Stories from the Club

$386,152 was given in 2016 by Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation via the Passport Club to support YVCF and local nonprofits. NWCCI (Northwest Colorado Center for Independence) is one of many organizations that received a grant from this program. Ian Engle, Executive Director of NWCCI, explains how the Passport Club supports this nonprofit’s vital mission.
Why is NWCCI critical to the health and vitality in the Yampa Valley? We are the Center for Independent Living serving the Yampa Valley and the only nonprofit built on a civil rights foundation. Our mission is to support people with disabilities and help them reach identified goals for being productive and engaged members of our communities. We are also the only organization established around a peer support model of mentorship and leadership development; the majority of our staff and board members are people with permanent disabilities. Inclusive communities are healthy communities and the success of the people with whom we work is vital to realizing this end.

In 2016, NWCCI received a grant to assist individuals through the application process for public benefits. How did this grant benefit your program?
The grant from the Yampa Valley Community Foundation allowed NWCCI to better assist people with disabilities to apply for public benefits, in turn establishing a foundation of basic needs from which to better realize secondary goals such as civic engagement and employment (often accessing work-incentives).

What would you like to tell Passport Club Members? NWCCI is the vanguard of freedom from isolation and the voice of democracy calling for inclusion and accessibility in the name of inclusive communities. Thank you!