About Aspen House
“Disability Need Not be an Obstacle to Success” ~ Stephen Hawking
The Mission of Aspen House/Aspen Services is to cultivate an environment of success for adults with developmental disabilities and their community.
Who is Aspen House & Aspen Services?
Aspen House/Aspen Services operates under A Safe Place In Pagosa Springs, Inc, a recognized nonprofit 501(c)(3). Patricia Brown and Carolyn Paschal created this nonprofit in 2015 to provide a safe home that would support their adult children with developmental disabilities. They expanded their vision to include additional families facing the same circumstances in the Pagosa Springs area.
Once adults with developmental disabilities reach the age of maturity, they age out of various state support programs. Parents can wait up to 10 years or longer to clear the waiting list at other state or nationwide facilities. Pagosa Springs does not have any group homes or residential facilities currently.
The Purpose of A Safe Place in Pagosa, Inc.
The purpose of A Safe Place in Pagosa, Inc. (ASPiP) is to provide room and 24/7 support services for adults with mild to moderate developmental disabilities in Archuleta County. ASPiP operates DBA businesses that act to support the mission of the organization and generate revenue to contribute to the operational costs of the supportive home. These DBAs are: Aspen House, Aspen Services, PS FroYo.
Aspen House will be a 8-suite licensed group care home for adults with developmental disabilities located on Vista Blvd. A qualified support team will assess each resident and create an Individualized Program Plan (IPP) for them based on their specific needs and desires. Round-the-clock care will be provided for the safety of the residents. The program also includes wrap-around resources such as recreation, therapy, community engagement and vocational support services. In addition, all services and programs will be available to non-resident community members that qualify. Once the initial home is built, we will work to develop additional supportive housing options to serve people with other needs.
Meet the Board of Directors and Staff
Keena Carstensen
Board Vice President/Interim President
Keena was born and reared in Southern California. In 1982 she moved to Thousand Oaks, CA with her husband Todd to begin their married life and rear their family. Their second child, Jared, is an adult with developmental disabilities. When they moved to Pagosa Springs in 2017 Jared came to Pagosa a month later and has lived with them ever since. Someone referred Keena to Patty Brown at Aspen House and while she and her husband were busy building their retirement home, she became involved with their first big fundraising event in 2019. Once the housebuilding was mostly done Keena made the decision to join the Board in January of 2022.
Bryan Looper
Treasurer
Bryan was born and raised in Pagosa. Bryan attended Colorado Mesa University where he received his BA. Bryan and his wife Nicolle along with with their two kids Brynn and Colle love this community and volunteer with several local non-profits. “We are very fortunate to be able to raise our kids in the community my wife and I grew up in, showing our kids the value of humility and volunteering”
Ali Braun
Secretary
Ali Braun is a retired critical care nurse with a soft spot for pediatrics and a knack for sourdough. She holds a B.S. in Animal Physiology from the University of Arizona and an A.D. from Pueblo Community College in Nursing. Over her career Ali taught Pediatric and Neonatal Advanced Life Support, Trauma Nursing, and served on the state Pediatric Emergency Care Coordination Committee-because helping tiny humans was always close to her heart.
Julie Pederson
Director
Julie was born into a military family, which meant she moved frequently throughout her childhood. Together with her family, she lived in several states, including Wyoming, New Mexico, Ohio, California, and Georgia. These experiences provided Julie with a unique perspective, allowing her to adapt to various communities and cultures across the country. Julie attended the University of Denver on an Air Force ROTC scholarship, which led to four years of service in the Air Force at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska. Following her military service, she worked for a defense contractor for two years. After her time in defense contracting, Julie “retired” to focus on raising her four children, a commitment that spanned twenty years, primarily in the Kansas City area and in Parker, outside of Denver. As her youngest children entered middle school and high school, Julie found the opportunity to pursue a new career in education, becoming a special education paraprofessional for the past fifteen years.
STAFF
Pattie Copenhaver
Executive Director
Pattie joined the Aspen House team in September of 2023. She spent over two decades in marketing communications working for Texas Instruments. After relocating from Tucson, AZ to Pagosa Springs, she fell in love with the small town mountain life and realized that raising her family in a kinder, gentler place was truly the right decision and dedicated herself to finding purpose in her work through creative expression and leadership.
Rebecca Thompson
Aspen Services Director
Born and raised in Colorado, Becky received her bachelor degree from Colorado State University. After college, she lived in Denver where she worked in an environmental lab and met and married her husband, Mark. They moved to Pagosa Springs in 1994 when Mark took a job with the school district.
FOUNDERS
Carolyn Paschal
Founder
Carolyn graduated from Casady School in Oklahoma City and then received her BA from Baylor University with a major in Education and Speech and Language Therapy. She received her MA from the University of Denver, also in Speech and Language Therapy. She has completed additional coursework towards her PhD at the University of Denver in Early Childhood Education.
