The Basalt-based mental health nonprofit HeadQuarters is currently winding down operations after announcing in early February that it would close its services. The organization was founded in 2016 with a focus on connecting people with preventive mental health services, resources, peer groups and workshops. HeadQuarters also raised money to directly help clients access professional services.
Executive Director Angilina Taylor prompted a “mental fitness” approach, helping people build skills and healthy habits before mental health struggles reach the level of crisis. Taylor ran the organization with the help of Programming Director Lindsey Lupow.
“I believe that mental fitness is the answer to curbing the mental health crisis that we see in the nation,” Taylor told The Sopris Sun. “It’s arming people with information and tools and connection and feeling vulnerable — talking about it with our families, friends and strangers at peer support groups.” She added, “So many of us, we’re conditioned to mask up and pretend that everything’s okay when it’s not always okay.”
Mental fitness focuses on four pillars of wellness: social, emotional, physical and financial. These elements were points of discussion throughout all the work the organization did due to how interconnected they are with mental health struggles, such as anxiety and depression.
“Little things that can happen with those four quarters can really trip us up in a really big way,” Taylor stated. “If we’re feeling off because we’re emotionally dysregulated because something’s going on at work, within our family system, or something’s going on within our friendships, and then those are hindering us and showing up in other areas of life, things can start to snowball.”
She continued, “We worked on having a mental fitness toolkit, and worked on having awareness over what those things are that are triggering you, that are making you feel that way, that are then becoming that slippery slope that takes you down to using unhealthy habits to fix your problems. So your mental fitness toolbox helps to tap into healthier coping mechanisms you have at your fingertips.”
The toolbox was implemented at Basalt High School shortly before the organization announced its closure. The Longhorn Lounge, as it was dubbed by Basalt High School students, was created in partnership with Youthentity. This “mood booth” grants students a space for emotional and nervous system regulation activities.
“The mood booth was born out of trying to reach youth in a different way,” Taylor said. “For years, we’ve been called to come into the health classes and do a talk on mental fitness and found a lot of times when I would go in and do those talks, there were a lot of kids that were disengaged. It was an uncomfortable topic.” The mood booth affords privacy, with a tablet inside with appropriate apps installed and some music, some meditations and resources for who to call if in need of help.
The project is currently under aesthetic build by the students and should launch shortly.
In the final newsletter from HeadQuarters, data and demographics showed that in 2025 more than 1,831 therapy sessions were funded and 211 clients were served. Of these clients, 64% resided in Garfield County and 54% worked in Pitkin County. Additionally, more than 300 community members participated in workshops in 2025.
Discussing the tough decision to close HeadQuarters, Taylor said that funding and competing with a wide network of nonprofits in the Valley played a major role.
“We have a region that is pretty rich in nonprofits, and so there is a lot of competition, not just among the mental health organizations, but among all of the organizations,” Taylor stated. “I think mental health is a less sexy thing to fund than, say, the arts or public lands. The conversations that you have are less challenging around those topics.” She added, “Then, as a preventative [approach], it was always really hard to quantify our data and to qualify it.”
Though the doors are closing at HeadQuarters, Taylor and Lupow are still offering their services as coaches and will host a plethora of events throughout the remainder of the year. To stay informed about this work, visit www.bit.ly/Form-HeadQuarters