The Eagle River Youth Coalition was officially formed as a 501c3, nonprofit agency, in 2001, as several individuals realized the importance of working collaboratively to assess and meet the changing needs of youth. The Family Center had formed a networking/training group. Leadership Vail Valley put together the Eagle CARES survey as its project to assess the needs of youth and determine youth programming. Finally, another group was addressing youth substance abuse and use. The groups making separate efforts decided to form one organization focused to mobilize the community and prioritize the needs of youth.

Since that time, The ERYC continues to focus on moving to the highest level of collaboration with its member agencies, and has an initiative called The Eagle County Youth Collaborative. In addition, The ERYC focuses on community outreach to influence positive community change. This year is the organization’s ninth year serving youth organizations and advocating for youth to guarantee young people are best served in Eagle County.