Caring for Denver Foundation

Today is World Mental Health Day 💚, and we couldn’t be more grateful for the people of Denver who voted to make mental health and substance misuse a priority in our city. As we celebrate five years at Caring for Denver, it’s clear that community is the heart of it all. Because of your trust and support, we’ve been able to award more than $172 million to 264 organizations working to improve mental health and address substance misuse right here in Denver. 🎉 Together, we’ve built something special—a community grounded in understanding, compassion, and meeting people where they’re at. 🌟 Change takes time and trust, and the progress we've made together inspires us and makes us excited about the future. Never underestimate the power of collective change. Check out our 5-year celebration video and explore our special webpage to see the amazing milestones we've reached, together. #ThankYOUDenver💙 🔗 Watch & Celebrate: https://buff.ly/4dGulML #CaringForDenver #MentalHealthMatters #DenverStrong #CommunityImpact #WorldMentalHealthDay

Big shoutout to our incredible Evaluation and Learning Team for presenting at the Colorado Public Health Association’s Public Health in the Rockies! 🙌 They shared Caring for Denver's unique evaluation approach and how they use learning partnerships to better understand and amplify the impact of community initiatives in behavioral health. By empowering our grantee partners to define and measure success in ways that are meaningful to them, we elevate the expertise of those doing the work and strive to create authentic processes that highlight communities' unique perspectives. We're so grateful for our Evaluation and Learning Team and excited to keep learning how to better serve Denver! 💙 Haley Mackrow Sammen, Hillie Teller, Sydney Chaves, MPH #CommunityImpact #LearningPartnerships #LearningAndEvaluation

Grantee Spotlight! 🌟 At our recent celebration with The Moth, Shay Jacobs of Adam's Purpose courageously shared her story of finding hope and purpose during an extremely difficult time of grief and child loss. Adam's Purpose, a nonprofit that promotes grief awareness, education, and recovery services, supports communities of color facing grief. In partnership with Caring for Denver, they provide mental health resources to bereaved moms of color, educate communities on coping with grief, and work to destigmatize mental health. In honor of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, Denver Urban Spectrum featured Shay's story of "Turning Heartbreak into Purpose." ❤️ Click the link and turn to page 7 to read her inspiring journey of healing! Read now: https://buff.ly/3zyjDu1 #GriefAwareness #MentalHealth #PregnancyAndInfantLossAwareness

Ten years ago, Wings Foundation introduced a new approach to addressing childhood sexual abuse (CSA) trauma by establishing September as Childhood Sexual Abuse Survivor Awareness Month (CSA-SAM). As we close out September and continue to observe CSA-SAM, Caring for Denver proudly spotlights the transformative work of Wings and The Blue Bench, both changing the lives of survivors. We invite you to read our in-depth interview with Jennifer Stith, Executive Director of Wings, and Laura Patlan, Co-Director of Client Services at The Blue Bench. Our program officers, Jacqueline Esquibel and Raymael Blackwell, sat down with Jenny and Laura as they shared insights on the mental health impacts of sexual assault and the critical interventions available to support healing. Jenny’s work centers on the unique needs of adult survivors of CSA, while Laura leads efforts to provide vital resources for those affected by sexual violence. Let’s come together to support recovery and amplify the conversation around sexual violence and CSA. 💙 https://buff.ly/3ZKdvt2 #CSASAM #CSASurvivorAwareness #HealingTogether #MentalHealthMatters #HealingHappensInCommunity #SpaceToHeal #Wings #TheBlueBench

It's been an exciting time at Caring for Denver Foundation! 🎉 We are deeply honored to receive the Disruptor Award from Mirror Image Arts at their 11th annual “I Got Your Back” event. 🏆 This award recognizes organizations and people working to disrupt the pipeline to prison. Mirror Image Arts, a youth advocacy organization, takes a holistic approach by using Restorative Theatre™, positive youth development, and trauma-informed, restorative practices to disrupt the pipeline to prison. 🎭 Their work with youth (ages 7-21) in schools, diversion programs, and juvenile detention centers is changing lives. 🌟 Caring for Denver proudly supports Mirror Image Arts in building trust, developing social-emotional skills, and addressing trauma for young people transitioning out of incarceration, foster care, and homelessness. We believe that those facing substance misuse and mental health challenges deserve compassion and care instead of incarceration. ❤️ And for individuals who have encountered the criminal legal system, we are committed to supporting their recovery through access to comprehensive community resources to prevent re-entry. Thank you, Mirror Image Arts, for your dedication to providing compassion, care, and community support for our youth. 🙏 Your work is incredibly important, and we are honored to continue disrupting the pipeline together! #DisruptThePipeline #YouthAdvocacy #CaringForDenver #RestorativeJustice #CompassionOverIncarceration

A huge thank you to PBS12 for honoring Caring for Denver Foundation with The Mental Health Access Award at the 2024 Inaugural Confluence! 🏆 This award recognizes key community leaders who are making positive strides in addressing some of Colorado's most pressing issues. 🙌 PBS12’s Inaugural Confluence brought together leaders from business, nonprofit, and government sectors to engage in meaningful conversations about the challenges facing our community. Through the power of storytelling 📖, the Confluence aims to break down barriers in communication and policy to spark change and better our entire community. At the 2024 Inaugural Confluence, PBS12 explored three core issues: mental health 🧠, housing affordability 🏠, and access to care. We are deeply honored to receive the Mental Health Access Award. 💙 Thank you to the people of Denver, who have made this work possible by founding and funding these initiatives. Together, we’ve awarded $172 million to Denver organizations working to improve mental health and substance misuse outcomes in our city. #ThankYouDenver for driving positive change in our community! 🌟 📷: Beth Liebetrau/PBS12

What an unforgettable night! ✨ Thank you for celebrating five years of the Caring for Denver Foundation and our shared journey of healing and recovery in Denver! 🌟 Our community-centered storytelling event with The Moth was everything we dreamed of and more. We cried (a lot), we laughed, and we shared powerful moments of healing together. 💙 A heartfelt thank you to our courageous storytellers for their vulnerability. 🙏 By sharing your stories, you help humanize each other’s experiences, break stigma, and foster healing as a community. Special thanks to the people of Denver for voting to improve mental health and substance misuse needs in our city! 🗳️ It's because of you that this work is possible. #ThankYouDenver More photos to come! 🎉 📷: Cyrus McCrimmon 📍: Lighthouse Writers Workshop Shay Jacobs, Keith Hayes, Derrik Bunyon, Dellena Aguilar Ph.D., LPC., Leslie Herod, Paul Tye, Alexis Irias, Kindle Morell, Lorez Meinhold, Jack Storti, Aubrey Valencia, Mark Donaldson-Lee, Dion Hamm, Angelo Lucero.

Approximately 1 in 4 older adults experience social isolation. 🌍💔 Older adults are at a higher risk for loneliness due to factors like living alone and dealing with loss or grief. To combat this, the Colorado Gerontological Society (CGS) launched two amazing programs, the Mental Health Counseling Program and the Telephone Buddies Program 📞🤝. Caring for Denver supports these programs to connect volunteers with older individuals who may feel isolated, offering weekly calls that provide emotional support, human connection, and referrals to mental health professionals when needed. 🧠❤️ Check out this testimonial from a participant who shares how the program has been a "lifesaver." 🙌✨ 🔗 Click the link to read more about the impact of CGS and the Telephone Buddies program! 💬👥 https://buff.ly/3XobboY

✨ Grantee Spotlight! ✨ Face It TOGETHER is on a mission to share healing and addiction wellness through genuine connection, data and community-informed solutions. They offer confidential, compassionate peer coaching for anyone impacted by alcohol or drugs, including loved ones. No sobriety required—whether you're cutting back or aiming for long-term recovery, they’re here for you. 🤝 💙 Caring for Denver funds Face It TOGETHER to support peer coaching in Denver, with a focus on the LGBTQIA+ community. Through partnerships, they provide the wraparound care and resources needed for recovery. 🌈 To learn more about Face It TOGETHER, check out this episode of Deeper than Dough! Wendy White, CEO of Face It TOGETHER, shares how their unique, holistic approach to addiction recovery is changing lives.

🎉 #GranteeSpotlight 🎉 Huge congratulations to Urban Peak for the grand opening of their "Mothership"—a 136-bed housing and therapy center dedicated to supporting youth ages 12 to 24! 🏠✨ This incredible campus offers so much, including community living rooms, on-site case management, laundry and dining rooms, dorms, a beautiful courtyard and terraces, a medical clinic, a tech lab, an art studio, and offices. 🌟 Urban Peak serves around 1,000 young, unhoused residents annually, many of whom have aged out of foster care or left unstable family situations. They take pride in providing a truly "comprehensive" set of services for these young people. "Coming into here feels amazing. Providing a space that's so comprehensive, and [where] there's so much opportunity for 24/7 shelter and transitional housing, is so exciting." - Christina Carlson, CEO, Urban Peak This work is absolutely vital, and we’re thrilled to see more youth getting the support, love, and nurturing they deserve. 💖 Caring for Denver is proud to support Urban Peak, helping to expand their on-site staff training, social-emotional services, clinical case management, and staff support to fill service and treatment gaps as they arise. 🌈👏 👉 Click the link to read the full article and learn more about the "Mothership": https://buff.ly/3Mui1Eb