San Miguel County Public Health Introduces "Free Care Boxes" at Local Libraries

San Miguel County Public Health is bringing a new kind of "Free Box" to the community. But it comes with a twist: this one is designed to make essential health, wellness, and basic-needs resources easier to access.

San Miguel County Public Health is bringing a new kind of "Free Box" to the community. But it comes with a twist: this one is designed to make essential health, wellness, and basic-needs resources easier to access. On September 1, Public Health, in partnership with the Wilkinson Public Library and Lone Cone Library, installed "Free Care Boxes" at both libraries. Inspired by Telluride's beloved Free Box but with a public health focus: the cabinets offer community members free, low-barrier access to a range of supplies, including Narcan and other harm-reduction resources, diapers, menstrual products, body wipes, oral-hygiene supplies, and other basic-needs items. The cabinets also include QR codes linking residents to additional local health and social service resources, including information about the Behavioral Health Fund, which provides therapy scholarships. The idea began with a conversation outside of San Miguel County. Earlier this year, San Miguel County Public Health Behavioral Health Projects Lead, Cole Cooper, attended the annual Katz Amsterdam Foundation convening, where rural resort mountain communities come together to share challenges, ideas and successes related to mental health and substance use. There, Cooper saw a presentation from Nevada County Public Health, home to Truckee, about their Health Access Vending (HAVEN) machines. The machines provide additional, free and confidential access points for health products and services. "I was really impressed by the idea of creating another entry point where people could access needed resources in a more accessible and destigmatized way," Cooper said. "It got me thinking about what that could look like here in San Miguel County." Public Health worked with the Wilkinson Public Library and Lone Cone Library to explore how a similar approach could be adapted locally. To bring the vision to life, Public Health worked with local woodworker James of Telluride Woodworks who made the cabinets. Through those conversations, the group identified an opportunity to address a simple but increasingly important need: making essential resources available in places people already visit, without requiring an appointment, referral or complicated process. As the cost of living continues to put pressure on households, even relatively small expenses, such as diapers or menstrual products, can become increasingly burdensome essentials. At the same time, many community members may not know what health and behavioral health resources are available to them or where to begin looking for help. The Free Care Boxes are intended to help bridge both gaps. The project is also designed to help Public Health better understand what supplies and services the community may need. Public Health will track which supplies are used most frequently and plans to collect further community feedback. Over time, that information can help Public Health and its partners identify emerging needs, improve the supplies offered and direct resources where they are most needed. "With the 'Free Care Box,' we wanted to create something that was immediately useful to people and responded to community needs," Cooper said. "If we see that certain supplies are consistently being used, or that people are looking for resources we haven't anticipated, that gives us an opportunity to respond more proactively." The Free Care Boxes represent a broader effort by San Miguel County Public Health to improve awareness of and access to local health, behavioral health, and social-support resources. By placing resources in familiar community spaces like libraries, the goal is to provide more entryways to care and reduce barriers to accessing needed resources. The Free Care Boxes are now available at the Wilkinson Public Library and Lone Cone Library for community members to access. For more information, contact San Miguel County Public Health at 970-728-4289, [email protected] or at their office, located on the third floor of the Miramonte Building at 333 W Colorado Ave., Telluride, CO 81435 (Monday - Friday 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.). We welcome your feedback on this work. You're welcome to share comments or questions by phone, email, or in person at the office above.