(COLORADO SPRINGS) — Closing on this year's Women History Month, FOX21 News is sharing the stories of remarkable women in our community. We asked you to nominate the amazing women of the Pikes Peak Region for an award and we received 99 nominations, and while all were impressive, one stood out the most. Nominee Melissa Stapanowich is this year's FOX21 News Remarkable Woman. Stapanowich founded a nonprofit organization, Life Strides Foundation, which aims to highlight the power of reform through sports for youth in juvenile facilities. "I started working in a juvenile facility in August of 2023. the youth in the facility are really not that different from any other youth," Stapanowich. "I think one of the things that's really tricky is when you bring in, you know, the criminal justice system. A lot of times, children lose their status of being children because of an action that they made and that doesn't make them an adult." Stapanowich was inspired by the documentary "26.2 to Life" and adapted the prison-running model to a juvenile detention center in Colorado. The program focuses on intervening and leading youth away from crime and gang involvement and towards sports and meaningful connections. Programs like these have been shown to reduce recidivism. SEE MORE NOMINEES: Remarkable Women 2025 To help kids, Stapanowich has gotten her coaching certification and taken trauma-informed training. Just last year, one of the centers saw about 35 participants collectively run over 1,000 miles. The program has shown to be a remarkable success, with other detention centers also adding their own running initiatives. Stapanowich says one of the adult participants at prison was originally sentenced to life, but now walks as a free man. "When a youth gets released in the community, maybe they don't have the same structure routine that they had when they were part of our program," Stapanowich said. "There's a whole other mental aspect, and it allows us to build our stress tolerance in life in an intentionally stressful but safe, stressful situation where, you know, they can maybe develop some skills that they can take to whatever that next step is that they need to go to." Now, she's working on setting up a community-run program to provide coaching and competition to kids outside of justice centers. Stapanowich has also created a sister program called Community Strides to support underprivileged youth who aren't in juvenile facilities. The program provides coaching and mentorship to individuals facing barriers to participation and creates a safe, inclusive place where young people can grow mentally, emotionally, and physically. Brandon Stapanowich nominated Melissa. "She gets things done. She's an individual that has more integrity than anybody I know," Brandon said. "She truly cares about what she's doing and invests, you know, 1,000% into it. She's just a remarkable woman." As a part of her award, Stapanowich has received a $1,000 donation for her chosen nonprofit and will be honored at a star-studded dinner and ceremony in Los Angeles. At the ceremony, the national winner will be announced and will be awarded $25,000 for the nonprofit closest to her heart. ...read more read less