City of Aspen Awards More Than $1.38 Million Dollars in Grants to Valley Non-Profits
Contact: Sara Ott, Assistant City Manager, 970-920-5083 or sara.ott@cityofaspen.com
Aspen, Colorado – January 18, 2018 – In 2018 the City of Aspen is awarding more than $1 million in cash funds and in-kind support to non-profit organizations throughout the Roaring Fork Valley from the City of Aspen’s General Fund, Wheeler Fund, and Parks & Open Space Fund.
“It is a mission of the City of Aspen grant program to help our community thrive,” said Sara Ott, Assistant City Manager. “Not only are these grants representative of significant dollars but they also show that as a government we believe in building social capital throughout the valley. Fostering the organizations that give back to the residents and visitors here is part of what makes Aspen such a diverse, vibrant, and supportive community.”
Once a year the City of Aspen volunteer citizen board appointed by the City Council meets to review all grant requests. The Citizen Grant Review Committee evaluates each non-profit grant request for demonstrated financial need, fiscal viability, and adherence to the goals and values of the City of Aspen and value added to the community. The Health and Human Services grants are reviewed by Pitkin County.
The categories of grants include arts non-profits, general non-profits, health and human services non-profits and specific environmental projects supported by the Parks and Open Space fund.
This year’s breakdown of grant funds include: Arts - $395,000 in cash funds and $14,500 in in-kind donations; General Non-Profits - $434,050 in cash funds and $61,000 in in-kind donations; Environmental Projects - $21,000; and Health and Human Services - $455,165. Total funds of cash and in-kind donations is $1,380,715
New this year is an additional $50,000 for arts funding from the Wheeler Opera House. “I’m so pleased that we are able to increase the 2018 grant support by more than $50,000 this year. In memory of long time Wheeler Board member Richie Cohen, we applied the new funds to support special projects and needs throughout the Roaring Fork Valley,” said Wheeler Opera House executive director Gena Buhler.
The allocation of the additional $50,000 this year will be used to co-commission a work with the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet and support the upcoming Aspen Bauhaus Centennial Celebration community wide project as well as AspenFilm.
The 2019 application process will begin in Summer 2018. To find out more about the 2019 application process, please contact Julie Gillespie at julie.gillespie@cityofaspen.com or visit www.cityofaspen.com/383/Grants
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