Meet The Team
SafeSide Foundation is governed by Colorado residents who know this work personally. Three of our four board members are in recovery themselves or are parents of children in recovery from opioids. That is not a coincidence. SafeSide was built by a family that lived this crisis, and lived experience guides every decision we make, from the boardroom to the street.
Executive Director
Board Member
Dave Ammons
Dave's connection to this work is personal. His family's journey with opioid addiction began when a family member was prescribed opioids following an athletic injury, an all-too-common story he shares so other families feel less alone.. That experience gave him a firsthand understanding of the pain, the dark moments, and the obstacles families face on the road to recovery.
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Professionally, Dave brings thirty-five years of leadership in human resources, learning and development, employee relations, and organizational development to the Foundation. He is also a published author of Sermons in Stones: Tales of Family, Friends, and Fly Fishing. The greatest lesson of his life is that meaning is grounded in the connections we build with others, and that principle guides his leadership of the Foundation. When he is not serving the Foundation, Dave serves his Colorado community as a volunteer firefighter and feeds his lifelong passion for fly fishing on the same rivers that inspired his book.
Secretary
Board Member
Ross Miller
Ross Miller is in long-term recovery from opioid addiction. His addiction began in 2011 with a prescription after a back injury, and his recovery came through peer support and 12-step community, an experience that convinced him that people with lived experience reach people the clinical system cannot. In 2019 he co-founded SafeSide Recovery with his father Rob, and he later co-founded the SafeSide Foundation, where he serves as Board Secretary.
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Ross leads SafeSide’s community partnerships, grant strategy, and growth, and is a driving force behind its peer-first service model. He speaks openly about his own story because that is what peer recovery is: proof, in person, that change is possible. His full story is at safesiderecovery.com/mission-statement.
Community Advancement
Board Member
Jay Frost
Jay Frost is the President of Frost Livestock Company, a multi-generational family farm and ranch in southeast Colorado, the same region where SafeSide operates the Pueblo shelter. As a third-generation producer whose sons now represent the fourth, Jay is deeply rooted in the communities of the Fountain Creek and Arkansas River valleys and passionate about their people.
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His leadership experience includes service with the Colorado State Land Board, the Colorado Department of Agriculture, the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, and the Arkansas River Valley Organic Growers, along with work on fairness and equity in watershed districts and access to clean, safe water. Jay’s commitment to helping men and women experiencing homelessness find new opportunities, healthier lives, and supportive peer relationships anchors the Foundation’s work in southern Colorado.
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Advisor
Rob Miller
Rob Miller co-founded SafeSide in 2019 in Colorado with his son Ross, after their family walked through opioid addiction together. As the parent of a child in recovery, Rob experienced the conventional treatment system from the family side: the disconnected programs, the short-term fixes, and the absence of anyone who had actually lived it. SafeSide is his answer to that experience.
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Today Rob leads SafeSide Recovery, which provides hands-on support through recovery residences, peer support programs, and homeless outreach, including operation of the City of Pueblo’s only city-run shelter. Through the Foundation, he works to bridge funding gaps, expand access to resources, and build sustainable pathways to recovery. He has spearheaded innovations like SafeSide’s Medicaid-reimbursed recovery support model and the Point of Progress (POP) program for the unhoused, and has expanded SafeSide’s reach through partnerships with the Pueblo Rescue Mission, Open Door Ministries, and the Elks Lodges. His work is grounded in a simple belief his family proved firsthand: everyone deserves a second chance.
Interested in volunteering?
We have numerous volunteer activity options throughout Colorado. Reach out to us through our contacts page to learn more.
