Vail CEO Gives $2 Million In Grants To Support Emotional Wellness Programs

Vail Resorts Inc. on Thursday announced that CEO Rob Katz and his wife, Elana Amsterdam, have contributed more than $2 million to support emotional wellness programs in nearly every mountain resort community in which Vail Resorts operates.

The 30 grants were issued by the Katz Amsterdam Charitable Trust and will impact thousands of people seeking mental and behavioral health support across North America.

“It is our hope that these grants will help improve access to much-needed services around mental health and substance abuse and reduce the stigma and misunderstanding around these issues to encourage more people to get the help they need,” said Katz. “It is our privilege to be able to support so many outstanding organizations and meaningful programs already in place across our local communities in Colorado, Utah, Tahoe, British Columbia, Vermont and New Hampshire.”

Katz and Amsterdam have donated nearly $100 million dollars in recent years to the family’s charitable trust and foundation and named Beth Ganz executive director of the foundation in October to facilitate community engagement, sponsor research and collaboration and to work with non-profit partners to drive towards improved mental health outcomes in mountain resort communities. Ganz joined the Katz Amsterdam Foundation after 11 years as vice president of public affairs and sustainability for Vail Resorts.

“We are spending time getting to know the issues that each community faces around emotional wellness, and the non-profit organizations that are working to make an impact in this space every single day,” said Ganz. “I’m thrilled to join Rob and Elana in finding ways to help fill the gaps in delivering critical services and improve the outcomes across our extraordinary local communities.”

“This gift from Rob and Elana completes a breakthrough year for moving from mental health advocacy to action in this valley,” said Chris Lindley, director of the Eagle County Department of Public Health. “As we know, advocacy is not enough. These are real dollars in the community that will be put to work to directly help many in need. With these funds, we will be able to move from crisis response to prevention and full care and what we hope will be recovery.  We cannot thank the Katz-Amsterdam family enough for not only recognizing this need in our community, but also acting so significantly to address it.”

“This grant represents a seismic shift in the way we can approach mental health in the Tahoe/Truckee region,” said Stacy Caldwell, CEO of the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation. “Like many rural regions, we face significant gaps in mental health services with a multi-county approach. Using philanthropic dollars to support our public and non-profit agencies to collaborate and align mental health services is ground breaking.  We are so grateful for the support of Rob and Elana, and the willingness of the Foundation to help address a long-standing challenge to serving our employees and families.”

These grants are in addition to the $12.9 million of contributions made by Vail Resorts in 2018 to more than 250 community organizations as a part of the Company’s EpicPromise program.

The grants included in today’s announcement are:

Summit County, CO

• $250,000 to Building Hope – campaign to reduce stigma; therapy scholarships; professional development for service providers
• $170,000 to Summit Community Care Clinic – increase access to services at school-based clinics, utilizing DBT program
• $100,000 to Family & Intercultural Resource Center – ALMAS peer support network
• $100,000 to MindSprings Health – Mental Health First Aid training

Eagle County, CO

• $240,000 to Eagle County Department of Public Health – network collaboration staff; expand mobile access program; telepsychiatry contract
• $100,000 to Mountain Family Health – hire additional behavioral health provider
• $89,000 to Hope Center Eagle River Valley – expand crisis services and stigma reduction program

Crested Butte, CO

• $30,000 to Gunnison Valley Hospital Foundation – building renovations for therapy rooms

Summit County, UT

• $250,000 to Park City Community Foundation
  • Summit County Health Department – Communities that Care; suicide prevention; school counseling
  • Jewish Family Services – Spanish-speaking counseling services
  • Summit County Recovery Foundation – Drug Court Participant Success program
  • Healthy Living Clubhouse – transitional center to help individuals re-integrate
• $100,000 to Children’s Justice Center – renovation of new children’s center
• $120,000 to CONNECT Summit County as a 4:1 matching grant – new behavioral health staff and services

Truckee/North Shore Lake Tahoe

• $247,500 to Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation – collaboration of County services in the region; strategic planning process

South Lake Tahoe

• $65,000 to Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless – counselor/therapy services at the Warm Room shelter; substance abuse support groups

New Hampshire & Vermont

• $125,423 to Vermont Community Foundation – increased staffing and services of mental and behavioral health programs across the following organizations:
  • Stowe, VT: Community Health Services of Lamoille Valley, Capstone Community Action of Washington County, Laraway Youth and Family Services, Lamoille Restorative Center, and Pathways Vermont
  • Okemo, VT:  Ludlow Health Center, Springfield Turning Point Recovery Center, and Windsor County Youth Services
  • Sunapee, NH:  TLC Family Center and Greater Sullivan County Health Network

Whistler, British Columbia

• $100,000 CAD to Whistler Community Services Society (WCSS) – expand outreach; behavioral services; stigma reduction campaign
• $75,000 CAD to Sea-to-Sky Community Services Society – post-partum peer support groups; Men’s Counseling Assistance program