Stepping Stones Expands Glenwood Springs Operations

Glenwood Springs —“Right now, we’re working with a lot of teens.”

That is the current reality for Kyle Crawley, the Executive Director of Stepping Stones Roaring Fork Valley. The organization has spent twelve years building its footprint, but the numbers behind that expansion are starting to land in the city. According to a report by the Post Independent, the nonprofit is moving from part-time operations to a more consistent presence in Glenwood Springs during the 2026-27 school year.

The catalyst for this shift is a partnership with Good Shepherd Lutheran Church at 1630 Grand Ave. This isn’t just a lease; it’s the infrastructure that allows Stepping Stones to replicate its Carbondale model in the upper valley. In Carbondale, across from Sopris Park, the organization owns two buildings that total nearly 8,000 square feet. That space houses a basketball court, a garden, a graffiti wall, and daily programming that keeps youth engaged for 15 to 20 hours a week. The Glenwood expansion aims to mirror that density of service, starting with increased drop-in availability and building toward the full scope of year-round support.

Let’s do the math on who this actually serves. In 2025, Stepping Stones RFV reached more than 450 young people across the Roaring Fork Valley. The organization’s mission is specific: to cultivate strong mentoring relationships for youth ages 10-24. Crawley emphasizes that their model relies on high continuity of care. Kids come to the same space, see the same staff, and build relationships with trusted adults who are there consistently. That consistency is the product. It’s not a one-off workshop; it’s a daily ecosystem of academic support, meals, and recreational opportunities.

For context, Stepping Stones has operated in Glenwood Springs for over two years, but it was a slow build. Crawley noted the organization initially worked through Yampah Mountain and Glenwood Springs High School before opening a drop-in center last year. Now, the goal is to stop being a pop-up and start being a fixture. The 4th annual Stepping Up for Youth event will mark this milestone, celebrating the expansion that Crawley describes as a response to years of community demand.

“It has been a long time coming,” Crawley told the Post Independent. “We have operated in Carbondale for a long time, and we’ve heard the want from neighboring communities for years and years.”

The expansion matters because it addresses a gap in consistent, non-clinical support for teenagers. The organization serves multicultural learners and provides a sense of belonging that often doesn’t exist in traditional school settings. By anchoring operations at the Grand Avenue church, Stepping Stones is betting that proximity and consistency will drive engagement in Glenwood Springs. For families in the city, this means a dedicated space where teens can go after school with the same level of resource density found in Carbondale. For the community, it signals a maturation of local youth infrastructure, moving from scattered initiatives to a centralized, high-capacity model. The 8,000-square-foot blueprint from Carbondale is the target; the Grand Avenue partnership is the first step toward getting there.