participation support, and community outreach to foster belonging. (Montrose, $2,500)
- United Way of the Yampa Valley: Leads a coalition addressing housing, food insecurity, childcare, and behavioral health in Routt County. Funding hires a project coordinator to implement a strategic plan enhancing service coordination and sustainability. (Steamboat Springs, $7,500)
- Yampa Valley Autism Program: Provides diagnostic and support services for neurodiverse children and families across Northwest Colorado. Grant supports strategic and scenario planning to ensure funding resilience and service continuity. (Hayden, $5,000)
- Yuma County Economic Development Corporation: Drives economic growth in Yuma County by establishing an investor network and expanding organizational capacity. Funding covers marketing development and campaign launch costs. (Yuma County, $7,500)
Please subscribe to our newsletter or check our website for information on the Catalyst Grant cycles.
About the Boettcher Foundation:
The Boettcher Foundation believes in the promise of Colorado and the potential of Coloradans. We invest in people, programs, and organizations across the state to create a foundation for community building and transformational impact.
