Welcome. Thank you for wanting to learn more about our Why.
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It's Personal
The mental health landscape is rocky in Colorado. Accessibility, provider shortages, service cost and stigma create challenges for hundreds of thousands of residents across the state that are difficult to navigate. Plus, our organization is led by a mixed Indigenous woman living with mental illness. We have personal experience with the roadblocks to finding culturally competent support.
National advocacy organization Mental Health America reported annually that mental health in Colorado improved after COVID – from 47th to 30th. Yet, in 2024, we dropped drastically again to 46th.
The mental health crisis in Colorado has worsened and deepened, affecting more than half our state's population – neighbors we know – who continue to struggle. Of this group, almost 350,000 residents reported serious thoughts of suicide. Plus, it's become the primary cause of death for youth and a leading cause for Indigenous, rural and LGBTQIA2S+ residents.
To reverse this crisis, we need to solve the problems of isolation and lack of access. We need to hold corporate and government leaders, policy makers and legislators accountable. We need to smash stigma. It's time to navigate through this rocky terrain toward mental wellness.
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Our Promise. Our Mission.
From the rural eastern flats across urban areas through the mountain ski towns to the edges of the Western Slope and the point of the Four Corners, we're building trust by listening to our neighbors. In the stories we've heard about personal struggles, a theme emerged and it can be summarized in one word. We've made it our North Star: Connection.
Moodfuel connects Coloradans to mental wellness through inclusive, solutions-based stories and resources.
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For People Who Struggle, By People Who Struggle
Using our lived experience and facing many of the same challenges as our neighbors, we show you the who, what, where, when and how of finding the support you need when you need it, especially if you experience discrimination or live with little.
One of Us
Everyone is welcome at Moodfuel, and we focus particularly on listening to and reporting with Indigenous, youth, rural and Queer residents. Because substance misuse often accompanies mental health challenges, we welcome folks in recovery and those pondering the idea, too.
Smashing Stigma
The struggle sucks, yet reaching out can be scary. Moodfuel smashes stigma by normalizing the discussion of mental health without judgment.
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Our Vision of Colorado
We envision a Colorado where appropriate mental health care is accessible and mental wellness is achievable for even our most vulnerable neighbors.
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Our Values
• We believe in content that places the needs of neighbors first
• We hold ourselves accountable, especially to members of our most vulnerable communities
• We value the stories, strengths and lived experience of everyone who struggles.
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Our Ethics, Equity and Standards
Moodfuel is dedicated to publishing inclusive, solutions-based news and resources, and we are deeply grateful for your support. We follow the ethics and standards of editorial independence adopted by the Institute for Nonprofit News and the Society of Professional Journalists. In addition, we follow the American Association of Suicidology Suicide Reporting Recommendations and the Wildflower Alliance Conversations about Suicide principles.
We depend on gifts, grants, business sponsorships and reader subscriptions for funding, but our writing is independent from fundraising. Business sponsors should not expect preferential coverage. If we write about our funders or members of our Advisory Council, we will disclose the relationships fully.
In order to achieve our goals, we are committed to building and retaining a staff reflective of the diversity within our state. Our lived experience creates cultural competency and transparent, authentic engagement.
We are committed to building an equitable, healthy culture to serve people from all backgrounds and to support Vision25, a movement led by the Online News Association, the Maynard Institute and OpenNews to establish an actively anti-racist and collaborative atmosphere.
We endeavor to tell the stories of LGBTQIA2S+ people fairly and accurately as outlined in the GLAAD Media Reference Guide.
For reporting in Indian Country, we subscribe to the guidelines developed by the Indigenous Journalists Association.
Moodfuel seeks to produce reliable, trustworthy content. Because we are human, sometimes we make mistakes. When we do, we will acknowledge our mistakes and correct them.
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Donor Transparency
Moodfuel is registered in Colorado. Currently, we are pending nonprofit status from the IRS. Generous donors who believe in the importance of our mission to connect neighbors to mental wellness may give monetary or in-kind gifts, but these contributions are not yet tax deductible.
We do not accept gifts from sources who present a conflict of interest with our value of inclusivity.
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Organizational Support
We gratefully received monetary or in-kind contributions from the following organizations:
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Founding Members
The following people valued our solutions-based, stigma-smashing news and resources so highly that they became Founding Members. They provided funding and validation. A deep and wide THANK YOU to:
Ruth Baron
The Estate of Hubert Hill
Steve Hill
Roger Rikkola
Glen & Lori Merica
If you would like to become a Founding Member, please contact us at MoodfuelCO@gmail.com.
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The Peoples of Yesterday and Today
Moodfuel operates on the ancestral lands of the Tséstho’e (Cheyenne), Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱ (Ute), Newe Sogobia (Eastern Shoshone), Očhéthi Šakówiŋ, Pueblos, hinono’eino’ biito’owu’ (Arapaho), Nʉmʉnʉʉ Sookobitʉ (Comanche), Diné Bikéyah (Navajo), Ndé Kónitsąąíí Gokíyaa (Lipan Apache) and Jicarilla Apache, Gáuigú (Kiowa) and Pâri (Pawnee).
Because we are Indigenous-led, we acknowledge and deeply respect the Ancestors who resided here for millennia before European colonization and whose resilient, self-determined descendants, our Relatives, continue to steward it.
To learn more about the Indigenous Peoples who lived on and traveled across Turtle Island, see Native Land Digital.
