What can we do with $1 a day?

Ms. Manzo, a single mother of three, spent years seeking permanent, affordable housing in Boulder County. Due to rising rent costs, she and her family were never able to stay in one place long enough to call it home. “I want stability for my kids, we’re always moving. They need a healthy, happy, stable environment to succeed in school.” Feeling exhausted and isolated from the worry about where her family would live next, Ms. Manzo applied to partner with Habitat for Humanity of Boulder Valley. Homeownership provided her with the help she needed to build stability and start planning for the future with confidence.

Ms. Manzo found hope and community through Habitat’s homeownership classes, and by working side-by-side with local volunteers to build her own home. $1 a day buys one front door, representing security and opportunity for a family in need of a home, through Habitat for Humanity of Boulder Valley.

Last year, Blue was a desperate scavenger, foraging for whatever food he could find on Colorado’s open range. He was among nearly 50 horses turned loose from a substandard horse rescue facility. Today, Blue is living a life of luxury as head trail horse at a spectacular resort. Blue’s change of fortune came about after he and the other horses were brought to the Dumb Friends League Harmony Equine Center™. When he arrived, Blue was skinny and dirty, with terrible teeth and untrimmed feet. At the Center, he received the care he needed. Wayne was looking for a horse for his trail rides at his B&B near Colorado Springs. He spotted Blue on our website and asked to meet him. The connection between man and horse was clear from the start, and soon Blue found himself living in horse heaven!

“The whole process of adopting Blue was wonderful,” Wayne said. “I would tell anyone wanting a horse to consider adopting from the Dumb Friends League.” $1 a day feeds one formerly suffering horse for a month and a half at the Dumb Friends League Harmony Equine Center.

Because of a working smoke/carbon monoxide detector in Eric’s Denver home, three generations of family members were saved when a fire struck the home late last year. Earlier, Veterans Green Jobs had provided weatherization services in Eric’s home to make the house more energy efficient. Eric, a veteran of the U.S. Marines, received the services at no cost due to his low-income financial status. Among the services Eric received was the installation of a smoke/carbon monoxide detector. So when a daytime fire struck his home while he was away at work, several family members – including Eric’s autistic teenage son – were alerted to the fire and escaped the home before it was burned and destroyed. $1 a day installs a smoke/carbon monoxide detector and provides a check for gas leaks by Veterans Green Jobs.

The students in Ms. Katie’s classroom at Children’s Outreach Project use a rug with a map of the world to go on adventures and learn about different cultures. On a recent trip the children went to Hawaii to learn where pineapples come from. With each trip the students must decide how they will get there. Ms. Katie asked, “How should we get to Hawaii?” and the students, seeing that Hawaii is surrounded by ocean, decided that they would build a bridge so that they could get fresh pineapple. This simple rug has become a critical bridge to many important early childhood lessons and worldly possibilities. $1 a day provides teachers at Children’s Outreach Project the tools, like the world rug, to support pre-academic, cognitive, and social-emotional development for at-risk preschoolers.

As a youth, Amanda found herself homeless and on her own and then as a young woman, pregnant and living in an abusive relationship. After another beating occurred and she ended up in the hospital, she knew she could not continue living a life of fear, peril and pain. But this last episode of violence and concern for her new baby gave Amanda the courage to change her life. She reached out to a nurse practitioner and they referred her to a homeless shelter and Stride. Through Stride, Amanda received subsidized housing, was able to apply for and attend school, and was given the support to make good choices. When Amanda graduated from Stride she had completed an Associates Degree. Using the skills she developed with Stride, she continued on her path to self-sufficiency at a job she loves and which allows her to independently support her family. $1 a day provides a single mother services through Stride’s Work 4 Success program to access higher education and employment.