Background Statement
For 50 years, the Buddy Program has been serving youth in the Roaring Fork Valley community. The Buddy Program has four mentoring programs serving youth from Aspen to Glenwood Springs and Rifle, including one-to-one mentoring and group, experiential mentoring through the lens of backcountry exploration for teens. What started as a small, grassroots effort in 1973 to match adults with kids in mentoring relationships, has become one of the largest youth serving organizations in Colorado.
Today we offer professional case management, over 30 free activities for Buddy Pairs throughout the year, extracurricular activity scholarships for youth, continuing education scholarships, therapeutic counseling, and other services. Pairs in our Community Program stay together on average for 4 years, compared to the national average of 23 months. Program evaluations demonstrate that the Buddy Program has helped our Little Buddies in areas of self-esteem, decision making, academics and relationships with friends and family.