Former teacher starts Eagle County’s first eating disorder recovery nonprofit

An Eagle County resident and former Avon Elementary School teacher recently launched Eagle County’s first nonprofit specifically addressing eating disorder recovery.

BodyKind Vail provides peer-supported programming for those struggling with and in recovery from eating disorders.

“Our mission is to provide non-clinical, peer-based support for anyone in our community that has been impacted by an eating disorder,” said Alex Kandalaft, BodyKind Vail’s founder and executive director. “Whether you’re 10 years into your recovery or you’re in the thick of your illness, we are here to provide peer-based support through a different mode of programs.”

The organization offers peer-based group meetings, one-on-one mentoring and creative healing workshops, including art therapy, music therapy and recovery road mapping.

BodyKind Vail is “a non-clinical support space” with the connections to make referrals to a higher level of clinical care with Eating Recovery Center or Vail Health Behavioral Health if needed, Kandalaft said. 

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“A big part of our mission, too, is community education and community awareness,” she said.

BodyKind Vail’s origin story

Kandalaft, who is in recovery from anorexia and bulimia nervosa, was inspired to start the nonprofit after her own search for eating disorder recovery-related resources in Eagle County when she was in crisis yielded minimal results.

“When I was in the thick of my eating disorder, I could not find any resources,” Kandalaft said. “From the peer-based side, in recovery, there was nothing, and then also on the clinical side, there was also really nothing.”

“Eating disorders are already very isolating, and then that just made it more so,” Kandalaft said.

Kandalaft moved to Eagle County as a college student studying early childhood education in 2020 and got a job as a kindergarten teacher at Avon Elementary School. During her second year in the job, she started getting “incredibly sick.”

During her third year of teaching, the administration team asked her to look for help. “They said, ‘It’s time to make a change,'” Kandalaft said. “They were incredibly supportive.”

Kandalaft underwent treatment at Eating Recovery Center in Denver from January to April 2024.

“During that time in treatment, I did a lot of reflection on what was going on in my day-to-day life that was really fueling my eating disorder, and I knew I needed to make a change career-wise,” she said.

Kandalaft has been working for the Eagle Valley Community Foundation for a year. She also volunteers with other local nonprofits, including RECONNECTED Foundation, SOS Outreach and SpeakUp ReachOut.

In the spring, she hosted a guest speaker through RECONNECTED from Eating Recovery Center for an ‘Eating Disorder 101’ night. The success of that event led to peer support group meetings, then a meal support group.

“It all built on each other,” Kandalaft said.

Kandalaft has been running eating disorder peer support groups since June. “We still have the same crew of people, and each week, we’re slowly growing more and more,” she said.

Kandalaft said she has heard from individuals of all ages, even as young as 12, who have struggled with disordered eating and are interested in joining the BodyKind Vail community. 

“The want and the need is there, and it’s really just continuing to get word out and continue building that trust,” Kandalaft said.

BodyKind Vail officially launched on Sept. 29 at SpeakUp ReachOut’s annual theatrical event, “This is My Brave.”

What you might not know about eating disorders

There are many misconceptions about eating disorders.

For example, many people associate eating disorders with extreme thinness. But “you can’t tell that somebody is experiencing an eating disorder just by looking at them,” Kandalaft said. 

“There seems to still be this common narrative that eating disorders are … about physical aesthetics, like bodyweight, and that (they) only exist in middle to upper class cisgender white females,” Kandalaft said. “I can say from my experience leading these groups that could not be further from the truth.”

“Binge eating is the most common eating disorder, and it affects more people than anorexia and bulimia combined, but no one talks about it,” Kandalaft said. 

In mountain communities, eating disorders can be tied to the pursuit of high-level athletics.

“Especially in Vail, a mountain community, where athletic performance and physical aesthetics really is the center of our culture, I think that puts so much pressure on individuals trying to navigate recovery,” Kandalaft said. “Within those communities, there’s a lot of toxic food talk. It’s hard to find a community of people within mountain towns that participate in low-impact sports.”

Eating disorders can have negative effects on many areas of not only one person’s life, but also on the community they live in.

“(As) someone who lived with a really intense, life-threatening eating disorder, I was missing work,” Kandalaft said. “I was not being an active participant in my community at all, I was not socializing, I was not giving back in any way, I was visiting the emergency room frequently.”

BodyKind Vail aims to address one of the most prominent aspects of eating disorders: The loss of community.

“Eating disorders are incredibly isolating, and they overpower every single aspect of someone’s life,” Kandalaft said. “Recovery thrives in connection.”

Kandalaft invited all those struggling with or in recovery from eating disorders to get involved with BodyKind Vail.

“Come check out one of our programs, whether you pop into a group or come to a mealtime assistance program, just forming that connection and being surrounded by other people who understand it,” Kandalaft said.

The organization is currently fundraising and looking for volunteers. Kandalaft is also spreading the word throughout the community that BodyKind Vail and its resources now exist.

“Share the word, because you never know who would be listening and who needs these services, so you could really help save someone’s life,” Kandalaft said.

Learn more about BodyKind Vail, connect with programming or get involved as a volunteer through its website, BodyKindVail.org, or on Instagram or Facebook.