Photo: Ribbon cutting for the new public playground at Pagosa Peak Open School. The Colorado Health Foundation provided the core funding for the new park, which is open to the public whenever school is not in session.
By Karen McNeil-Miller
To say that 2025 was challenging is an understatement. It was a year of profound hardship. Many of us felt the weight of loss and grief — grief for loved ones who are gone too soon, for work and organizations that have closed or ended, and for communities that have been harmed by injustice.
And yet, because of you, I end this year inspired and determined.
Before offering my reflections, I want to speak directly to our partners: across Colorado, community and organizational leaders met this year with courage that deserves recognition. At a time when deliberate chaos often shaped the headlines, you chose something stronger than fear. You chose determination rooted in hope, grounded in solidarity, and expressed through action.
I saw this determination everywhere. You kept showing up. You brought people together with clarity and care. You carved out space for justice, healing, and joy, even when targeted attacks and efforts to divide made the work heavier. Your leadership reminds us that determination is more than simple intention, it’s the energy that pushes us toward health equity when the work is hardest.
As the year ends, I encourage you to pause.
Breathe, rest, and restore. Tell your colleagues and loved ones to do the same.
The work ahead is real, and so is the need for your well-being.
Reflecting on 2025 at The Colorado Health Foundation
Throughout 2025, Colorado’s communities demonstrated how collective determination becomes a force for change. In communities across our state, we saw neighbors protecting one another. From coming together to provide mutual aid and raising their voices, to taking actions to keep each other safe.
We followed your lead, prioritizing organizations closest to the community, especially those serving immigrant and refugee families, transgender and queer Coloradans, folks living in rural communities, and people of color whose rights and safety were repeatedly targeted. That meant moving our resources where they could do the most good, through additional funding and flexible dollars that helped organizations meet the moment and care for their communities.
We are committed to being a trusted partner in your work. I hope that throughout this year you not only heard our commitment but recognized it in our actions and knew you were seen and heard.
Across gatherings like the Colorado Health Symposium, the Celebration of Employee Ownership, the Thriving Young People Healing Summit, and the Equity Collective Initiative’s Reclamation Summit, we witnessed determination deepen into shared learning, alignment, and momentum.
Nonprofits held the line on access to health care, especially safety-net clinics and rural providers, and pushed forward long-term pathways to economic well-being such as employee ownership, small-business development, and affordable housing. We’re proud to stand with organizations whose vision and persistence are driving progress toward a healthier, more equitable Colorado.
A powerful example of this determined vision is taking shape right across the street from CHF’s office in the ongoing development of The Tapestry. The Tapestry will be a community of multigenerational affordable homes that will also include early childhood education through Mile High Early Learning and on-site health services from the Uptown Clinic. We look forward to welcoming our new neighbors late in 2027, when construction is slated for completion.
Lastly, I want to thank the Foundation’s Board of Directors. Their unwavering support strengthens our own determination and enables us to be bold, unflinching, and fearless.
Rest and Reset
As we close out this challenging year, let’s carry our determination and the lessons learned into the new year. We know that 2026 will present its own set of significant challenges. Our critical work of advancing health equity through racial justice is not finished and it is never the enemy. It remains our clearest path to a Colorado where everyone has what they need to live healthy lives.
Thank you for your determination. Together, we move forward with renewed conviction, knowing that our shared hope and the determination that flows from it will always be the most powerful force shaping a healthier and more equitable Colorado.
Again (because this is very important) I encourage you to truly pause and embrace rest. Find space for healing, joy, and restoration.
Karen McNeil-Miller is president and CEO of The Colorado Health Foundation.