At the Art Walk I’ll have a booth where you can come, say hi, donate to Olivia’s fund and get reading! Donate as little or as much as you’d like! Every bit counts! All the money being donated will go straight to Olivia’s Fund, below you can read all about it. Olivia and her Mother are dear to my heart and what they are accomplishing together is true change and one that is needed in our Valley. Let’s all support this wonderful cause!
About Olivia’s Fund (from the website)
Vickie Zacher Ortega, a local parent, came to know the limitations in our behavioral health system firsthand when she was getting help for her daughter Olivia. Vickie describes Olivia as adventurous. She was athletic and loved sports, including volleyball and gymnastics, and loved animals. The change in Olivia’s personality happened in 6th grade when she experienced extreme bullying. She started finding notes from classmates in her backpack and locker stating she should kill herself.
The family did everything they could to care for their daughter and met several obstacles. It took a month and a half to get Olivia in to see a counselor due to a lack of local providers. Furthermore, the visits were not covered by her health insurance and they did not qualify for financial assistance, making the out-of-pocket charge of $270/hour impossible to sustain at the frequency of sessions Olivia needed.
Olivia’s pain was too great. She took her life in February 2018, just a few days after her 13th birthday. Grief rippled from her family and throughout our small community when the tragic news spread. The powerlessness felt by so many was quickly followed by many local leaders and organizations wanting to do more.
In December 2019, Vail Health Foundation launched the campaign, It Takes A Valley: Transforming Behavioral Health to raise $100 million for a total investment of $160 million to address the issue over the next decade.
Vickie and her family wanted to create a special fund in Olivia's memory to help other local individuals and families in need obtain access to behavioral health care.
“My hope for Olivia's Fund is that it will help anyone who is struggling, so they can get the treatment that they or a family member desperately needs.”
Olivia’s Fund will offer financial assistance to help pay for a patient’s behavioral health services. The fund will cover anyone in need who lives or works in Eagle County, regardless of their insurance situation, and will be considered a payment of last resort. After six sessions, the provider will discuss alternate and sustainable funding options with the patient.
Olivia’s Fund will cover anyone in need of behavioral health services, regardless of insurance or immigration status. Medicaid clients are not eligible for scholarships, as Medicaid will cover the full cost of behavioral health services. The EVBH therapist directory provides a list of behavioral health clinicians in the Valley who accept Medicaid. If an applicant has commercial insurance, EVBH will encourage them to work with their behavioral health provider to utilize their insurance plan and other payment sources, such as employee assistance programs, to maximize all available funding sources for treatment.
