Young People Building the Infrastructure Their Communities Are Missing by Justice Ramos, Executive Director, Fundamental Needs
Fundamental Needs has been building things across the Four Corners since 2020. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Cortez, Colorado, we are powered by foundations, public grants, earned revenue, and donors throughout the region. Led by Executive Director Justice Ramos, Board Chair Jennie Ramos, Makerspace Manager Tyler Bruce, and Entrepreneurship Program Manager Michelle Kardokus, we run three programs built on a single idea: the people who need the work should be the ones trained and paid to do it. Youth and adult makers work side by side, building a robot car during the fi rst Intro to Robotics workshop at Cortez Makerspace. The 501(c)(3) offers open studio hours, workshops and youth programming year-round. (Photo by Mercedes Howard / Cortez Makerspace)
Our founding program is the Oasis Project. Roughly one in three homes on the Navajo Nation has no running water or electricity. Our student crews design, haul, and install off-grid solar power and water systems for those households, and more than 240 systems are now in the ground. Crew members earn a stipend while they train, with a pathway to solar certification and hire.
That same model now runs the Cortez Makerspace, which opened in January 2026 in a 14,000 square foot building on Main Street. The shop has woodworking, metal fabrication, CNC, laser, and 3D printing. It serves as youth workforce training, as open membership for regional makers, and as an incubator for small manufacturers who have nowhere else nearby to build. We also run youth entrepreneurship programs in Colorado and New Mexico, where students launch a real venture rather than write a business plan.
This fall we are running the first Cortez Makerspace Innovation Challenge, and it is built for the whole region rather than one town. Entries are open through September 20 in three divisions. Open is $200 to enter and competes for a $5,000 top prize. Hobbyist is $50, built for first-timers and weekend makers, with a $1,000 prize. Youth, 18 and under, enter free and compete for a $500 scholarship. Every entry is exhibited online, the entire region votes for four weeks, and awards night is Friday, October 23, with a makers fair, live music, and a public equipment sale. Voting is free and open to everyone, whether or not you enter.
The Cortez Makerspace is located at 209 W Main St. in Cortez, Colorado. Information on entering the Challenge, becoming a member, volunteering, or supporting our work is at www.fundamentalneeds.net, or contact Justice Ramos at justice@fundamentalneeds.net. And be sure to mention you read about Fundamental Needs in Moab Happenings.
A wooden purse built at Cortez Makerspace by a full-time maker as a birthday gift. The body is laser-cut with a fl exible hinge pattern that lets the wood curve, and the fabric lining and interior pockets were sewn in the makerspace as well. The piece is not a contest entry; the maker is entering the Innovation Challenge separately. (Photo by Mercedes Howard / Cortez Makerspace)
Young makers monitor a print in the 3D printing lab at Cortez Makerspace. The lab houses both filament and resin printers, available to members and workshop participants. (Photo by Mercedes Howard / Cortez Makerspace)
A hands-free hydration system entered in the Cortez Makerspace Innovation Challenge, shown with the maker’s explanatory display. Water fl ows for as long as the rider holds the handlebar button, in a continuous stream or short bursts, with no need to slow down. The system runs on a rechargeable 12-volt battery, and the complete pack weighs about 1 pound, 3 ounces.(Photo by Mercedes Howard / Cortez Makerspace)
