This year, Advocates of Routt County entered one of the most challenging and transformative periods in its history. Even as calls for help increased, partner services fluctuated, and federal funding declined for the third consecutive year, the team continued to show up for survivors with dedication, clarity, and care.

In 2025, trust in Advocates grew in profound ways - especially among monolingual Spanish-speaking survivors, who increasingly turned to the organization as a safe and reliable resource. The addition of a new bilingual confidential advocate strengthened that trust even further, allowing Advocates to respond with deeper cultural and linguistic accessibility.

At the same time, the closure of the only other regional shelter signaled a dramatic rise in local need. In a year marked by higher costs for utilities, groceries, and basic supplies, the program continued to provide life-saving shelter and transitional housing to survivors who had nowhere else to turn.

Advocates worked tirelessly through these challenges - grounding every response in compassion, trauma-informed support, and a steadfast belief that every survivor deserves safety, dignity, and advocacy.

Impact This Year

With demand rising and resources tightening, Advocates continued to expand the depth of services offered across Routt County. Key highlights from 2025 include:

A significant increase in SAFEline calls, nearly doubling in late summer.
Growing trust from monolingual Spanish-speaking survivors, who now make up a large share of shelter and transitional housing participants.
Hiring a new bilingual confidential advocate, strengthening culturally attuned support for survivors from across the region.
Strengthened support groups, including a DV group where survivors built solidarity, stayed connected outside sessions, and supported one another’s healing and safety planning.
Increased coordination with hospitals and law enforcement, who also reported higher case volumes.
Complex casework, including trafficking survivors, immigrant families navigating international travel for safety, DV cases complicated by legal misunderstandings, and families needing emergency relocation.
Collaboration with media, including working with the Steamboat Pilot to strengthen reporting practices around trafficking and ensure the SAFEline number is included in relevant articles.
Emergency housing stabilization, including securing travel funds and case management for survivors needing to reunite with family abroad.
Proactive community education, through the Awareness to Action training series and ongoing conversations with local agencies like the Clerk & Recorder about trafficking red flags.

What We Accomplished This Year

A Stronger Foundation of Trust in the Community

Many survivors this year reached out to Advocates specifically because they had heard - through friends, family, or community networks - that the organization was safe, responsive, and committed to multilingual, culturally informed advocacy.

The arrival of a new bilingual confidential advocate marked an important milestone in that journey. With more survivors than ever seeking help in Spanish, the organization’s investment in bilingual support has continued to yield positive outcomes.

Partnerships That Make a Difference

Advocates collaborated with a wide range of partners in 2025:

DVOMB statewide network, strengthening ties across multidisciplinary teams and offender management programs.
The Clerk & Recorder’s office, focusing on trafficking awareness and prevention at the courthouse.
Law enforcement and hospitals, who reported increased calls and case complexity.
Open Heart Advocates, navigating changes in their staffing and ensuring continuity of care for survivors in the region.

Partnerships played a crucial role in supporting survivors whose cases involved civil protection orders, criminal charges, safety planning, international travel coordination, and emergency relocation.

Supporting Survivors Through Complex and Urgent Cases

Advocates responded to a wide range of needs this year, including:

Survivors of trafficking who were misidentified or misunderstood by the criminal system.
Immigrant mothers seeking safe passage back to their home country with their children.
Survivors working to regain stability through employment, medication access, and the ability to reunite with supportive family networks.
Families overwhelmed by multi-system involvement and legal challenges in their DV or trafficking cases.

Stories of Impact

(These stories reflect real situations experienced this year, with details changed to protect privacy.)

A Survivor Misidentified, Then Supported

A trafficking survivor was initially arrested and charged with domestic violence. Through sustained advocacy, translation support, and system navigation, they accessed shelter, ongoing case management, and a path to stability.

A Mother’s Journey Home

An immigrant mother with two young children needed emergency travel support to return to her home country and escape escalating danger. Advocates coordinated documents, travel logistics, and safety planning, ensuring she could reunite with family.

A Support Group That Became a Community

In one support group, survivors formed a close network - checking in on one another outside of session, celebrating progress, sharing strategies, and grieving losses together. Their resilience reinforced that healing can grow in community.

Rebuilding From Systemic Oversight

A survivor facing conflicting guidance from multiple agencies turned to Advocates for clarity and advocacy. Through coordinated support, they were able to regain stability and understand their rights and options.

The Road Ahead

Looking toward 2026, Advocates is preparing for:

Increased demand due to the closure of the region’s only other shelter
Rising needs among monolingual Spanish-speaking survivors
Higher call volume at the SAFEline
Continued complexity in trafficking, DV, and immigration-intersecting cases
Strengthening bilingual and culturally attuned services
Expanding survivor-centered education and outreach

At the same time, costs continue to rise - utilities, groceries, transportation, legal navigation - all essential to survivor safety.

Funding Challenges & Why Support Matters

Advocates is facing serious funding challenges at a moment of increased community need.

Federal Cuts

For the last several years, federal victim services funding has declined by roughly 20% per year, even as the program has grown to support more survivors and more complex cases. Cuts are anticipated again in 2026.

This means:

fewer resources for shelter
less case management support
fewer legal advocacy hours
increased pressure on a small local team meeting a large regional need

Rising Costs & Local Pressure

With the recent closure of the only other shelter in the region, Advocates anticipates increased demand - at the exact moment funding shrinks.

Meanwhile, the cost of providing safe shelter continues to rise:

groceries
utilities
transportation
safety supplies
childcare support
medications

Advocates continues to meet those needs, but the gap between available resources and survivor demand is widening.

Shelter, Housing Stability & the Colorado Homeless Contribution Tax Credit (HCTC)

Safe housing saves lives.
Your support for Advocates’ shelter and transitional housing programs provides:

immediate safety
time for survivors to stabilize
space to navigate court, employment, and family matters
a foundation for long-term healing

And through the Colorado Homeless Contribution Tax Credit (HCTC), contributions to housing-based services can also offer a significant Colorado tax benefit - a powerful way for donors to support survivors and receive meaningful financial savings.

This is one of the strongest opportunities for community members to make a lasting, life-changing impact.

A Clear Ask for This Giving Season

Your support ensures that survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and trafficking in our community have somewhere safe to go — and someone to call.

A gift to Advocates:

strengthens shelter and transitional housing
expands bilingual services and accessibility
supports a growing number of survivors
sustains crisis response at a time of increasing need
helps offset devastating federal cuts

Thank you for investing in safety — and for ensuring survivors in Routt County can find protection, stability, and hope when they need it most.

Discover Advocates of Routt County - 2025 in Review