09/24/2026
Community Foundation of the San Luis Valley Awarded $500,000 Colorado Health Foundation Grant to Strengthen Regional Nonprofit Capacity
Three-year investment will strengthen nonprofit organizations, expand MySLVConnect.com, support Civic Power programming, and deepen partnerships across the San Luis Valley
ALAMOSA, Colo. — September 24, 2026 — The Community Foundation of the San Luis Valley (CFSLV) is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a $500,000 grant from The Colorado Health Foundation. The 36-month investment will support CFSLV’s efforts to strengthen the capacity of nonprofit organizations, expand MySLVConnect.com, advance the Foundation’s Civic Power programming, and deepen collaboration among community, philanthropic, government, nonprofit, and private-sector partners throughout the San Luis Valley.
The three-year grant represents a significant investment in the infrastructure that supports rural nonprofit organizations and the communities they serve. CFSLV will use the funding to strengthen relationships across the region, expand opportunities for collaboration and capacity building, improve access to community information and resources, and help ensure that organizations and residents throughout the Valley have greater opportunities to participate in decisions affecting their communities.
“This investment is about much more than strengthening one organization—it is an investment in the nonprofit and community infrastructure of the entire San Luis Valley,” said Jason C. Medina, Executive Director of the Community Foundation of the San Luis Valley. “Our local organizations are doing extraordinary work with limited resources, often serving large geographic areas and responding to complex community needs. This support gives CFSLV an opportunity to listen more deeply, strengthen relationships, connect organizations and residents with resources, and build the regional capacity necessary for our communities to thrive.”
The Colorado Health Foundation emphasized the importance of CFSLV’s trusted relationships throughout the region:
“The Colorado Health Foundation is proud to partner with the Community Foundation of the San Luis Valley. The Community Foundation of the San Luis Valley is a trusted partner in their community, and The Colorado Health Foundation is grateful to invest in an opportunity to strengthen the regional capacity of non-profit organizations. This grant award provides support to deepen relationships with non-profit, for profit, government, philanthropic, and community partners, in service of the Cornerstones we prioritize in our work. Thank you to Jason Medina, the staff, and board of the Community Foundation of the San Luis Valley for your partnership, and for continuing this work.”
Strengthening MySLVConnect.com
A key component of the investment will be continued support for MySLVConnect.com, a regional resource designed to make it easier for San Luis Valley residents to find and connect with nonprofit organizations, community services, programs, and other resources.
CFSLV will work with regional partners to strengthen the platform, improve the quality and accessibility of information, and encourage organizations to maintain accurate and current information for community members. With searchable information available in both English and Spanish, MySLVConnect.com can help reduce barriers to finding services while creating a stronger connection between residents and the organizations available to support them.
Beyond serving as a resource directory, CFSLV sees MySLVConnect.com as part of the Valley’s shared community infrastructure. Strengthening the platform can help organizations better understand available resources, identify potential partnerships, reduce duplication, and improve connections across communities and sectors.
Expanding Civic Power
The grant will also support CFSLV’s growing Civic Power programming, which creates opportunities for San Luis Valley residents to develop leadership, build relationships, access information, and participate meaningfully in the decisions that affect their communities.
CFSLV is currently in the second year of a three-year Civic Hub grant from Trust for Civic Life, a Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors-sponsored project. Through this investment, CFSLV has been building the infrastructure, relationships, and locally driven programming necessary to strengthen civic participation throughout the San Luis Valley. The support from The Colorado Health Foundation will complement and deepen this work, allowing CFSLV to further connect civic engagement with nonprofit capacity building, community health, regional collaboration, and the development of stronger networks among residents and institutions.
CFSLV’s approach to Civic Power is grounded in the belief that healthy communities are strengthened when residents have the knowledge, relationships, resources, and opportunities necessary to shape their own futures. Programming can include community conversations, leadership development, civic education, youth engagement, bilingual participation, grassroots partnerships, and support for locally designed civic experiments and community-led solutions.
This work is particularly important in a large, rural region where geography, limited organizational capacity, language access, transportation, and other barriers can make participation more difficult. CFSLV will continue working with trusted local partners to create accessible opportunities for residents whose perspectives have historically been less represented in institutional decision-making.
Building Regional Capacity
Over the 36-month grant period, CFSLV will focus on building stronger connections among organizations and communities across the Valley, identifying regional nonprofit capacity needs, creating opportunities for shared learning and collaboration, strengthening relationships between rural organizations and philanthropic partners, and increasing access to resources that support long-term organizational sustainability.
The investment recognizes an important reality of rural philanthropy: strong communities depend on strong local organizations and engaged residents. Nonprofits across the San Luis Valley provide essential services, preserve cultural traditions, develop community leaders, address health and economic disparities, create opportunities for young people, and serve as trusted institutions within their communities.
CFSLV believes strengthening these organizations requires more than individual grants. It requires sustained relationships, accessible technical assistance, reliable community information, opportunities for nonprofit leaders to learn from one another, stronger connections to statewide philanthropy, and greater investment in the people and institutions already working within the region.
“As a community foundation, one of our most important roles is to serve as a bridge,” Medina added. “We can connect local organizations with philanthropy, connect funders with community knowledge, and create spaces where nonprofits, governments, businesses, and residents can work together. Through MySLVConnect.com and our Civic Power programming, we can also help connect people with resources, information, relationships, and opportunities to have a voice in the future of their communities. This three-year investment gives us the opportunity to strengthen those connections throughout the San Luis Valley.”
CFSLV will work with partners throughout the region during the grant period to ensure that its capacity-building, MySLVConnect.com, and Civic Power efforts remain informed by the experiences, knowledge, and priorities of local organizations and community members.
The $500,000, 36-month grant reflects a shared commitment between The Colorado Health Foundation and CFSLV to strengthening the organizations, relationships, community infrastructure, and local leadership necessary to create healthier and more resilient communities throughout the San Luis Valley.
About the Community Foundation of the San Luis Valley
The Community Foundation of the San Luis Valley works across Colorado’s six-county San Luis Valley to connect people, ideas, and philanthropic resources with locally identified community priorities. CFSLV supports grantmaking, nonprofit capacity building, civic engagement, leadership development, cultural preservation, and collaborative efforts designed to strengthen communities throughout the region. Its approach is rooted in relationships, local knowledge, collaboration, and the belief that the people closest to community challenges should have a meaningful role in developing solutions.
Media Contact
Jason C. Medina
Executive Director
Community Foundation of the San Luis Valley
[email protected]
