Nonprofit aimed to help teen moms set to open early learning center in August

(ARVADA) Colo, (KDVR) — Hope House Colorado, a nonprofit that helps teen moms become self-sufficient and pursue their dreams of higher education, is taking on their newest venture opening up an early learning center.

“Our mission is to empower them to become self-sufficient,” said Lisa Steven, Founder and Executive Director of Hope House Colorado.

Steven started this mission 21 years ago.

“My husband and I were teenage parents and so we really saw the need and the struggle that teen moms face,” she said.

Hope House Colorado serves about 265 teenage moms from across the Denver Metro Area. Their campus in Arvada has a residential program where six moms and their kids can live at a time.

19-year-old Rene Bruntmyer is one of them after joining the nonprofit in March.

“I found out about Hope House online, I was looking into pursuing to get my GED and a lot of other things for my son,” said Rene.

She had her son Leo when she was 17 and admits that times got challenging.

“So many things held me back before coming to Hope House,” said Rene. “It’s harder when you have a kid and you just don’t have those missing things to do the things you want to do.”

Rene is also working to get her GED through the nonprofit’s resource center. Among learning about renting, parenting, and building credit.

“I’ve learned a lot about good and bad and ugly relationships. I learned so much about renting and credit just things overall that we don’t really get to learn about as we’re younger and they’ve helped me get my license, and I’m almost done with school,” she said.

She’s extremely excited about a learning opportunity for her son with Hope House Colorado’s early learning center set to open in August.

 “I’m just excited about the time I’m going to have to pursue college, and all the things I can do for my son and to know he’s going to be in a safe environment in a place I can trust fully,” said Rene.

Founder Lisa Steven told FOX31 that there is an incredible need for licensed child care in Colorado.

“Our entire state is 90,000 spots short for child care, and for our teenage moms who all qualify for CCAP, which is the Colorado Child Care Assistance program, it’s even harder to find a spot,” Steven said. Very few childcare centers accept CCAP so it’s always been our vision to build our own learning center.”

The new center will have seven classrooms and will provide licensed care to 104 children.

“Our center will open with 50 spots and grow to 100 spots over the next 18 months or so,” said Steven. “We’ll serve kiddos between six weeks old and five years old. During the summer we’ll have a summer camp for the older siblings of our children.”

Steven says it’s an opportunity for teen moms to go to school or work full-time.

“I can tell you, teenage moms, they face so much stigma and so much judgment. People tell them they can’t do it and I’m here to tell you they absolutely can,” she said.

Hope House Colorado is currently looking for about six qualified early learning teachers before their public opening date on August 15.

Everyone is invited. You can find out more information about how to get involved through their website.