Next year, AspenOUT’s Jack Raife Mental Health Fund will expand services due to an increased need in the Roaring Fork Valley.
The nonprofit has seen more students apply for their scholarships in recent years, and from 2024 to 2025, the fund provided 600 hours of outpatient therapy sessions — an increase from 300 hours the year before.
In 2026, the fund will provide training for educators, counselors and parents to better identify and support LGBTQ+ youth in crisis.
The fund will also offer more in-person and virtual support groups in an effort to reach kids suffering from isolation in rural areas like the Roaring Fork Valley.
Organizers said these groups can serve as a bridge to professional therapy.
Kathy Potter is Jack Raife’s mother. He died by suicide in 2023, and Potter said she is more concerned about the mental health of LGBTQ+ under the Trump administration.
“It's just really hard to be a kid these days,” she said. “It's hard to be a young adult, and sometimes, I think it's often hard to be a full-fledged adult in the world that we live in.”
“And you throw in the element of being LGBTQ … it takes the people to come and create a safe, inclusive environment. And everybody in our country deserves to live in a safe, accepting, nonviolent environment.”
New AspenOUT Executive Director Kimberly Kuliga said that under the Trump administration, it is more important than ever to expand funding sources as money for DEI and mental health services are clawed back.
“That all affects us directly at a local level, and then you take the LGBTQIA+ audience, which is even smaller, and so many things are being taken away,” Kuliga said. “It puts people in crisis mode.”
Most of the Jack Raife Memorial Fund’s money has previously come from money raised at AspenOUT’s Gay Ski Week. But next year, they will try to sustain themselves through individual donations and grants.
Editor’s Note: If you are in crisis, call 988 for emergency mental health assistance.
