Three that turned 30: PEER evolves its mission while staying fully focused on local youth health

Editor’s note: This article on PEER is the first in a three-part series on three unique, local nonprofits that in 2026 are celebrating 30 years of serving the Eagle River Valley community. The other two articles will feature Small Champions and the Vail Valley Charitable Fund.

In 1996, when PEER first started as the Red Ribbon Project, the world of youth sexuality in the Eagle River Valley was in a very different place.

With the Internet just starting to take shape and, therefore, misinformation and disinformation much more limited in its scope, the idea behind the nonprofit was to counter the spread of HIV/AIDS locally, nationally and globally (a red ribbon is the symbol of that cause).

With the advent of antiretroviral therapy, HIV/AIDS is not the deadly pandemic it was in the 1980s and 90s, so the Red Ribbon Project became PEER (Promoting Empowerment Eagle River), focusing on the overall health of Eagle Valley youth — not just sexually, but in general — by providing medially accurate resources and promoting overall health awareness.

“We are in a pretty fortunate bubble, and so sometimes we’re removed and isolated from some things that go on in the world,” PEER Executive Director Kendra Cowles said. “With that said, our prevention work remains crucial so we don’t have increases in HIV, STI (sexually transmitted infections), and teen pregnancy, and we have an awareness beyond our local community.”

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Paula Palmateer, who still serves on the PEER board, was inspired to found the Red Ribbon Project locally through her work volunteering with the homeless people in New York City during the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the late 1980s. While HIV/AIDS is now a manageable STI, Palmateer feels strongly that now is not the time to be complacent.

“Red Ribbon was all about HIV/AIDS and getting treatment more broadly throughout the country and the world, which we’ve seen be very effective,” Palmateer said of PEER. “So the idea is to be empowered, to take charge of your life and to be in charge of your health and well-being, particularly your sexual health. It’s geared especially towards young people.”

And that fully evolved mission now revolves around presenting the best possible set of facts.

“We want to present medically accurate facts and information and let everyone know that they are individuals and respected and now have the information and resources to make healthier and safer choices for themselves and others,” Cowles said.

That includes listening to young people today about what they’re dealing with in the moment.

“We want them to be safer and healthier today and making choices that also lead to better health outcomes and greater successes in their futures too,” Cowles said. “So we teach everything from abstinence to, if you choose to be sexually active, we want to make sure you do it safely and understand potential outcomes and are informed and aware of that and make decisions based on that and keep yourselves healthy and in healthy relationships.”

Cowles said all perspectives on these topics are welcome.

“We don’t want to just dismiss points of view. They should be valid as long as they’re not hurtful … and part of the listening needs to come from the youth themselves,” she said. “Just to say that we’ve been there as a teenager, discounts all that they are going through and the challenges of what they’re dealing with.”

PEER, she adds, is informed by evidence-based programs and curriculums, and is therefore able to adapt to what Eagle Valley youth are dealing with. With programming in local public schools (fifth through ninth grade) and some private schools as well, PEER taps into an experienced group of volunteer health educators with deep connections in the community.

Some work for other youth nonprofits, others are connected to healthcare physician assistants, and a couple are retired teachers — experts in the content, but also connected to the community. They all believe in adapting to current youth challenges to enhance the learning opportunities.

“Back in the ’80s, there was no Internet,” Cowles points out. “So accessing information or misinformation wasn’t possible (in that way). The notion of texting, now they’re faced with sexting. And most recently you’ve added AI (artificial intelligence) into the mix too. So our young people are dealing with a lot that’s constantly changing.”

In addition to condom distribution and educational efforts, PEER programming also includes free HIV/STI testing, with the next testing event from 9 a.m. to noon in the second floor lab of Vail Health hospital. PEER is partnered with Mountain Pride, Mira Bus and the Colorado Health Network, and the ongoing program is completely free and totally confidential.

Then from 5:45 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 22, PEER’s annual fundraiser is entitled “30 Years of Empowerment. Inspiring the Next 30” and billed as “a special cultural event and screening of the Broadway-inspired classic, RENT.” Held at Riverwalk Theater in Edwards, the event will feature “90s fun,” costumes, 90s hair contests and other musical, dance and art-related possibilities.

For the latest updates on the fundraiser and other programming, go to the PEER website or email info@promotingempowerment.org.