Investing in What Helps Young People Thrive
Caring for Colorado Awards $10.5 Million in Grants
By Melanie Bravo, Senior Vice President of Philanthropy
What we’ve learned from young people, grantee partners, and the field of adolescent development is that equity in health, well-being, and opportunity depends on an ecosystem of people, places, organizations, and systems working together to create the conditions young people need to thrive.
While every young person’s experience is unique, research continues to affirm that youth are more likely to reach their full potential when they experience safety and stability, build trusted relationships, feel a strong sense of belonging, access health services designed with their needs in mind, and have meaningful opportunities to learn, lead, create, and shape their futures.
These insights help guide how Caring for Colorado invests in communities across the state. Caring for Colorado recently awarded $10.5 million to 100 organizations serving 59 of Colorado’s 64 counties. While each grantee partner’s approach varies, they all share a commitment to ensure that young people have trusted adults and friends who believe in them, places where they feel they belong, opportunities to learn and grow, and systems that open doors rather than create barriers.
Please join me in celebrating the amazing organizations who received grants from our three most recent funding opportunities that are highlighted below. Thank you to everyone working to build a healthier and more hopeful future for Colorado.
Youth Health and Well-Being
The purpose of Caring for Colorado’s Youth Health and Well-Being priority is to advance health and well-being for young people ages 9 to 25 in Colorado who experience health inequities due to economic injustice, racism, and discrimination through strategic investments designed to support young people, strengthen families, and build youth-centered communities. Caring for Colorado recently awarded $7,693,273 to 46 organizations in four focus areas: Supporting Young People (SYP), Strengthening Families (SF), 2-Generation Approach (2-Gen), and Building Youth-Centered Communities (BYCC).
See the full list of 2026 Youth Health and Well-Being grantees here.
The next Youth Health and Well-Being funding opportunity opens in September 2026. Visit our website to learn more and sign up for our newsletter to be alerted when this funding opportunity opens.
Caring for Pueblo County
Caring for Colorado’s place-based priority, Caring for Pueblo County, works to elevate the power of people and place to create equity in health, well-being, and opportunity for Pueblo County’s children, youth, and their families. The Children, Youth, and Families funding opportunity is made possible by the Sperry S. and Ella Graber’s Packard Fund for Pueblo endowment. Caring for Colorado recently awarded $900,000 to 22 organizations in Pueblo County.
See the full list of 2026 Caring for Pueblo County grantees here.
The next Caring for Pueblo County – Children, Youth, and Families funding opportunity opens in November 2026. Visit our website to learn more and sign up for our newsletter to be alerted when this funding opportunity opens.
Choose When
Choose When provides grants to safety net health clinics to support access to contraceptive care in communities with a high proportion of uninsured and underinsured individuals and where contraceptive care is limited. Choose When aims to ensure that all contraceptive methods are affordable for all Coloradans. By offering grants to clinics across the state, Choose When eases the financial burden on individuals and ensures that contraception is available at no cost to the patient. In 2026, Caring for Colorado awarded $1,920,000 to 37 safety net healthcare organizations across Colorado.
The map below shows the geographic distribution of each organization (their primary clinic location/mailing address).
See the full list of 2026 Choose When grantees here.
Sign up for our newsletter to learn about future funding opportunities for Choose When.
New Team Member Announcement: Yanira Duarte
We are excited to welcome Yanira Duarte as our newest Philanthropy Lead at Caring for Colorado. Yanira supports applicants, grantees, and all of our community partners across Colorado’s Northwest, San Juan, and Southwest regions, primarily advancing our Youth Health and Well-Being funding priority.
Yanira brings extensive experience in youth development, community engagement, and equitable access to resources. Before joining Caring for Colorado, she served in multiple roles with the Denver Mayor’s Office of Children’s Affairs, including managing youth engagement initiatives and overseeing the Healthy Food for Denver’s Kids grant program. She also led several citywide programs at the Denver Public Library, including the Summer of Adventure program, snack program expansion, and food distribution efforts that supported youth and families across Denver.
Passionate about expanding opportunities for underrepresented and underserved communities, Yanira has dedicated her career to connecting young people and families with the resources they need to thrive. We are thrilled to have her on the team and look forward to the partnerships and impact she will help cultivate across Colorado.
Welcome, Yanira!
Save the Date!
The application window for the next Youth Health and Well-Being funding opportunity opens on September 15, 2026.
Stay tuned for full details and application guidance when the opportunity opens in September.