The Daniels Fund awarded $100,000 to two local organizations working to help locals through various issues during the foundation’s second annual Salute to Excellence Wednesday.

The nonprofits, CrossPurpose and Teaching the Autism Community Trades (TACT), received the prizes while being awarded finalists for the Daniels Fund Medal of Excellence at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science during the event. Both organizations were chosen due to their “game-changing achievements,” according to a news release from the Daniels Fund.

“Their commitment to excellence reflects the values that Bill Daniels expected — and exhibited,” Hanna Skandera, Daniels Fund president and CEO, said of the two recipients, comparing their work to the mission created by television executive and sports teams owner Bill Daniels when he started the private charity in 1997.

She added: “With this award, we’re confident that these two groups will be able to expand their excellent work in the Denver Metro region.”

Denver-based CrossPurpose provides opportunities to individuals to lift themselves out of poverty through job training and community relationships that allow them to expand their skills, obtain a career and maximize their independence, according to the release.

“Our model provides a path for families to move out of generational poverty and into generational wealth,” CrossPurpose CEO Jason Janz said. “Support from the Daniels Fund helps make our work possible and this award will enable us to promote successful outcomes for the people we serve.”

TACT, on the other hand, is a training-to-employment program for the autism community in the Denver area that boasts a one-of-a-kind mission — get young adults with autism into careers.

The program started in 2016 after Danny Combs’ son Dylan was diagnosed with autism in 2009. 

To Combs, every trip to the doctor or therapist was disheartening.

“The conversation always led to what was wrong with Dylan, not what his abilities were,” he told The Denver Gazette in 2024. 

The first few years included traveling around in a pickup truck, teaching trades to children at churches, libraries and whoever else would have him.

Now, the program is based out of a training facility in Englewood with more than 100 current students.

“Having a son on the spectrum, I am personally connected to our work,” Becky Mershon, chief operating officer and programs director for TACT, said in the release. “Not only does the autism community have an unemployment rate of over 80% but the trades are struggling to locate skilled workers. Our partnership with the Daniels Fund and this award will not only help our clients maximize their potential but will ultimately strengthen our workforce and economy.”

At the event, the Child Development Center of Natrona County (CDC) was awarded the Salute to Excellence award for its service to children with special needs across Wyoming through outpatient occupational, physical and speech therapy, reading coaching and audiology services.

Along with the awards, the Daniels Fund has supported the three organizations over the past “several” years as longstanding grantees, according to the release. The Daniels Fund has distributed more than $1.2 billion in grants and scholarships throughout its 25-year history.

“Bill Daniels established the Daniels Fund to operate in perpetuity as a permanent part of the communities we serve,” according to the organization’s website. “Our assets — the source of our ability to provide grants and scholarships — were provided entirely by Bill.”