Celebrating MIRA’s Sixth Anniversary and Embracing a Future of Greater Impact

It’s heartwarming to know when you’ve made a difference in someone’s life when they needed it the most. In October, at Aspen Mobile Homes in Avon, a young man arrived at the MIRA Bus with worried eyes and aching feet. To protect this proud man, let’s name him Miguel. His situation was dire as he had recently separated from his wife and fallen ill, suffering a ruptured Achilles tendon. The MIRA team helped Miguel apply for emergency Medicaid so he could have surgery and walk without pain.

After his operation, he returned to the MIRA Bus needing assistance with physical therapy. We helped him apply for support from the Vail Valley Charitable Fund, and he qualified for a grant that covered his therapy sessions.

A year later, at the annual MIRA Health Fair event, the same man approached our staff with a joyful smile, thanking us for everything we had done. He ended with tears of gratitude, showing how we had truly made a difference in his life.

For six years, MIRA has been a vital lifeline for our neighbors in need like Miguel, connecting residents to essential health and wellness services. MIRA, the Mobile Intercultural Resource Alliance, functions as a trusted mobile community center, offering crucial support to our neighbors in need. It serves as a hub for resource connection, linking individuals with the services and assistance they require. Whether it’s accessing healthcare resources such as Medicaid and health insurance or navigating social services like SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and the Benefit Recovery FUnd, MIRA stands strong as a beacon of accessibility, support, and most importantly, hope.

In times of community crises like the Lake Christine Fires and the COVID-19 pandemic, MIRA’s responsiveness and adaptability have underscored its importance. But it’s in the day to day, year round support that MIRA sees the most impact. The bus parks in neighborhoods throughout the county 4 days a week as staff work to build trusted relationships with our neighbors in need. MIRA travels to distant and isolated neighborhoods in the Eagle River Valley and El Jebel/Basalt to connect residents to critical resources that may not be accessible due to transportation and other barriers. We have a special focus on mobile home communities where we see the highest concentration of families in need with barriers to services including mostly monolingual Spanish language speakers or first generation immigrants. We know that to improve wellness, we need to bring resources to where people need us most. The program’s growth, evidenced by an 89% increase in service utilization in the past year, highlights the expanding demand for its services. As the program evolves, the need for mobile resources has become increasingly clear.

In addition to mobile resource navigation and services, the MIRA Program hosts monthly health and wellness literacy events. These gatherings serve not just as opportunities for learning, but also as forums for fostering community engagement and empowerment. From workshops on nutrition and exercise to sessions addressing mental health, women’s health, early childhood resources, substance abuse, and other critical issues, these events are designed to equip residents with the knowledge and tools necessary to make better decisions that will impact the health of their children and extended families and neighbors. Community members leave with new knowledge and skills, and a sense of belonging as part of both their community and the MIRA family.

An important part of this MIRA family is our key partners. MIRA works with a network of over 90 community partners, including:

• Eagle County Paramedics: Generously providing twice weekly health screenings through their community paramedics program.  
• Eagle County Government: Not only offering funding support for staffing but also strong program partnerships for enrollment and outreach to county programs.
• Mountain Family Health Centers: Serving as a primary medical provider for many of those we serve and a great partner for referrals and follow up care. 
• The Community Market: The sister program of MIRA, works in partnership through referral efforts to ensure everyone in Eagle County has access to nutritious food. 
• Generous Individual Donors: Funding to keep up with evolving needs of our neighbors in need. 

Recently, new funders have jumped on board to support our efforts to expand services. These partnerships include but are not limited to: 

• Colorado Trust for Behavioral Health: Enhance access to behavioral health services in Eagle County and surrounding areas by leveraging the Mobile Intercultural Resource Alliance (MIRA) bus as a platform for community engagement and service delivery.This grant will enable us to bring essential behavioral health services directly to local families in their neighborhoods. 
• Impact BH for Perinatal Navigation and Support: Supporting perinatal people and their families by building on existing infrastructure, partnerships, and resources, adapting to a perinatal lens. 
• Colorado Department of Health and Environment Immunizations: Increase COVID-19 vaccination capacity, ensure high-quality, safe, equitable distribution and administration of COVID-19 vaccines, and increase vaccine confidence through education, outreach, and partnerships.
• Colorado Department of Health and Environment Health Disparities Program: Conducting comprehensive assessments to better understand and address the needs of our community, driving the program direction of MIRA for years to come. 
• University of Colorado,College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Department of Anthropology: Facilitating Focus Groups to understand the strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for the MIRA program from a community lens. 

Looking to the future, MIRA is poised to expand and enhance its services even further. We are committed to expanding our service offerings to meet the growing needs of our community specifically hearing the need from the community for dental and behavioral health services delivered in a mobile setting. 

One the immediate horizon is MIRA’s Annual Health and Wellness Fair taking place on October 25 from 4-7pm at Edwards Elementary. This event, supported by several nonprofit partners, promises to be a vital resource for residents of Eagle County, offering valuable health and wellness information, services, and much more.

Amongst these exciting opportunities, thanks to amazing generous individuals in our community the Eagle Valley Community Foundation is purchasing and retrofitting a new vehicle to better serve our community. This new vehicle will represent a significant upgrade, featuring:

• Intake Room: A comfortable space for staff to conduct strengths-based intake and resource navigation.
• Wellness Services Room: Equipped to allow medical, behavioral health, vision, and dental partners to deliver direct services, making it the only unit in Eagle County capable of such care.
• Accessibility: The new vehicle will be easy to drive and service, requiring no special licensing, and will navigate tight spaces and remote areas with ease.

As we celebrate six years of MIRA, we remain steadfast in our mission to provide essential resources and services to our community. The future holds exciting opportunities for growth and greater impact, and we look forward to the next chapter of serving our neighbors in need with compassion, dedication, and hope.

For more information on supporting the MIRA program or accessing our services visit eaglevalleycf.org or contact Orlando Ortiz, MIRA Program Manager, at orlando@eaglevalleycf.org.