About
The Suicide Loss Memorial Foundation was founded in 2024 in Greeley, Colorado, and granted 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status by the IRS in 2025. We serve families in Weld County and across Colorado, and we are growing to serve the full state.
Mission
We support families who have lost someone to suicide, and we do it with three concrete things. We connect struggling young people to activities, mentors, and peers so they are not carrying it alone. We place memorials in public spaces so people are remembered and families have somewhere to go. And we are building a community garden as a place to gather and grow.
We are a small, volunteer-run organization on purpose. Money that comes in goes straight to the work, and we can tell you exactly where. As our funding grows, so will we, bringing on more board members and volunteers who are passionate about this mission and have the skills and heart to help build it.
Where we work
Our home is Greeley, and that is where our youth program starts. Our memorials program serves families anywhere in Colorado, and we are building toward statewide reach for everything we do.
Board of Directors
Nicole Arellano-Forget
Founder & President
Nicole founded the organization in memory of her father, who died by suicide in August 2014. In 2015 she raised funds to place a memorial bench in the park where he loved to walk. That project shaped everything the foundation does today. She brings more than a decade of lived experience with suicide loss to the work.
Alexander Arellano
Vice President
Alexander has lived in Colorado since 2001 and has spent the last five years in industrial operations management, most of that time as an operations manager. He brings a steady, solutions-oriented approach to the board and personal experience with mental health struggles.
Celeste Cardenas
Treasurer
Celeste has more than 17 years of experience in financial services, community engagement, and nonprofit development. She has directed over $300,000 in charitable funds and leads the foundation's financial stewardship and transparency.
Accountability
We are a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit in good standing. View our full financial and governance profile, including our IRS filings, on Candid, the leading source of nonprofit transparency data.
Nonprofit details