Stepping Stones Roaring Fork Valley has had just one mission since opening its doors in 2014: empowering the youth to thrive in their own skin. 

After 12 years and an in-depth strategic planning process, the local nonprofit is expanding its reach in Glenwood Springs during the 2026-27 school year, with plans to continue growing its services in the community.

For Stepping Stones RFV Executive Director Kyle Crawley, providing more consistent services in Glenwood Springs is a natural extension of the organization’s mission.

“Our priority has always been providing young people with a safe space to go, and get really trusted adults in those spaces that can work with them consistently,” Crawley said.

In 2025, the nonprofit served more than 450 young people as part of its mission to “cultivate strong mentoring relationships and community spaces for youth ages 10-24 to foster personal growth, compassion, and responsibility.”

The organization offers after-school drop-in programming, experiential outings, support services, opportunities for multicultural learners, places to find a sense of belonging and more.

“Our model depends on a high-continuity care model, where kids come to our space every day and see the same staff,” Crawley said. “We are often seeing kids 15-20 hours a week, so being able to provide a place where they can go and be themselves with adults they can connect with can really support them in their life’s journey and all the challenges that come with it.”

Stepping Stones has operated part-time in Glenwood Springs for over two years, but a partnership with Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 1630 Grand Ave. is allowing the organization to expand its services and establish a more consistent presence in a second Roaring Fork Valley community. 

“It has been a long time coming. We have operated in Carbondale for a long time, and we’ve heard the want from neighboring communities for years and years,” Crawley said. “The desire has always been there to serve more kids in the community in the unique way that we do. So we talked through it and executed a plan that has been in action for a couple of years now.

“It started kind of slowly, where we were just in Yampah Mountain and Glenwood Springs High School for the past couple of years, then we opened the drop-in center last year, and now most recently, we’re adding more days of drop-in availability,” he added. “The goal is to keep growing that program to provide the full scope of services in Glenwood that we already do in Carbondale.”

Stepping Stones owns two buildings in Carbondale across from Sopris Park, giving participants a nearly 8,000-square-foot campus with daily access to a basketball court, garden, graffiti wall, meals, mentoring, academic support, and recreational opportunities.

The Carbondale program provides year-round services for young people ages 10-24, and into the summer, something Crawley hopes to replicate in Glenwood Springs. 

“Right now, we’re working with a lot of teens, ages 14 and older, in Glenwood,” he said. “Eventually we would love to buy a property (in Glenwood) that could serve as our permanent home. The next step would be to open a middle school-age program, where we could hire more staff and start serving kids at a younger age like we already do in Carbondale.”

Stepping Stones’ Glenwood Springs program currently operates Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, though Crawley said the organization expects to add more days as participation grows.

“As it continues to grow and more kids start showing up, we’ll probably be moving towards four or five days (per week),” Crawley said. “Good Shepherd Church has served our needs great; we have certainly grown into the space. Eventually, we’ll need a pretty sizable space to house both of our programs and provide all the services that we do, but it’s working well for now.”

The organization will celebrate its Glenwood Springs expansion during its fourth annual Stepping Up For Youth party and fundraiser. The celebration will take place from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18 at 1010 Garfield Ave., Carbondale. 

“It will be part fundraiser, part celebrating our community and the people that support us and all the families we work with,” Crawley said. “For us, it’s really about bringing our people together, breaking bread, and having a good time.”

Every dollar generated during the fundraiser will go right back into the mission of serving local youth. 

“There is a fundraising element to it, but really it’s a celebration of all the work we do every year,” he continued. “It is a lot of fun — there is performance from youth, we play games, we have a DJ for the whole night — it is a really fun event. It’s a great way to bring the community together, celebrate the people we care about, and it all goes back into serving the young people we all care about.”

For more information about the nonprofit education service, visit steppingstonesrfv.org.