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Small pride flags fly in the downtown Aspen core on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, as part of Aspen Gay Ski Week.Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tSmall pride flags fly in the downtown Aspen core on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, as part of Aspen Gay Ski Week.
Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n
AspenOUT, the nonprofit organization behind Aspen Gay Ski Week, has announced a record-breaking year of celebration and service. <\/p>\n
The 2025 Aspen Gay Ski Week welcomed over 5,000 attendees and generated an estimated $12 million going toward mental health, youth empowerment, and community inclusion throughout the Roaring Fork Valley and beyond, according to a press release. AspenOUT has been able to underwrite more than 600 hours of mental health services from Aspen to Parachute over the past 12 months \u2014 up from 300 hours the previous year \u2014 and award $44,000 in college scholarships to students in the RFV.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about doing more as a nonprofit and giving more back to our community,\u201d Kimberly Kuliga, executive director of AspenOUT, told The Aspen Times.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kuliga highlighted AspenOUT\u2019s mental health fund in particular, aiming to minimize the financial burden of community members seeking professional support.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe valley itself has a significantly high suicide rate,\u201d Kuliga said. \u201cWhen you take the LGBTQIA+, they have an even higher suicide rate. You add onto that how expensive it is to live in the valley, how expensive it is to have healthcare in the valley, and how expensive therapy can be \u2026 If we can help minimize that financial burden to families by being able to have this fund accessible, we\u2019re hoping we can really help lower that suicide rate and help people thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n
AspenOUT\u2019s Jack Raife Mental Health Fund, named after an Aspen native and proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community, provides inpatient scholarships and alternative therapy treatments to those in crisis in the valley. Kuliga said she\u2019s seen the impact of these funds change the course of lives \u2014 in one example she gave, a youth who hadn\u2019t been to school in a year recently had a photo posted at their homecoming dance.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re big wins,\u201d Kuliga said. \u201cThey\u2019re huge wins for these families. I really want our local community to know that there is a way that they can give back.\u201d<\/p>\n