ALAMOSA — Before a crowd of about 50 well-wishers and family members at The Barn at La Manzanilla Farm in Alamosa, the Colorado Health Foundation, presented Tara Bay, director of the Adelante Family Resource Center Alamosa, with the 2023 Dr. Virgilo Licona Community Health Leadership Award. This award celebrates the work of Coloradans tackling community health barriers and advancing health equity at the systems and community level.

Bay has compassionately served clients of La Puente and the Adelante Family Resource Center for the past 10 years to provide access and support around housing assistance, childcare, skill development, and mental health to meet the needs of families in the community, so everyone has the opportunity to thrive and live healthy lives.

"Tara has truly listened to the concerns of her community and used those voices to magnify and address health equity in the San Luis Valley," said Karen McNeil-Miller, president, and CEO of The Colorado Health Foundation. "This is what it's all about. Celebrating Tara's passion and dedication to removing barriers to health and well-being — for everyone — is something we are proud to honor and support."

Bay told the Valley Courier, "This is an honor, you think of small towns, and you think about all of the things that never get recognized. The Colorado Health Foundation wants to recognize all of Colorado. This is such an honor.

"I could not do what I do without great flexibility in my job and I'm thankful to Judy McNeilsmith and Lance Cheslock [both with La Puente], I have time to work on things that are really meaningful and hopefully systemically changing things in the Valley. Without that flexibility, I would not be able to do that. My staff is just amazing, and they work so hard to provide services to people in the San Luis Valley," said Bay.

Working to improve the community has been a continuous journey, and her efforts have resulted in major improvements in the systems that were failing families in the San Luis Valley. Tara has spearheaded numerous initiatives, projects, and programs, including:

Overhauling Adelante's housing model to a supportive one, forging the Working Together network of social services, and dramatically altering the landscape of family welfare services in all six counties of the San Luis Valley; implementing the Dependency and Neglect System Reform (DANSR) model of family court as a replacement for the traditional Family Drug Court in the San Luis Valley — the DANSR model allows families to be their own direct advocates and have legal representation; creating the Statewide Supportive Housing Expansion project, which is currently being piloted in the San Luis Valley and various regions across the state of Colorado.

"We all have a special gift, and if we all shared it, imagine what the world would be like," said Bay. "Everybody matters, and if we're not taking care of everybody, we're not taking care of anybody. That's how I approach my work."

As the 2023 Dr. Virgilo Licona Community Health Leadership Award winner, The Colorado Health Foundation made a $20,000 donation to the Adelante Family Resource Center in Bay's name.