Katz Amsterdam Charitable Trust Invests $3.2 Million in Mental Health and Substance Use Services in Multiple Mountain Communities

Over the past decade, Katz and his late wife, Elana Ams­ter­dam, have con­tributed near­ly $30 mil­lion through the Katz Ams­ter­dam Foun­da­tion and Trust to sup­port com­mu­ni­ty-dri­ven ini­tia­tives that strength­en moun­tain com­mu­ni­ties — more than $22 mil­lion of which has expand­ed access to men­tal and behav­ioral health care and rein­forced local sys­tems of support.

“Men­tal health and sub­stance use chal­lenges are sig­nif­i­cant nation­wide, but moun­tain com­mu­ni­ties often face unique bar­ri­ers like geog­ra­phy and provider short­ages,” said Katz. ​“These grants reflect our belief that every­one — regard­less of race, back­ground, or loca­tion — deserves access to men­tal and behav­ioral health care.”

These grants com­ple­ment annu­al com­mit­ments made through Vail Resorts’ EpicPromise, which sup­ports more than 400 non­prof­its across the moun­tain com­mu­ni­ties where the com­pa­ny operates. 

Award­ed to 12 grantees and 33 sub­grantees, this fund­ing will enhance efforts to: 

• Expand behav­ioral health ser­vices, includ­ing bilin­gual and bicul­tur­al ther­a­py, peer sup­port, and care nav­i­ga­tion tai­lored to Span­ish-speak­ing communities.
• Sup­port sub­stance use treat­ment and recov­ery, such as schol­ar­ships for care, expand­ed sober liv­ing options, and evi­dence-based prac­tices like med­ica­tion-assist­ed treat­ment and con­tin­gency management.
• Invest in com­mu­ni­ty-based pre­ven­tion and engage­ment, includ­ing youth life-skills train­ing and alco­hol aware­ness campaigns.
• Strength­en data sys­tems through the Foundation’s Shared Mea­sure­ment Frame­work, which enables com­mu­ni­ty-led solu­tions by gath­er­ing insights direct­ly from res­i­dents and align­ing ser­vices with local needs.

“The fund­ing from the Katz Ams­ter­dam Char­i­ta­ble Trust is a major invest­ment in the health and resilience of our com­mu­ni­ty,” said Kate Schelbe, Back­bone Leader of the Teton Behav­ioral Health Alliance. ​“By sup­port­ing cul­tur­al­ly respon­sive ser­vices and reduc­ing bar­ri­ers to care, we’re ensur­ing that more peo­ple — espe­cial­ly those in his­tor­i­cal­ly under­served com­mu­ni­ties — can access the men­tal and behav­ioral health sup­port they need.” 

Fund­ing has been award­ed to the fol­low­ing organizations: 

Cal­i­for­nia

Tahoe Truc­k­ee Com­mu­ni­ty Foun­da­tion $345,000

2025 – To sup­port bilin­gual bicul­tur­al screen­ing and assess­ment, cri­sis inter­ven­tion, ther­a­py, peer sup­port, domes­tic vio­lence and sex­u­al vio­lence coun­sel­ing, and men­tal health edu­ca­tion for Span­ish speak­ers in the North Tahoe area. To ensure free and reduced cost access to a holis­tic, inten­sive out­pa­tient pro­gram for com­mu­ni­ties of col­or. And to admin­is­ter com­mu­ni­ty and provider sur­veys in North Tahoe, CA in 2026 in col­lab­o­ra­tion with com­mu­ni­ty part­ners, inte­grat­ing data into strate­gic deci­sion mak­ing with the com­mu­ni­ty’s men­tal behav­ioral health roadmap. Sub-grantees include: Sier­ra Com­mu­ni­ty House, Tahoe Fam­i­ly Solu­tions, Com­mu­ni­ty Col­lab­o­ra­tive of Tahoe Truc­k­ee, Crow’s Nest Ranch, and What’s Up Wellness.

Col­orado

Aspen Com­mu­ni­ty Foun­da­tion $325,000

2025 – To pro­vide schol­ar­ships for sub­stance use treat­ment and sober liv­ing, to increase access to peer and men­tal behav­ioral health nav­i­ga­tion and sup­ports for Span­ish speak­ing com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers, and to col­lect com­mu­ni­ty and provider men­tal behav­ioral health data via the KAF Shared Mea­sure­ment Frame­work Sur­vey Project in the Roar­ing Fork Val­ley. Sub-grantees include: Val­ley Set­tle­ment, A Way Out, and HeadQuarters. 

Build­ing Hope $500,000 (Sum­mit County)

2025 – To pro­vide men­tal health treat­ment schol­ar­ships for com­mu­ni­ties of col­or, bilin­gual bicul­tur­al ther­a­py in out­pa­tient, school, and inte­grat­ed care set­tings for youth and adult clients, and Span­ish language ​“Alma” peer pro­gram­ming for Span­ish speak­ers. To sup­port med­ica­tion assist­ed sub­stance use dis­or­der treat­ment, con­tin­gency man­age­ment treat­ment for alco­hol use dis­or­ders, and the ​“Booze Less Sum­mit” alco­hol aware­ness cam­paign. And to admin­is­ter com­mu­ni­ty and provider men­tal behav­ioral health sur­veys in Sum­mit Coun­ty in 2026 in col­lab­o­ra­tion with com­mu­ni­ty part­ners. Sub-grantees include: Porch­light Health, Ele­vat­ed Com­mu­ni­ty Health, and the Fam­i­ly and Inter­cul­tur­al Resource Center.

Crest­ed Butte State of Mind $100,000

2025 – To expand equi­table access to sub­stance use and men­tal behav­ioral health sup­port for com­mu­ni­ties of col­or through com­mu­ni­ty con­nec­tion events and ther­a­py schol­ar­ships. And to admin­is­ter the KAF Shared Mea­sure­ment Sur­vey Project to inform strate­gic deci­sion mak­ing about the community’s men­tal behav­ioral health efforts.

Eagle Val­ley Behav­ioral Health $560,000

2025 – To expand bilin­gual sup­port for indi­vid­ual and group peer sup­port sub­stance use dis­or­der ser­vices for Span­ish speak­ers and to pro­vide inten­sive out­pa­tient group ther­a­py, sub­stance use dis­or­der treat­ment, and wrap­around sup­port for the Eagle Coun­ty com­mu­ni­ty. And to admin­is­ter com­mu­ni­ty and provider men­tal behav­ioral health sur­veys in Eagle Coun­ty, CO in 2026 in col­lab­o­ra­tion with com­mu­ni­ty part­ners. Sub-grantees include: My Future Path­ways and Reconnected.

Gun­ni­son Val­ley Health ($100,000)

2025 – To sup­port bilin­gual patient nav­i­ga­tion and in per­son inter­pre­ta­tion at the behav­ioral health depart­ment and Emer­gency Room at Gun­ni­son Val­ley Health. 

Tri Coun­ty Health Net­work $160,000 (Tel­luride)

2025 – To increase staffing sup­port for sub­stance use dis­or­der screen­ing and treat­ment and men­tal health and well­ness sup­port for sur­vivors of domes­tic vio­lence and sex­u­al assault in San Miguel Coun­ty. To pro­vide bilin­gual bicul­tur­al men­tal health nav­i­ga­tion, treat­ment, and sup­port for the Latine com­mu­ni­ty. And to admin­is­ter com­mu­ni­ty and provider men­tal behav­ioral health sur­veys in Tel­luride, CO in 2026 in col­lab­o­ra­tion with com­mu­ni­ty part­ners. Sub-grantees include: Tel­luride Region­al Med­ical Cen­ter and San Miguel Resource Center.

Yam­pa Val­ley Com­mu­ni­ty Foun­da­tion $75,000 (Steam­boat)

2025 – To fur­ther the com­mu­ni­ty’s col­lec­tive men­tal behav­ioral health efforts using sur­vey data gath­ered from an inau­gur­al admin­is­tra­tion of the KAF Shared Mea­sure­ment Frame­work Sur­vey Project.

Ida­ho

Blaine Coun­ty Men­tal Well-Being Ini­tia­tive of St. Luke’s Wood Riv­er Foun­da­tion- $200,000 (Sun Valley)

2025 – To expand men­tal health com­mu­ni­ty engage­ment, case man­age­ment and coun­sel­ing for chil­dren, youth, and fam­i­lies recov­er­ing from trau­mat­ic use, NAMI sup­port groups for Span­ish speak­ers, and the cre­ation of the Well-Being Ambas­sador pro­gram. To pro­vide sub­stance use dis­or­der indi­vid­ual and group treat­ment and recov­ery sup­port and Men­tal Health First Aid train­ings in Span­ish. And to admin­is­ter com­mu­ni­ty and provider men­tal behav­ioral health sur­veys in the Sun Val­ley, Ida­ho com­mu­ni­ty in 2026 in col­lab­o­ra­tion with com­mu­ni­ty part­ners. Sub-grantees include: Car­bon­ate Recov­ery Cen­ter, The Hunger Coali­tion, Men’s Sec­ond Chance Liv­ing, and The Advocates.

Mon­tana

Big Sky Health & Well­ness Coali­tion (spon­sored by Yel­low­stone Club Com­mu­ni­ty Foun­da­tion) $75,000

2025 – To work with con­sul­tants to cre­ate the community’s first strate­gic men­tal behav­ioral health plan using sur­vey data gath­ered from an inau­gur­al admin­is­tra­tion of the KAF Shared Mea­sure­ment Frame­work Sur­vey Project.

Utah

Park City Com­mu­ni­ty Foun­da­tion $500,000

2025 – To expand equi­table access to men­tal behav­ioral health ser­vices for com­mu­ni­ties of col­or via treat­ment schol­ar­ships, peer sup­port, and domes­tic vio­lence and sex­u­al assault ser­vices, and to pro­vide sup­port for sub­stance use dis­or­der inter­ven­tion, treat­ment, and recov­ery. Also to ensure bilin­gual bicul­tur­al ther­a­peu­tic sup­port for youth, adults, and fam­i­lies and to admin­is­ter the evi­dence-based, well-being, pre­ven­tion, teen life-skills, and ongo­ing sup­port behav­ioral health programs ​“Thrive” and ​“Thrive 2.0” for 6^th — 12^th grade BIPOC stu­dents. And to admin­is­ter a com­mu­ni­ty men­tal behav­ioral health sur­vey in Park City, UT in 2026 in col­lab­o­ra­tion with com­mu­ni­ty part­ners. Sub-grantees include: Chris­t­ian Cen­ter of Park City, Holy Cross Min­istries, Jew­ish Fam­i­ly Ser­vices, Jack­y’s Recov­ery Sup­port Ser­vices, Live Like Sam, Peace House, The Peo­ple’s Health Clin­ic, and the Sum­mit Coun­ty Recov­ery Foundation.

Wyoming

Com­mu­ni­ty Foun­da­tion of Jack­son Hole $260,000

2025 – To pro­vide free or low cost cul­tur­al­ly and lin­guis­ti­cal­ly respon­sive men­tal health and sub­stance use treat­ment for Span­ish-speak­ing clients, bilin­gual facil­i­ta­tion of Lati­na Empow­er­ment Cir­cles, and men­tal behav­ioral health coun­sel­ing sup­port for sin­gle moth­ers who are engaged in job train­ing. And to admin­is­ter the com­mu­ni­ty and provider men­tal behav­ioral health sur­veys in the Teton Coun­ty, WY com­mu­ni­ty in 2026 in col­lab­o­ra­tion with com­mu­ni­ty part­ners. Sub-grantees include: Men­tal Health & Recov­ery Ser­vices of Jack­son Hole, Com­mu­ni­ty Safe­ty Net­work, Climb Wyoming, and The Men­tal Well­ness Collaborative.