Stories of Change
Your gifts to DenverWorks do more than support an organization, they change lives. Below are just a few examples of the amazing work God is doing in the lives of our clients. You are a part of the mission of DenverWorks!
Some names have been changed to protect privacy.
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Featured Client - Week of August 23
Jennifer - A personal note
My life has been full of challenges. I survived an abusive relationship only to move on to a new marriage that would lead me down a path that would forever change my life. I was teaching Special Education for the Denver Public School system. It was a career I loved and hoped to continue for years to come. I never thought I would end up in prison, stripped of my career, away from my children and facing the unknown all by myself. In 2006, everything began to change.
In 2006, my relationship with my husband began to fall apart. We were getting divorced when I found out he was being investigated for drug trafficking. Because I was his wife, I became part of the investigation. In 2007, I was convicted of “mis-use of a telephone conversation” and sentenced to 24 months in prison. My three children were sent to live with family members, and I was sent south to Texas. The day I arrived at the Fort Worth Federal Prison was a day that I will always remember. I was terrified and devastated. I walked into the prison with nothing but a Bible in my hand and tears running down my face. One of the other inmates looked into my eyes and said “You are not alone, you have the best thing you have ever been given right there with you”. She was talking about the Bible I carried. I told her that I had been raised Catholic, but never had a relationship with Christ and didn’t even know how to read it. “Just open it and start”, she said. During the next 18 months, I spent every day reading and getting to know my Savior. While I was away from the people I loved most, I grew to know the one who loves ME most!
In December of 2008, I was released from prison and sent to a halfway house in Denver. It was there that I learned about DenverWorks. In 2009, I attended their former offender workshop and met Jenifer Reynolds. She opened her heart to me. She never judged me and wanted to do all she could to help me. Jenifer worked with me for several months to help me overcome my barriers and start my life over. In 2010, she contacted me to invite me to be part of the Motherhood Program, a new program that would allow moms with criminal backgrounds to receive job training or internships to further their careers.
I started interning at Save Our Youth, a local nonprofit, on May 18, 2010. I am learning to provide counsel and tutoring to Denver youth to help bring them up to their grade level. Jenifer even talked to the director of Save Our Youth and was able to arrange for my internship to be extended through September. It was only later that I found out that DenverWorks actually began their mission 15 years ago in a back room at Save Our Youth!
I am still on the path to my new life. I have relationships with each of my children and even have two grandchildren. I am hoping to return to the field of education one day and continue to help children reach their full potential. I don’t have much in this life, but I have God, and he gives me all I need in his timing. Going to prison changed my life! I am grateful for the second chance God has given me and the blessings he has brought into my life through DenverWorks.
Without organizations like this, women like me would not make it. Please take a moment now and give to DenverWorks so that many more lives can be helped and changed forever.
Thank you,
Jennifer Burciaga
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Luke
Luke came to DenverWorks in January 2010. At 23 years of age, having served nearly three years in prison for drug related charges, he found himself facing extraordinary barriers to employment. In addition to the challenges that all former offenders face, Luke could not read. While he was in prison, Luke became a father. He had never met his two-year-old son and wanted more than anything to develop a relationship with him and to be able to read to him. In spite of his illiteracy, Luke found full time work at $10 per hour, working evenings, which allows him to attend his weekly addiction meetings and to meet weekly with his DenverWorks mentor.
Luke was grateful to be employed but still struggled with the challenges of not being able to read. As only God could orchestrate, Luke’s DenverWorks’ client manager met a woman at her church who is a professional literacy coach. She volunteered to start meeting with Luke once a week to teach him to read. She travels over 100 miles round trip to meet Luke at DenverWorks to tutor him. She was even able to find resources that allowed DenverWorks to purchase books and a recording device for Luke so he can practice his reading on his own at home. Luke is scheduled to transition from his half-way house in July and is working to obtain his GED. In the future, he dreams of becoming an architect.
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Susan
In the summer of 2009, Susan relocated to Denver from her small hometown in Texas. She was a single mom and had been working as a C.N.A. for many years. Although she lacked a ½ credit that she needed to receive her high school diploma, she was able to get licensed to work in her small town. Susan came to “the big city” thinking that opportunities would be greater and she would be able to better provide for herself and her children. When she arrived, she was hit by an unexpected reality. She was applying for positions that she was well qualified for, but being turned down! She had a criminal offense in her background from over 16 years ago that was preventing her from getting a job. Even with her C.N.A. certificate, her unfinished high school education also proved to be an enormous barrier in this new city. Susan found herself living with her sister and applying for assistance through TANF. She was able to find entry-level manufacturing work through the Women’s Bean Project, but still had a strong desire to find more fulfilling and more profitable work.
In the spring of 2010, Susan was referred by the Women’s Bean Project to DenverWorks to participate in our Motherhood Program. She was able to complete a computer class, which gave her the remaining ½ credit she needed to get her high school diploma. She is incredibly grateful for the opportunity she has been given. She has enrolled in classes at Red Rocks Community College and is working to obtain her business degree. Down the road, Susan hopes to give back by providing employment training and assistance to disabled individuals.
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Greg
Greg came to a jobseeker workshop on March 25, 2010. He had just been released on March 11 from a Federal facility in Texas where he had been incarcerated for over 12 years for bank robbery. He is a college graduate and had always taught English, GED and computer classes. He was interested in getting back into a teaching position, but knew that his felony would hold him back. During his one-on-one meeting with his client-manager, along with discussing his career goals, Greg shared his reluctance to pursue a relationship with God. He shared some negative experiences with religion he had growing up. He was very hesitant but was open to exploring a faith relationship. During his incarceration, Greg realized that there was more to faith that what he had been taught as a child. During the jobseeker workshop, Pastor Pete VanElderen came as a guest speaker. Greg was very much affected when Pete asked the group if they had any individual needs he could be praying for. God was already opening doors for Greg that he could not yet see. As the Lord would have it, Greg ended up receiving a paid internship through DenverWorks (funded through one of our grants). He worked with Ramon Montoya at the Fatherhood Program, a faith-based initiative for fathers. Greg started attending church with Ramon and has found a place where he feels comfortable growing in his faith walk.
During his incarceration, Greg developed a fantastic curriculum of his own for employment readiness. The Texas Department of Corrections allowed him to use and teach the material at different facilities in that state and he has since had the materials patented! He had done quite a bit of research on organizations who may be interested in utilizing his teaching/training skills when was released in the Denver area. When Greg met with his client manager, they brainstormed contacts that Greg could connect with to obtain interviews or speaking opportunities. He has been able to find part-time opportunities to teach his curriculum. In the near future, he is hopeful that these opportunities will lead to a full-time position. God has had Greg on an amazing journey! He described this journey as “a dream”; he cannot believe that all of the good things that are happening are real! He has found a successful career niche’ and is growing in his faith.
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Lisa
Lisa came to a jobseeker workshop in early 2009. When she arrived in our office, she was not in a state where she was necessarily ready for employment. She was a great seamstress and had grown up in a family that owned a cleaning business. Lisa had been responsible for cleaning, ironing, and mending customers clothing. Unfortunately, due to addiction, she had lost her children and her life had been turned upside down. Lisa was working part-time at Mission Wear, one of our employment partners, sewing cloth shopping bags. She was working hard to manage her addiction and get healthy, she was also working through the court system and human services to get her children back.
In the spring of 2010, DenverWorks was able to offer a special program to mothers with criminal offenses in their background. Lisa was a perfect fit! She met all of the qualifying criteria and she has attended all meetings necessary to enroll in the program. Through the Motherhood Program, she was able to take a basic computer skills class and increase her job skills. She has become lead seamstress at Mission Wear and is completing a paid internship there (through the Motherhood Program). She has also been picking up extra projects through referrals to do at home. She was able to purchase a sewing machine for her home with client support funds provided by the Motherhood Program as well. During this time, Lisa has gotten two of her children back and is hopeful that her third child will be home by fall! Lisa has been given an opportunity for a fresh start and a new life and she is taking full advantage. Her attitude is very positive as she continues to explore career possibilities as a professional seamstress.
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