Our state of Colorado is recognized for many things, mountains, plains, thunder, snow, floods, fires, restoration. This year, 2026, we are celebrating our 150th anniversary as a state along with America’s 250th anniversary.
One of the unique stories is knowing just how resilient, and also giving, our residents are. Erin Hannan with the El Pomar Foundation shares about their collaboration with other state foundations to make a celebratory film on the spirit of generosity at this most remarkable time in our history.
Aging with Altitude is recorded in the Pikes Peak region with a focus on topics of aging interest across the country. We talk about both the everyday and novel needs and approaches to age with altitude – whether you’re in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida or Leadville, Colorado. The Pikes Peak Area Agency on Aging is the producer.
BEACON Senior News is a proud sponsor/partner for this podcast. BEACON Senior News empowers Colorado seniors with inspiring local stories, timely coverage of senior issues, health and travel features, retirement and financial guidance, senior expos and local resources — all presented in a fun, engaging way that helps older adults lead happier, healthier lives. Catch all the news at: beaconseniornews.com/
Transcript
MELISSA MARTS:
Our state of Colorado is recognized for many things: mountains, plains, wildflowers, snow. This year, 2026, we are co-celebrating our 150th anniversary along with America’s 250th anniversary. One of the unique acknowledgments of our state is knowing how resilient, but also how giving we are as citizens.
Today’s episode features Erin Hannan with the El Pomar Foundation, and she’s sharing about a special collaboration that some of our state foundations have taken on to tell the story of giving and resiliency in our state. Join in.
VOICEOVER:
This is Studio 809 Podcasts, informing, connecting, and empowering the residents of the Pikes Peak region.
MARTS:
Today, I have a quick thank you for our critical sponsorship and support from the Beacon Senior News. The Beacon Senior News is the go-to source, both in print and online, for all kinds of current great news stories, as well as a source for events to get involved with in the Pikes Peak region, Pueblo, and Fremont counties. Seek out your copy today at libraries, grocery stores, and more.
Welcome to Aging with Altitude, a podcast providing information, advice, and resources for seniors, families, and caregivers, to help you live your best life, courtesy of the Pikes Peak Area Agency on Aging. We’re coming to you from the Studio 809 Community Podcast Studio at The Next Us, a professional cooperative environment for small businesses in downtown Colorado Springs. I’m your host, Melissa Marts, with the Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments’ Area Agency on Aging.
Today, I have an interesting guest in the room. I have Erin Hannan from El Pomar, but also some other things.
Colorado is celebrating 150 years. It happens to coincide with our United States celebrating 250 years. And I am really looking forward to hearing more about the work that has been happening around our state and here in our specific area to be promoting and talking about Colorado at 150.
I do remember a lot of things growing up. I think celebrating Colorado being 100. I do remember being in a classroom when that happened. And I’m curious if there’s a whole lot of stuff going on in classrooms today. But I’ll find out more here in a minute about what Erin is doing and what your organization is doing.
So Erin, tell us a little bit about who you work for and what your role is, and then we’ll jump into talking about 150.
ERIN HANNAN:
Sounds good. Well, hello. Thank you so much for having me.
As you said, I’m Erin Hannan and I am with El Pomar Foundation. My role with the foundation is communications. I get involved in community engagement and helping tell the stories of the wonderful work that nonprofits do all over the state that we have the honor and pleasure of supporting.
And a little background on El Pomar Foundation, in case people are not familiar. We are nearly 90 years old and we are a grant making organization that was founded by Julie and Spencer Penrose in 1937.
And if you are not familiar with Julie and Spencer Penrose, they are a couple who were very entrepreneurial and philanthropic. Spencer Penrose made lots of money in mining in the early part of the last century and even the late part of the century before that. But in making a good fortune in that industry, he was very entrepreneurial and really, both of them together loved the Pikes Peak region. They loved the natural assets, the natural beauty, and they really wanted to invite people here to enjoy it and experience it.
And he brought that entrepreneurial spirit to that endeavor. And so you’re probably familiar with the Broadmoor Hotel, the Pikes Peak Highway, Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, and a number of other just beloved destinations that we still know today that he and Julie established or were significantly involved in establishing. So the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center is another one of those, and there are many more.
So they started the foundation to continue their philanthropic endeavors beyond their lifetimes. And so we are still here 90 years later making grants to nonprofits to continue their philanthropic vision.
MARTS:
Absolutely, makes a huge difference. And working with the area agency on aging, we always love a good story and a good history and to understand the roots of where people have come and how they’ve gotten to where they are today and El Pomar and the Penroses. I mean, what a great example of how to age with altitude, aging with grace, and of course their work is continuing forward. And not just here in the Pikes Peak region, but across the whole state.
HANNAN:
Absolutely.
MARTS:
And how did El Pomar get involved with this Colorado at 150?
HANNAN:
Yeah, well, you were talking about the Colorado 150, America 250, and we are the only state that has this sort of intersection with the nation’s anniversary. And if you look at the nation, it’s their semiquincentennial. Yeah, for Colorado, it’s our sesquicentennial, which we know that word from Colorado Springs’ recent 150th anniversary.
So you mash those up and it’s the sesquicentennial of Colorado and the country.
MARTS:
Yay, love it.
HANNAN:
Yeah, so the state has really leaned into this and has developed a commission, legislated a commission, to focus on celebrating the state’s 150th at this same moment with the nation.
And so there are a number of events and programs and initiatives happening all over the state that run the gamut from exhibits, school history curriculum, festivals, printed publications, and all sorts of things. El Pomar, along with a number of other foundations who are statewide-focused foundations, are committed to supporting what’s happening at the state level and for these initiatives all over the state. And part of our commitment is, we not only are supporting the commission itself and sort of their efforts around celebrating this, but we are supporting individual organizations and individual celebrations all over the state.
So we’ve all made that commitment.
MARTS:
So what are some of the celebrations in Colorado Springs or maybe elsewhere in the state that you guys have tapped into or are planning on tapping into?
HANNAN:
Yeah, you will find that August 1st is actually the official day of Colorado’s statehood.
MARTS:
Okay, good to know.
HANNAN:
August 1st, that’s known as Colorado Day. And I think you’ll see a number of different kinds of celebrations on that day all over the state.
And that, in some ways, informally maybe kicks off the Colorado 150 season, if you will. But I can tell you one of the big ones that’s gonna happen is at the top of Pikes Peak.
So Pikes Peak America’s Mountain is planning on having a big celebration that day. And in addition to a program and a celebration, which I’ll talk about in a minute, they are also going to have really unique opportunities for people to be up there sunrise and sunset, which you don’t normally get to do. And then so during the day, they’re gonna have a program with a Guinness Book of World Records attempt of people dunking donuts into coffee. So watch for more information about that.
And I know the Pioneers Museum is working on a very special exhibit related to that. Not quite Colorado Springs, but certainly part of our local celebrations. The state fair, I think, is gonna be having some things going on for Colorado 150.
So watch for more information, but I think there’s not only things going on all over the state, but certainly there’ll be things here and in this Pikes Peak region.
MARTS:
You talked a little bit about the fact that we did some legislation around making sure that this all came to be. Can you talk about that a little bit more too? Like, I’m just amazed that this level of planning and thoughtfulness has happened at our state level.
And we have a commission, I think you mentioned.
HANNAN:
Yeah.
MARTS:
And will that commission continue after this or is that commission gonna then sunset itself? I’m just kind of curious a little bit about some of the logistics around how this all kind of came to be.
HANNAN:
Yeah, so the commission. My understanding is that it is more of a temporary gathering of folks. And there is a group of people who are dedicated to ensuring that there is some structure and some thoughtfulness and some care given to this. One of the ways that they’re doing this, is that they have committees set up around the state in different regions.
There is a Pikes Peak Region Committee. There is a, perhaps a Northwest, Northeast, et cetera.
MARTS:
Makes sense.
HANNAN:
I’m familiar with the Southwest Committee. There’s a group down in Southwest Colorado. And they have created a publication that is celebrating the 150 years with stories all about very specific elements of their history.
And they’ll be doing exhibits around that region, et cetera. But the idea is that there are folks who are formally on this commission and then on these committees to support and pay attention.
And there’s even funding. There are some pockets of grant funding at this commission at the state level that support people’s projects who are creating events and festivals and exhibits and whatever the case might be. So yeah, the intentionality and care, I think, is wonderful.
MARTS:
Yeah, it’s really, I think, paying off. The word is out and good things are happening. Along with those projects, I think you mentioned to me something about a film.
And so that film, let’s talk about that a little bit. So I’m assuming, is that a film that El Pomar helped to fund to publish or did other entities come together as well? Tell us a little bit about this film.
HANNAN:
Yeah, so I mentioned other Colorado statewide foundations that are supporting this initiative. So five of us, the Anschutz Foundation, Boettcher Foundation, Adolph Coors Foundation, Daniels Fund, and El Pomar Foundation have all partnered together to produce a short documentary film. It’s about 11 minutes.
And the idea behind the film was really to take this moment of the 150th anniversary and celebrate 150 years of Coloradan’s generosity to each other. This spirit of giving and this spirit of lifting each other up and being there for each other, all the way back in our history, recognize that, highlight it, and inspire people to be involved in a spirit of generosity for the next 150 years. So it tells stories coming out of each of the foundations, but just highlighting ways around the state that people have been there for each other.
Stories about living through losing someone’s home in a wildfire. A member of our military suffering from PTSD receiving transformational treatment at the Anschutz Center in Denver. Boettcher scholars receiving funding for college that they may not have had the opportunity to experience otherwise.
Workforce development training here in Colorado Springs that is setting young people up for a lifetime and a career that puts them on a trajectory they wouldn’t have otherwise achieved. Kids in sports and how significant that can be in changing their lives and learning life skills and character building and that sort of thing. So the stories in this film are wonderful and really inspiring and encouraging.
Again, it’s just really an opportunity to highlight how people come to each other’s aid.
MARTS:
And so I love that you guys, someone came up with this idea about in times of struggle and in times of strife and so often we are always so focused on the challenges in life and we never give ourselves enough opportunity to think about the good things that are happening and the great resources that are available or how people have lived through challenging times and the resilience and the grit that they’ve brought through.
And so can you share, was this someone’s idea to do this or was there a couple of people sitting in a room one day threw this idea out or how did it even come to be that the five foundations launched and did this?
HANNAN:
Yeah, well, all five foundations along with, I believe a couple of others were already, as I mentioned before, participating and supporting the Colorado 150 initiative in general. Yeah. And I will give credit to Hannah Skandera for conceiving of this particular film opportunity from Daniel’s Fund.
And she encouraged all of the five foundations to think about whether this could be something that we could all work on together, and not only bring our resources together and to the table, but also to be able to bring a number of stories and shared Colorado experiences together. And what makes a good film, basically, is you wanna start with a good story. In our case, a handful of stories. Someone who’s committed to telling that story and these foundations have collectively been around for hundreds of years supporting nonprofits who are doing incredible work on the ground supporting people.
And then of course a good filmmaker. And the individual in the organization that we worked with was Stephen Vidano at Vidano Films. And our commitment to this celebration and our commitment to each other in this moment, to inspire other people, to continue to be a part of giving back in their communities, it all just came together magically and terrifically. And so we not only are bringing resources and bringing ourselves together, but all the foundations participated in the actual filmmaking and the production of the film.
MARTS:
I’m picturing that each foundation picked a particular resonant story that they wanted to talk about is kind of what I’m thinking I’m hearing. So El Pomar had their story and Daniels had theirs. I’m wondering, when I think about Daniels, I think about them funding a lot of youth oriented programs.
So does theirs happen to be a youth one or did they pick something else? I’m just curious.
HANNAN:
Yeah, theirs is focused on the life changing experiences that youth sport bring. They have many focus areas but youth in sports is a really significant issue for them. And so that was their focus area.
MARTS:
And what was El Pomar’s? Or is it a secret and people have to watch the film but if you could just put a little teaser out there maybe what was El Pomar’s?
HANNAN:
Sure, we are a general purpose foundation, so we fund all sorts of nonprofits. And I think we also are known for our Colorado Assistance Fund and our work in responding to crisis in a number of ways. Sometimes that is a pandemic, sometimes it’s economic crisis, the recession. Sometimes it’s when our region has been hit by a severe hailstorm.
But we also have a wildland fire fund that is part of our sort of crisis and also preparedness, right? So our wildland fire fund supports predominantly volunteer agencies all over the state that have a need to replenish PPE and this fund also works on things like mitigation and preparedness. Our story was really focused on wildfire response and support.
The story that is told through that El Pomar lens is someone who lost his home in the Marshall Fire and what the community’s response was like for him and just how impactful it was and how much he realized that Colorado has heart. That our communities are really there for each other and bring their whole heart to help one another.
MARTS:
I agree with that. And it’s nice to know that part of our culture in Colorado is to care for each other and find those resources that can make a difference. There’s a lot of great things that happen across our state. But yes, we do have some challenges and over the last many years, fires have continued to be a real challenge for our state and how to manage that and to realize that we’ve had some pretty serious community fires just in the last few years but people have come back from that.
Interesting innovations have come from it. I know that I saw some type of a documentary on some of the houses that were rebuilt up in the Marshall Fire area and how folks had utilized some really interesting environmental practices to rebuild and so out of that really devastating time came some pretty interesting innovations for home building and good things there. But I hate to see that we have to go through these really awful things to then come up with good things.
But a good reminder to all of us who do have a giving heart to know that it makes a difference and we can reach out and help and support people and find ways to move forward together and like you said, celebrate another 150 years at some point in time.
HANNAN:
That’s right and I think part of that sentiment of people helping each other and having a giving heart is really a sense of purpose, right? And I think one of the strong themes or messages of this film, and you see in the film young people asking you, the viewer, what’s important to you? What are you gonna do? How are you going to rise and lift each other up?
And this idea of having a sense of purpose in our community, in whatever way that means for you. It could be talking about youth sports, it could be coaching a youth sports team or it could be in your kid’s school, it could be in your church, serving on boards or commissions, whatever that looks like, right? This idea of supporting each other is as fulfilling and as full of purpose for the person who is extending their generosity, as it is for the people who are so much in need in that moment.
MARTS:
Having to be humble and accept it. So I worked at Care and Share Food Bank here in Colorado Springs during our Waldo Canyon Fire that happened where we had so many homes, I think over 350 homes burned and so many people displaced and Care and Share Food Bank operated literally 24/7 for I think it was two weeks straight. So we had volunteers, we had staff, we had people in there. And the folks that had to come and accept help who had nothing and showed up at Care and Share Food Bank and their experience had always been giving to others who were in need and then they found themselves on the other side of it and coming and just eternally grateful for the support that the community had put out.
And the reason Care and Share had to work so much was because the donations that came in during that time were astronomical, not only donations for the individuals who lost their homes but also for all the firefighters and all the first responders who were going in and taking care of things. So we had the chap sticks coming in for the firefighters and it was quite a production to have been such a frontline operator myself during that time and knowing the people who came and accepted the help and showed up. It changed my life for sure in many ways.
So what are the plans for the film? What are you guys doing with it?
HANNAN:
Well, we debuted it in January and-
MARTS:
And what did that look like?
HANNAN:
We took it up to the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo, up at the center up in Denver. And we were able to share it with a number of folks in a private large reception, but also shared it to the full rodeo crowd. I should say there is a longer version of the film that is 11 minutes and we have a shorter version.
MARTS:
Of course, the little, the teaser.
HANNAN:
It’s maybe a little over two minutes. But we essentially, are hoping, throughout the rest of this year, we’ve been promoting it out with an intent that people will watch it, they will share it, they will screen it in places that feel relevant and connected for them. Whether that is at a private event, maybe it’s a nonprofit who sees the value as part of their fundraising, inspiring their donor base and their stakeholders.
But our hope is that it gets widely viewed, widely seen and inspires a good population of our state of people to get involved and pay it forward. You know, we are going to have it featured in the exhibits at the Summit House on top of Pikes Peak as part of their celebration of Colorado 150 throughout the year.
MARTS:
And dunking some donuts.
HANNAN:
And dunking some donuts, that’s right. We are hoping that it will be shared also at the state fair, as I mentioned, in September. Perhaps at Coors Field for Rockies later this year. And a number of other venues and events across the state and across the year.
So we’re working on sharing it out, getting the word out.
MARTS:
You’re doing a great job.
HANNAN:
Asking people to join us in the effort.
MARTS:
And we’re happy to be joining in that effort. I just went down to Florida last week. I just got back in town and it was fun to be able to brag about Colorado 150 and America 250, because like you said at the beginning, no other state has that honor of kind of this coinciding together and it is really a unique opportunity for us to be able to keep talking about it.
How do people find the video? Where do they go?.
HANNAN:
So they go to co150film.com
MARTS:
co150film.com, correct?
HANNAN:
Yes, and on that web page is both versions of the film, the short version and the long version. They can be downloaded and screened or just watched right there on the site.
There’s also a kit, if you will, a media kit with social media posts and things all created and ready to share for someone who might wanna put it on their own social media and help us spread the word and share it out to their networks.
And here’s the other thing that’s really fun. There is a place on the website where you can upload your own story of generosity, how you’ve received generosity, how you have participated in generosity, something you’ve witnessed that you might wanna share. And so we’re excited about collecting a whole bunch of people’s stories from all over the state and being able to get those out and have people inspired by all sorts of acts of kindness and generosity.
MARTS:
Good things that are happening, good things that are happening.
Well, and so the Pikes Peak Area Agency on Aging is under the Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments.
And the council of governments is three counties. So we’re El Paso, Park and Teller Counties and our board of directors consists of mayors, county commissioners, city council people from 16 different jurisdictions across our three counties and hopefully some of our board members have already been thinking about 150 and maybe have even heard about the film, but I’m looking forward to taking it back to them and sharing it with them and seeing where that all leads Whether it’s in Green Mountain Falls or whether it’s in Fairplay, Colorado, Cripple Creek and Woodland Park and Callahan here in the Pikes Peak region in El Paso County.
So, just all over the Pikes Peak region and getting this in the hands of those folks to remind them of what’s going on and hopefully they’ve already been thinking about it too like a lot of us have been but have not marked anything on our calendars yet for sure to be paying attention.
Although I will say that I did have an opportunity early on in February to meet with, I might say their name wrong but the Pikes Peak Diversity Council which I think has rebranded themselves and they had Martin Luther King Jr.’s granddaughter here in town and that was one of the first events that was marketed out through Colorado 150, America 250. So that was fun to see how this effort has come together to really showcase things happening across our state.
So thank you for being in the studio today and reminding us what we’re up against here and the good things that are gonna happen in the months to come. So thank you, Erin. And again, that website to find the film is?
HANNAN:
co150film.com
MARTS:
All right, take care. Thanks.
HANNAN:
All right, thank you.
MARTS:
That’s the show. Thanks to all of you for being with us today. Aging with Altitude is created by the Pikes Peak Area Council of Government’s Area Agency on Aging.
Visit us at ppacg.org and click on aging services for more information about the programs of the area agency on aging.