Local nonprofit Montezuma Partners has closed its doors

The move leaves area youths without mentors, assistance for those who are homeless, and alternatives to detention for delinquents.

The local organization had provided several services for area youths, including mentoring, delinquency diversion and monitoring as well as help for homeless and runways.

Partners board Chair Dena Guttridge said the lease for the building housing the program was set to expire, and the organization lost nearly $200,000 in grants.

“We were having trouble finding a new location and we just figured it was time for cuts,” she said.

Other organizations are being sought to take on the services previously offered by Partners, Guttridge said.

“We’re hoping these programs will go on because it would be a big loss for the community,” she said.

Although the Partners’ board of directors was down to three voting members, Guttridge said the organization’s bylaws allowed the board to continue to vote on decisions.

Cortez Police Chief Roy Lane said the organization provided juvenile screening, diversion and tracking services for the police department.

“It’s been an important part of the process for many years, and it’s just a sad thing to see it go,” Lane said.

A sign on the Partners’ door at 1000 N. Mildred Rd. said the organization would no longer be offering services and those seeking services should refer back to the organization that sent them.

Due to inadequate record keeping, state grants that had previously funded Montezuma Partners’ alternative resolution, mentoring and mediation projects were recently terminated.

A Jan. 13 letter from Jeanne Smith, Director of the state Division of Criminal Justice stated her agency has been requesting audits from Partners since 2008 and has since only received a report from an auditor that no opinion can be expressed due to a lack of available financial records.

“DCJ has made numerous efforts to guide Montezuma Partners through this process. However it appears that the record keeping over the past years has been so deficient that there is no way to cure the problem,” Smith wrote.

Former Partners Director Fred Blackburn estimates that around 700 youth were served by the organization.

“They don’t have a safe place to go to anymore,” he said Tuesday.

The current director of the organization could not be reached for comment before deadline Wednesday.

Reach Reid Wright at reidw@cortezjournal.com