Browse Projects

The Simple Way is going to create another beautiful mural in Kensington. We believe in healing and transformation and so we are committed to painting and planting in our neighborhood as we PRACTICE RESURRECTION!

The Simple Way, is a web of subversive friends, conspiring to spread the vision of “Loving God, Loving People, and Following Jesus” in our neighborhoods and in our world. We are committed to the restoration of families, neighborhoods, and our planet.  We have always been active in areas of advocacy and justice, such as combating the criminalization of homelessness (anti-homeless legislation) and gun violence.

But something happened on June 20th, 2007 at 4:30AM, that changed the trajectory of our work in Kensington. We woke to a 7 alarm fire, being fearlessly fought by over 170 firefighters - one of the worst fires our neighborhood has ever seen. This was an historic turning point for our organization, when that neglected, city-owned factory caught on fire and burned down a block of our neighborhood, displacing over 100 families.
Since then, it has been our dream to restore the land burnt by the fire, where the factory used to be, and after 5 long years, we now have access to this city owned land! We have had success stabilizing families who lost their homes, we have restored nearly a dozen abandoned houses, and created community gardens on 5 formerly vacant, trash-strewn lots.

One of our ministry partners in Gabon is Bon Samaritan - a ministry that serves widows and marginalized women. E4 Project has served with this ministry in several ways. We have led training for the women to start businesses in beading, sewing, soap making, baking and agriculture.  We have also provided seed money to the ministry so that they can build and provide kiosks for the women, as well as seed money for the women to start their businesses.  Since E4 Project started serving alongside Bon Samaritan about two years ago, we have trained over 100 women.  We have provided funds for about 8 kiosks that have been built and are now impacting over 70 women and their children by providing income for families who had nothing before finding Bon Samaritan and the Church.

In 2011, Relational Tithe began development on ‘Common Change’ - a web tool to facilitate collaborative giving amongst other groups. The spark has caught and now we are finally launching the platform that helps make this possibility accessible to hundreds and even thousands of people!

In 2005, compelled to action by their faith, a group of friends founded ‘Relational Tithe’, a collaborative giving plan that enabled them to pool resources and meet needs of people they were in relationship with. Fast forward 8 years and it is time to share this little experiment as a workable tool with the rest of the world.

In the years that Relational Tithe was in motion, we were able to touch the lives of over 1000 families and individuals in over 15 countries including Ghana, Cuba, Egypt, Syria, Mexico, Thailand, Japan, South Africa, Brazil, Costa Rica, Nigeria, Israel/Palestine and the United States. Over $500,000 has been given directly to people in need.

Simple Homes is our newest experiment in resurrection - taking abandoned houses and bringing them back to life, building a new world one house at a time.

Here’s how it works: we purchase an abandoned house for $15,000 and spend about $10,000 on renovations. Then we match it up with a neighbor who is ready to own his or her own home. We raise all the money so that we can finance it ourselves at 0% interest and 0% profit. The new homeowner pays $300 a month (about half of what most folks pay in rent) and in 10 years he or she owns the house. Our first home, 3228 Potter Street, is going to our neighbor and friend Miguel and his family.

Turning vacant houses into viable homes is one critical part of our holistic, integral work in combatting poverty and inequality and Simple Homes will be the vehicle for all things housing around here.

We believe that the solution to the greatest humanitarian crises of the last century is the Gospel being deeply rooted in, and lived out, through the people of God. Project love is a multimedia (video/web based)local church resource and challenge being developed for believers of all ages. It consists of teaching and testimony videos that demystify a missional lifestyle of evangelism, and at the same time, calls the audience into a 20 day challenge: Partner with God, to sow the good news of Jesus, everyday, for 20 days. The project challenges and equips.
Initially, Project:love will be spread organically though social media. There will be an official start date for project:love (June 1st).  Once the 20 days are completed, project:love will continue to be made freely available to the local church as a powerful catalytic resource. We foresee the resource/challenge being accepted by small groups, and youth/young-adult groups long after the initial 20 day challenge is over!
We believe the next great move of God is not going to be thousands and millions gathering around leaders with strong personalities (though there is nothing wrong with that). Rather, the next great awakening is going to be laymen led. We see, on the horizon, the pew sitter lining up on stage at local churches throughout the modern world giving testimony of the power of the Gospel flowing through them in every day life. Through project:love, we believe thousands will be provoked to spread everywhere the fragrance of life (Jesus)!

We give life to the children we serve by being The Voice of More for foster children who have been physically, sexually, and emotionally abused and neglected. Children 6 to 12 years old head up to cam in the mountains with us for five days of positive memories. We share God’s plan for their lives and teach them how to build a firm foundation, pray to God, trust God, and follow a Godly plan…with the partnership of the Department of Human Services here in El Paso County in Colorado Springs. Royal Family KIDS’ Camp occurs in 36 states around the country each summer, reaching about five percent of foster children each summer. Here in Colorado Springs, we have a tea party one afternoon for the girls to speak identity, affirmation, and encouragement into them - and treat them royally - and have Camp Grandpa and Grandma pray over them and show them that men can value them just because they’re valuable. We have a Birthday Party for EVERY child in the middle of the week since most have never had a birthday party, tried cake, nor have they been celebrated. We also have a variety/talent show that the kids can sing, dance, whistle, kick dirt…whatever their talent is. We go crazy with applause! Each day is spent with time singing songs, listening to Bible Stories, watching puppet skits and dramas with camp staff, and loads of activity time to swim, ride horses, paint, play basketball, and other activities.

The Story of Kolya:
Left to wander the streets at age 2 1/2, Kolya started sniffing glue and became addicted to other drugs by an age where most kids are learning how to read or play baseball! Thankfully, he was brought to a Christian rehab center in Mariupol, Ukraine, and today Kolya has been clean of drugs and alcohol for nearly three years! He was adopted by Pastor Gennadiy Makhnienko, a loving mentor and role model. He is known for his talents as a poet and song-writer and now he is using those gifts as well as his physical strength and endurance to share his remarkable story to inspire others.

The Project:
Twenty former orphans are biking 2,500 miles from Ekaterinburg, Russia (near the Ural Mountains) to Lake Baikal in Siberia to raise awareness of adoption and foster care!

At designated stops along the route, Kolya and his friends will be sharing their testimonies with thousands of Russians in order to promote adoption for children just like themselves.

These kids train for months to prepare for the intense physical, mental and emotional strain of biking such a long distance (2,500 miles, remember!) in often horrendous weather conditions and sharing such personal stories.

Won’t you support Kolya and his friends as they share their vision of a Russia Without Orphans? $2/mile/child.

Financial pressure is a leading reason cited by men and women for considering an abortion decision. Often, the difference between life and death is as simple as knowing that he or she is not alone and that she has material help from someone who cares. Understanding this, the Steamboat Springs Pregnancy Resource Center invests in our clients’ long-term health by more than just serving them with life-affirming education and options. We come alongside them with education that will help them to succeed as prudent, responsible parents and with supplies that will lessen their financial pressures. Donations to the SSPRC will help us encourage and empower young moms and single parents with cribs, car seats, baby equipment and supplies, and diapers and wet wipes—supplies they will earn through their participation in an education program that allows them to meet weekly with a personal advocate. This project not only affirms life, it promotes an abundant life for our clients and their families.

Need: The Current local clinic in our region is no longer in service. All of our widows and people sick with HIV/AIDS must travel far to receive basic treatment and medication.

Solution: If we raise $2,000 in this campaign, we will be able to hire a mobile nurse on staff to travel throughout our 30 villages providing check-ups, distributing medication, and offer counsel and support to those in need.

Trafficking is hell. 27 million slaves. 1.2 million trafficked each year. Sold for sex. Sold into slavery.

There are great organizations who rescue victims every day…but then what? How does a trafficking victim reintegrate into society?

In Moldova, one of the top exporters of sexually trafficked women, Beginning of Life offers a new chance at life through a specialized restoration home program. Together, we are establishing the Center for Self Defense to teach women how to protect their bodies from sexual violence.

Once operational, the Center will serve trafficking victims and other vulnerable women. Specifically, we will use self-defense training like mixed-martial arts to rebuild confidence, and develop inner strength.

Mostly, we want to make sure these women can literally fight sex trafficking if they have to. To stop sexual violence against their bodies, and to have the confidence in themselves.

Housed in the basement of a church in Chisinau, Moldova, the Center for Self-Defense is a joint project of Children’s HopeChest and Beginning of Life.

Help us stop sex trafficking, and empower women to protect their bodies and fight sexual violence.

Shepherd’s Hope has sought to begin urban farming in our community for over a year.  By GOD’S grace the 5700 block of Lowe Ave is about to become the food center of Englewood.  Over the winter the LORD placed on the heart of Executive Director Brian Anderson that HE wanted us to use a different method of urban farming in the Englewood community.  A relatively new type of farming that could take place year-round.  After doing some research, it sounded relatively easy and used very little water compared to conventional farming.  The method would provide protein, fruits and vegetables using a symbiotic relationship in a greenhouse environment.  The LORD had peaked his interest and so he and another team member from Shepherd’s Hope attended a 3-day seminar in Milwaukee on aquaponic farming.  After 3 days their heads were spinning and the LORD was right again; this would be the perfect way to farm this Englewood community.

Uganda has 2.5 million children orphaned by HIV/AIDS, and 10 million children living in poverty. We are working in an urban slum area, where families are struggling to survive. Families don’t have resources to meet even the most basic needs, and 60% of our children don’t get regular meals at home. The cost of school supplies, uniforms, and fees puts education out of reach.

Most had lost hope of ever completing their education and escaping the relentless hunger and poverty that threatens their lives.

At Calvary Primary School, we feed 408 children two meals each day during the school term. We provide school fees or partial tuition assistance for these children. We also provide supplies, uniforms, and personal hygiene items. When children are sick, we take them for medical care. We provide tuition for 86 students in secondary schools, and 6 in vocational training.