Step Denver

The fellowship was strong last night at our monthly Cakes and Coins meeting! It was awesome to see guys pick up one year, two years, and an incredible seven years.

Today marks the 43rd anniversary of Step Denver! Founded in May 1983 by Ray Hayworth - Step was originally transitional housing called “Step 13 Evolution Process.”

Tyler Norris was the first Board Chair and Kathy Ellis was the first Executive Director (both pictured below). Thanks to legendary leader Bob Coté, Step quickly evolved into a program focused on helping men achieve long term sobriety through peer support, economic opportunity, and self-reliance.

In 2015, Paul Scudo, with help from Step Alumni, built the structured Steps for Success curriculum you know today. But an organization is only as strong as its people - thank you staff, referral partners, donors, and most importantly, our men for making a lasting difference in the Denver community.

We recently got to sit down with Step resident Nick! Step allows residents to enter the program up to three times – Nick opened up about how his third time at Step is different:

“I spent a month just slowly drinking myself to death. I got frostbite, and have nerve damage now. I probably came a lot closer to death than I ever have before.”

“My first few weeks here, I could barely walk. Every step was like agony - I've never experienced that level of pain before.

“Since coming back here, I just have a very different overall attitude. Every time I’ve been in a recovery program, I’m like, ‘I need to be sober now. I can’t even think about drinking.’ But once I get my sh*t together, I’m like ‘Maybe I can try.’ This time, I don't even want to find out, because it will kill me. I'm taking my recovery a lot more seriously.

"I have a lot more purpose. I finally got a job that I don't hate. I'm a groundskeeper - it's very peaceful. I paid off all my debt, and actually have money to spare. Everything is just working out.”

We asked Nick what he would say to someone struggling with addiction, and he had this to share:

“If you want to stop suffering, this is the place to do it. If you want to get sober – and not just sober, but to have a better life, this is the place to do it. Step has saved my life in more ways than one.”