HOPE HOUSE

Arvada

News: Recent graduate Kate Joy firmly believes that “Every teen mom needs a Hope House.” Thanks to a $1 million gift from Yield Giving, a giving platform established by philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, the Arvada-based nonprofit will be able to provide personal and economic self-sufficiency programs to even more parenting teen moms.

The gift, made public at 9:15 a.m. March 19, is the result of a process that began in March 2023, when Yield Giving invited community-led, community-focused nonprofits whose purpose is to enable individuals and families to achieve substantive improvement in their well-being to apply for funding.

With 6,353 applicants, Hope House faced some stiff competition.

But a video where Hope House graduate Kate Joy eloquently shared her story demonstrated to the evaluators how valuable Hope House programs are.

Joy spoke about how they helped her to finish her education, purchase a reliable vehicle, land a salaried position in the automotive industry, secure safe housing in her two-bedroom apartment and enroll her son, Anthony, in full-time childcare.

Hope House founder and executive director Lisa Steven said she is “Absolutely stunned and honored to have received this catalytic grant from MacKenzie Scott. This will have an incredible impact on our ability to grow … (and) ultimately allow us to empower more teen moms to self-sufficiency.”

The money, Steven added, will be used to build the infrastructure necessary to expand Hope House nationwide.

Initially, the plan was for Yield Giving to award $1 million to 250 organizations. But as applications came in, Scott and her team of evaluators from oversight group Lever for Change were so impressed by both the need and results that the program was expanded to 361 recipients, 82 of whom received $1 million; 279 others received gifts of $2 million.

Scott co-founded Amazon with her former husband, Jeff Bezos. She has made it her life’s work to share her estimated net worth of $40 billion with organizations that help ease the burdens of inequality, poverty, social injustice and more.

About the organization: Hope House offers free self-sufficiency programs to parenting teen moms. These programs include educational assistance, courses in healthy relationships and personal growth, parenting, financial literacy, housing support, and social/emotional support for school-age children.

Website: hopehousecolorado.org

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