about us
Facilitate systemic change to address the full continuum of mental health and substance use disorder needs for everyone in Larimer County.
People in Larimer County address mental health and addiction like other health conditions.
- Sustainable change and improvement.
- Whole person health.
- Lived experience.
- Health equity.
In 1999, three community agencies — Health District of Northern Larimer County, Poudre Valley Health System and the Larimer Center for Mental Health (now SummitStone Health Partners) — came together seeking changes in the local mental health and substance use systems. The Community Mental Health and Substance Use Alliance has since grown to encompass 53 people representing 35 agencies. Its members include consumer advocates, schools, city and county government, the faith community, the criminal justice system, private therapists, and other local health and human service providers. All are working together to restructure how mental illness and substance use disorder services are provided in our community, making them more effective in helping people who suffer most.
The Alliance’s 2001 report “Mental Illness and Substance Abuse in Larimer County: The Challenges We Face Today” helped show the way forward, revealing not just challenges, but also significant strengths that the community could build upon in creating a system that was more responsive to consumers.
With funding from a variety of local, state, and national sources, including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Advancing Colorado’s Mental Health Care Project, the Alliance has made significant progress.
The MHSU Alliance Steering Committee is made up of a variety of select community leaders working in diverse sectors that are typically providing services or working directly with individuals experiencing mental health and substance use disorders and are passionate about improving our community’s system of care. The Steering Committee aims to invite new members that hold a leadership role of some capacity within their organization has some influence over making impactful and systemic changes within their systems.
If interested in learning more about becoming a member, please contact Sam Bruick.