The Estes Valley Investment in Childhood Services Family Resource Center has received a $1 million received a $1 million Equity Collective Initiative grant from The Colorado Health Foundation to acquire it own facility.

The Estes Valley Investment in Childhood Success Family Resource Center has received a $1 million Equity Collective Initiative grant from The Colorado Health Foundation that can be used for facilities and capacity-building, Rut Miller announced.

“This is the largest financial gift EVICS has ever received,” Rut Miller, executive director of EVICS, told the Estes Valley Voice in an interview in her office Tuesday afternoon.

Miller said the money will be the cornerstone of a capital campaign for a new facility. In a written statement provided by EVICS, Estes Park Mayor Gary Hall said, “The CHF grant awarded to EVICS is a powerful affirmation of the tremendous work that Rut Miller and her staff have done for families with children in the Estes community.”

EVICS began in 2006 as a community resource to help children and their families access quality early childhood care and development. As a family resource center, the organization’s role has grown over the past 20 years to include family advocacy, mental health support, youth programming, and partnerships that address the broader needs of the community. The organization also administers childcare assistance, funded by 6E lodging tax revenues, to families in the Estes Valley.

The organization is currently involved in a strategic planning process and has established a development committee comprising community experts in real estate, law, banking, and finance to support its board in assessing the organization’s facility needs.

Members of the EVICS board of directors include Jan Boatman, Duke Gonzales, Susie Hochstetler, Beth Weisberg, Erin Miller, David Moore, Kyle Patterson, Ben Van der Werf, Amanda Moulden and Melanie Kozlowski.

Miller is an immigrant and U.S. citizen who was born and raised in Paraguay. A trained nurse-midwife, she is a graduate of the Universidad Nacional de Asunción and holds a bachelor’s degree in obstetrics, maternal, and infant health.

Rut Miller is the executive director of the Estes Valley Investment in Childhood Services Family Resource Center. Credit: Courtesy/Rut Miller

After college, Miller lived in Spain before immigrating to the United States in 2012 and then moving to Estes Park from Nebraska in 2021. The mother of three children, Miller began working for EVICS in August 2021 as the family development coordinator and was named the executive director in June 2024.

Miller and Cato Kraft, executive director of the Estes Nonprofit Network, are alums of the 2024 Collective Leadership Institute, a partnership between the Center for Creative Leadership and the Colorado Health Foundation. Miller participated in the Institute’s MakeSpace for Us Leadership Program, a five-day, immersive, in-person learning experience in Colorado Springs for emerging leaders in their organizations and communities.

The Colorado Health Foundation is a statewide philanthropic organization that advocates for and invests in policies and programs that promote health equity and racial justice for Coloradans.

Open House Celebration

Community members are invited to celebrate this milestone and meet the EVICS team at an open house on Friday, Feb. 6, 2026, from 8:30–9:30 a.m. at the EVICS office, 1182 Graves Ave, Unit A. The gathering will offer an opportunity to learn more about EVICS’s work, connect with staff, and celebrate receiving the grant.