Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz Gives $2.8 Million in Grants to Further Mental & Behavioral Health Efforts in Mountain Resort Communities Across North America

Over this past year, the Katz Amsterdam Foundation has focused on connecting mountain communities on the topic of mental and behavioral health. In May, the Foundation hosted a convening of 60 mental health professionals from these communities, facilitating a conversation about similar challenges each community faces such as substance abuse, feelings of isolation, availability of providers and mental health outcomes. Following the meeting, community stakeholders agreed to align on a set of shared measures to support collective learning – focusing on progress in the following areas: social dynamics; mental health attitudes and knowledge; provider capacity; and affordability and accessibility of care.

“It has been inspiring to see the shared desire that exists across each of our mountain communities to make a difference, to help others and to ignite a passion for creating truly healthy communities,” said Katz. “We are thrilled to be able to help unite so many incredible organizations and support their collective efforts to improve access to much-needed health services and reduce the stigma and misunderstanding around these issues.”

The grants announced today further enable collaboration and innovation across mountain communities in British Columbia, Washington, California, Utah, Colorado, Vermont and New Hampshire.

“We are very appreciative of Rob and Elana’s continual contributions and passion for improving our Behavioral Health system in this Valley,” said Chris Lindley, Executive Director of Eagle Valley Behavioral Health. “Vail Health and Eagle Valley Behavioral Health are dedicated to making drastic changes within our community, and the Katz Amsterdam Charitable Trust continues to be a driver in that collaborative effort. This contribution will provide much-needed behavioral health resources to our community, and for that, we are extremely grateful.”

“Our community has come together to improve prevention, treatment and public awareness around mental health and substance use, and the Katz Amsterdam Foundation is a critical partner,” said Ollie Wilder, Community Impact Director of the Park City Community Foundation. “These grants by the Katz Amsterdam Charitable Trust make possible expanded mental health treatment among hard-to-reach populations, parent education programs aimed at prevention among youth, and a campaign to fight the stigma often associated with mental health concerns, among other programs. The many member organizations of the Summit County Mental Wellness Alliance are taking a systems approach to improving mental wellness, and this support allows us to take significant strides in that direction.”

The KACT grants are in addition to the annual EpicPromise grants from Vail Resorts, which support more than 350 non-profits across the company’s mountain communities. EpicPromise grants for 2019/20 are being announced by Vail Resorts in December 2019 and January 2020.

The KACT grant recipients announced today include:

Eagle County, Colorado:

• Eagle Valley Behavioral Health: $525,000 to support behavioral health initiatives and organizations including four sub-grants for crisis services (The Hope Center), community behavioral health navigation (Eagle County Paramedics), access to bilingual behavioral health services (Mountain Family Health Services), support to coordinate behavioral health programs (Eagle County Public Health Department), and a voucher program to increase access for those in need.

Summit County, Colorado:

• Building Hope: $270,000 to support therapy scholarships, expansion and evaluation of an anti-stigma campaign, and community-wide evaluation of behavioral health program impact
• Family & Intercultural Resource Center: $100,000 to support growth of the ALMA program to increase bilingual peer support services in Summit County
• Peak Health Alliance: $100,000 to support the launch of new nonprofit health insurance purchasing
• Summit County Community Care Clinic: $90,000 to support continued growth and sustainability of the Dialectical Behavioral Therapy program serving students across the county

Crested Butte, Colorado:

• Gunnison Valley Health Foundation: $75,000 to implement an outreach campaign to raise awareness of the Peer Support Specialist Program and hire additional peer specialists

South Lake Tahoe, California:

• El Dorado Community Foundation: $300,000 to support the Behavioral Health Network collaborative, including several sub-grants to increase access to bilingual providers (Live Violence Free, Family Resource Center, Tahoe Youth and Family Services) and provide crisis response services to students at Lake Tahoe Unified School District

Tahoe-Truckee, California:

• Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation: $160,500 to build community data collection process, complete community-wide mental health strategic plan and a sub-grant to support behavioral health services at Sierra Community House

Summit County, Utah:

• CONNECT Summit County: Up to $150,000, 3:1 matching grant to support expansion of mental health resources online platform and launch anti-stigma campaign
• Park City Community Foundation: $300,000 to support seven community-based behavioral health projects and non-profits, including Communities that Care, counseling services for students across the county, bilingual counseling services, Summit County Drug Court and the Healthy Living Clubhouse
• University of Utah: $150,000 to support expansion of new clinic and increase access to behavioral health providers in Summit County

Vermont and New Hampshire:

• Vermont Community Foundation: $245,050 to support eleven community-based behavioral health projects and organizations across Goshen and Newport, New Hampshire and Ludlow and Stowe, Vermont

Whistler, British Columbia:

• Sea-to-Sky Community Services Society: $75,000 CAD to support youth behavioral health services at the new Squamish Youth Resource Center
• Whistler Blackcomb Foundation: $130,000 CAD to convene community assessment and strategic planning effort to identify and fill gaps in behavioral health programs and services
• Whistler Community Service Society: $120,000 CAD to convene key leaders to help bring a Crisis Stabilization team to Whistler
• Whistler Learning Centre: $103,270 CAD to support programming with First Nations including life skills training, culturally appropriate peer support groups, and the development of program to train First Nation therapists

Stevens Pass, Washington:

• Upper Valley Cares: $50,000 to provide seed capital for Upper Valley Cares to launch a free health clinic and provide behavioral health counseling