Steven Kuschner, member of the Elk Springs Home Owners Association, expressed his disapproval during the open public comment period for the proposed Spring Valley Ranch Planned Unit Development (PUD) amendment. He cited roads, the projected 5,703 vehicle trips per day at full build-out and stress on the land, wildlife corridors and aquifer as reasons for denial of the project. Georgia-based Storied Development LLC’s revision of the existing PUD is under review by the Garfield County Planning Department and the land is under contract. The proposal includes 577 housing units, mostly second homes, two golf courses, a private ski area, hiking and biking trails and more.
Ivan Jackson, executive director of Lift-Up, was the first of several local human services providers to update the Garfield County Commissioners (BOCC). Each provider pointed to a growing Hispanic population in need of assistance, a rise in the need for substance abuse treatment in the general population and a widespread struggle with food insecurity and prosperity.
Commissioner Tom Jankovsky blamed the rise in “undocumented immigrants” on President Biden’s “open borders policy” and commented on how there is more poverty in the county.
Jackson said the number of people served by Lift-Up increased by 100% in 2023; 70% were from Garfield County. Lift-Up served 60,000 in 2022 and 128,000 in 2023. The organization, whose focus is to end hunger from Parachute to Aspen, sourced 49% of distributed food from local growers last year, including produce, meat, eggs and milk. Lift-Up also rescued 801,505 pounds (400 tons) of food from local markets and wholesalers.
“The need in this community continues — not just for food — but across many different areas,” Jackson explained, adding that, over the past 12 months, food prices have increased by 10.4%, rent is up by 8.3%, gas costs increased by 15% and utility costs have nearly doubled. He added that the decrease of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits has been the biggest struggle. “In 2023, 45% of funding went away from SNAP,” he explained. “That was somewhere in the region of $350 to $400 per month for families that we’re serving.”
He said that 52% of people served by Lift-Up are Hispanic. “We want to continue to strengthen our commitment to diversity inclusion,” he said. “And we want to continue not only treating them with respect but providing them the food they prefer at our distribution locations.” Lift-Up operates six fixed food pantries and nine drive-through pantries between Parachute and Aspen with plans to open mobile food pantries this year. The organization also purchased a building in west Glenwood Springs to use as a food distribution center.
Mind Springs Health has served 1,165 clients this year, down 4% from 2023. But, said Hans Lutgring, Glenwood Springs and Rifle out-patient program director, with less than two months left in the current fiscal year, those numbers could change. Rifle client visits are soaring. “Our fiscal year 2024 service counts have increased by more than 420% over 2023,” he said. Program highlights include partnerships with the Rifle veterans community, the RE-2 School District and the 9th Judicial District. The new medically-assisted Withdrawal Management Treatment facility opens June 17 in Glenwood Springs with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, May 23.
A Way Out director Becky Gordon told the BOCC that 62% of her clients in 2023 came from Garfield County. The substance abuse treatment referral agency works with clients from Garfield, Pitkin, Eagle and Summit counties. “We are maintaining that [number] this year with 150 Garfield county residents helped so far in 2024,” she said, “which is 61% of our clients.” Gordon added that the biggest success of 2023 was adding a Spanish-speaking peer counselor to help with treatment options and more.
Aspen Hope Center (AHC) offers crisis relief services in three counties. “We have programs that span the continuum of crisis care from prevention through recovery,” explained Natasha Lucero, operations director. AHC has school-based clinicians in 17 RE-2 schools from Aspen to Glenwood with plans to expand into Rifle schools. “We also offer fatality response in collaboration with victims advocacy [services],” she added.