Hope House recognized by governor

In late August, while walking into the Colorado Supreme Court Chambers, Lisa Steven said she wished she had invited more people.

“Wow, I didn’t realize what a big deal this was,” she said.

Steven, founder and executive director of Hope House of Colorado, an Arvada nonprofit serving teen parents across the Denver metro area, received the Governor’s Service Award for the agency’s dedication to helping teen parents find the resources they need to lead healthy, happy and successful lives with their children.

Currently, Hope House has 245 volunteers who have given more than 8,300 hours back to the community and these young parents.

Steven –; on hand to receive one of 10 awards going to individuals and service organizations –; said being recognized among those peers was an unexpected honor.

“The folks being honored that day are amazing and inspiring people,” Steven said of her fellow recipients. “It was really humbling –; really humbling.”

Steven, once a teen mom herself, started Hope House of Colorado in 2003 as an answer to a need. By offering educational, residential and self-sufficiency programs, the organization provides its clients a stable, safe environment as they began to embark on the journey of parenthood.

“I feel it’s so important to give people the resources they need the most,” said Lauren Ambrozic, executive director of Colorado Prevention Alliance, who nominated Hope House for the award. “Hope House gives them those resources –; it provides all the social and psychological resources that really impact their ability, the mother and child’s, to function and survive.”

Currently, the organization serves around 150 teen parents annually, and the number is rising. To accommodate this growth, Hope House is in the process of building a 15,000-square-foot resource center on a two-acre parcel in Arvada. The building will allow Hope House to triple the number of mothers and fathers in their GED, college and career, parenting, healthy relationships and financial literacy classes.

The site is expected to be completed in two phases, with the additional building of an early learning center for children of the organization’s parents in 2017.

“What a blessing and a unique gift that we live in a state that places importance on recognizing the people who give back,” Steven said. “We love this community, and if anything, come and see what we’re doing, just come and see.”