True stories underscore value of Urban Peak
Just call it “The Moment.” It’s that tiny, unexpected something special that implants itself in the memory.
At Urban Peak’s “There’s No Place Like Home” fundraising breakfast July 29, it was former client Alex’s moment.
Taking a deep breath and apologizing for “my French (his sometimes-earthy language),” Alex faced several hundred donors, board members and supporters at tables in the sunny courtyard of the nonprofit that helps homeless youths.
His early life, he said, involved multiple moves from state to state, a mother who prostituted herself and did drugs. He was responsible for raising his little brother while mom slept all day.
One morning at 2, police in Montana swept in and took the boys “to an orphanage. No one really wanted us.”
An adoptive family was no better, he said, and there was “violence, holes in the walls, blood on the floor, and I hated it.”
When he heard them planning to kick him out, Alex ran. They found him and drove to Urban Peak, where Alex was dumped.
Today, Alex has a fast-food job, is completing his high school education and daydreams about going to college. Urban Peak had taught him, he said, that “You’re not just (“poop” expletive) on the side of someone’s shoes.”
He knows he would like to have his own family, like the one he never had and “raising a family that is actually worth having.”
Cheers broke out and Alex, hanging his head a bit, got a standing ovation.
Then came “The Moment.” Pikes Peak Community College President Tony Kinkel motioned Alex to his table and wrote out his personal telephone number to call for help pursuing his college dream. Young people like Alex “have the survival skills, and they can make it,” Kinkel said.
Beth Perez shared her story as the parent of a former Urban Peak client. “Homelessness has no boundaries,” she said. Her son, who had spent two years “sofa surfing,” completed his GED, learned what a curfew is and went to a vocational college. Now, when the phone rings for this local career woman, she doesn’t freeze. It’s her son calling regularly to say he loves her and “thanks for the tough love.”
Breakfast host Executive Director John McIlwee greeted State Sen. John Morse, who talked about the budget-cuts headache. “We will soon laugh again, I promise,” said Morse to laughter.
Table captains for the morning benefit presented by Mountain View Medical Group were Board Chair Lisa Tessarowicz, Allan Miller, Joe Moore, Beth and Paul Byer, Bill and Janice Hornbostel, Jeff Mosher, Jason Goss, Brian and Becky Bennett, Joyce Wolf and Pam Osterhouse and Greg Kleinert.
Among those working on the event committee were Chiquita West, Angela Graham and Wendy Pearce Nelson. Table centerpieces combining fresh flowers and Panera Bread were designed by Jean-Marie Designs.
Home Builders’ Charities
After a recent weekend Builders’ Inventory “Blow-Out Sale” and “Cheap Chic Boutique” to benefit HBA Cares, clothing was donated to Dress for Success, Urban Peak, Children of Promise and Goodwill Industries.
Building materials and home furnishings were donated to Habitat for Humanity and CASA.
SAVE THE DATES
5th Annual Charity Golf Tournament for Pikes Peak Hospice, sponsored by The Southern Colorado Beverage Association, 8 a.m. shotgun start Saturday, Valley Hi Golf Course, $100 hole sponsor, $85 per person, $340 per team, hosted by Finish Line Lounge, 634-9870.
American Girl Fashion Show and Tea, models Sizes 6x-10 needed to model girls’ historical and contemporary fashions in Oct. 25 event at Cheyenne Mountain Resort, a benefit for Kidpower, tickets $25, alumnaepanhellenic.home.att.net.
Jeanne Taylor Parkinsons Support Group’s third annual Wine Tasting and Silent Auction, 6-8 p.m. Sept. 10, Pikes Peak Center Lobby, $15, for information call Gary, 638-8622.
