Homelessness to Higher Education: How CCD and Rose Community Foundation are Making a Difference in Students' Lives
Community College of Denver (CCD) and Rose Community Foundation are pleased to announce we have awarded $50,000 to aid 33 students with housing assistance. This partnership for the housing assistance grant within the CityHawk community blossomed on Jan. 1, 2023.
Founded in 1995, Rose Community Foundation strives to advance inclusive, engaged, and equitable Greater Denver communities through values-driven philanthropy. The Foundation envisions a thriving region strengthened by its diversity and generosity and utilizes grantmaking, advocacy, donor engagement, and community leadership to advance this aspiration.
As the cost of housing increases nationwide, it is particularly challenging for students to keep up, financially speaking. This grant specifically aims to aid students requiring support with housing expenses. “We have helped pay rent when students have been behind or in danger of being evicted. We have been able to pay for hotels in emergency situations and have been able to assist with the deposit for students that needed help getting into a new place,” said Kathryn Mahoney, former Associate Dean of Student Programming, Activities & Resource Center (SPARC) at Community College of Denver.
Sean Sorensen, a 29-year-old liberal arts student at CCD and Denver native, is part of the success stories from receiving the grant. For Sean, it was “either school or a blue-collar job” for the rest of his life, yet housing still played a part in furthering his education. Before applying, Sean was living out of an RV, as that was the only viable solution at the time. “This fund helped me basically not be homeless. I’m so grateful for that. It has helped me take [the] stress of where I’m staying and giving me the ability to focus on my studies,” Sorenson shared.
This opportunity supports those organizations, like CCD, working to close gaps in access and opportunity by increasing financial freedom, dismantling generational cycles of poverty, and growing assets for individuals and communities furthest from opportunity. Community College of Denver students can learn more about the housing assistance grant by visiting the SPARC office located on the main floor of the Tivoli Student Union or online at rcfdenver.org.