Seventeen-year-old Ava Del Hierro said that Steamboat without Sk8 Church would lose a sober, free space where teens can find friendship and community. Trevor “Apple” Mekelburg believes that the nonprofit organization is one of the only organizations in the area that tailors toward low income kids who can’t afford other expensive sports or afterschool care programs. 

Sk8 Church is an indoor skate park that provides free, home cooked meals twice a week as well as other services for kids and young adults. Their mission is to create a safe and sober environment to feel valued and important.

Del Hierro, who works at Sk8 Church, has made friends there that she otherwise might never have spoken to at school. 

“I can just go over and talk to anybody without it feeling awkward. I think that’s probably the biggest impact it has, the sense of comfortability and a place to call home,” Del Hierro said. 

Mekelburg found Sk8 Church after moving to Steamboat at 19 and signing up to volunteer there to fill the 120 hours of community service he was charged with. Mekelburg credits the support he found through the organization as helping him through the lowest parts of his life.

“I just started volunteering because I just loved it and slowly but surely I started leading the middle school night there and started dating another one of the volunteers, who I ended up marrying. So it’s just been so much a part of my life,” said Mekelburg. 

But Del Hierro and Mekelburg’s safe place is now at financial risk of closing. In 2023, the rent for the organization’s space, located at 2851 Riverside Plaza on the west end of town, nearly doubled. The organization is free to join and operates entirely on donations.

The organization has also struggled internally, with numerous leadership changes in recent years. In fact, the current Executive Director, Liana Torres only recently stepped into her role last year – although she and her kids have been involved with the organization since its inception in 2005.  

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To get donors interested and to celebrate the youth they serve, Sk8 Church will host an End of School Bash on Saturday, May 30 from 4-7 p.m. The start of summer celebration features games, prizes and food and is open to everyone. 

Sk8 Church’s first financial goal is $150,000 by August 1. This money will allow the organization to stabilize operations and instate a permanent Executive Director. 

Jason Bongiorno, one of the board members, said that the bash is intended to provide a new mode of community outreach for the program while also being a fun event for the youth. Torres emphasized that they are labeling the event as a “party” hosted for the kids and not a fundraiser. 

“It’s an opportunity to meet people, do things as well as to be able to have donors come in and see what we’re doing and let them know that this is an organization that is in a spot where we need to get some funding to be able to continue to provide a free establishment for our kids,” said Bongiorno. 

Sk8 Church’s second goal is $350,000 by December 31. The organization will also host a Back to School Luau and Skate Competition in August, date and venue still to be determined. 

Sk8 Church was founded by Buck and Tara Chavarria. They started going to the skate park and cooking meals to connect with a culture that they felt was often ignored and overlooked. Now, in its second decade in Steamboat, the organization has since expanded to offer services like Bible study, mentorship, weekly addiction recovery meetings for adults, mission trips and sober events for major holidays. 

“I think because the team up here has worked so hard to offer this programming, if you were to look or drive by or look online, it looks like everything’s just fine, but it’s the behind the scenes struggles,” said Mekelburg. 

Torres pointed to two main ideas the organization wants to highlight. The first, is that anyone can be a part of Sk8 Church even if they don’t practice either of those things. They provide a multitude of activities, from movie nights to art stations and board games and even a simple place to do homework. The park is not limited to just skating, most wheeled sports are accepted with the exception of BMX bikes. They’re also offering the space up to rent for birthday parties, their only paid service. 

The second idea is to communicate a mission and impact to people who may be newer to the Steamboat Springs community and not familiar with Sk8 Church. 

“We’ve got a whole other dynamic of Steamboat to bring on board now. I think there’ s a whole lot of people that have moved here that haven’t made it down this way, so I think this party is our chance,” Torres said.