In any city, some are at the peak while others face the steep climb. For 25 years, Denver-based nonprofit Growing Home has been reaching out to those struggling with adversity, providing not just a helping hand but a lifeline. The organization, which started as a homeless shelter in 1998, realizes that battling homelessness is about more than just providing a roof overhead. Growing Home employs a multifaceted stabilization system.
House Hunting
Veronica Perez, co-CEO of Growing Home, knows the struggles of those without a place to call home. “Being stably housed in Colorado is not easy,” she says. But homelessness is often just the tip of the iceberg. Perez explains that mental health issues, financial difficulties, and past traumas are just some of the daunting challenges the unhoused community grapples with. But it is not these struggles alone that can crush the spirit of people experiencing homelessness; the stigma, hostility, and blame attached to their circumstances can further dampen their dignity and confidence.
Robust Programming
With a mission to tackle issues from food insecurity and injustice to early childhood development, managing finances, and finding housing, Growing Home’s strategy is extensive. It includes wraparound services, lobbying for policy change, and increasing community engagement and awareness.
Education is the throughline connecting the robust participant-centered programs, which are aimed at empowering people to empower communities. With 17 years in the education sector under her belt, Perez and her team believe in the power of education. So much so, Growing Home developed and copyrighted its Seedlings early childhood and parental development program, leasing it to agencies across Colorado.
