Congratulations to Our May 2026 Education Grantees!
This post is long overdue, but I would like to congratulate our May 2026 Education grantees! When looking at applications from this round, we were focusing mostly (with a couple exceptions that we found particularly compelling) on programs that support or supplement Pre-K-12 students in public schools. We are so excited about the diverse group of organizations, serving a variety of student populations, represented in this round of grant funding. Congratulations, again, to the following:
Denver Public Schools Community Hubs: DPS Community Hubs collaborate with community-based organizations to provide wraparound services and activities for low-income families and individuals in the Denver metro region with an ultimate goal of fostering family self-sufficiency, health and well-being and furthering children’s educational success. Services include mental health support for families; emergency basic needs services, such as utility assistance and food access; coaching for parents and caregivers in play-based learning activities to support their child’s early development; and workforce readiness and life skills coursework, including English as a Second Language (ESL), adult basic education, citizenship coaching, and General Education Development (GED) classes.
Special Olympics Colorado: SOCO’s Unified Champion Schools program is a partnership with local schools to embed unified education and enrichment opportunities for students with special needs and their peers on preschool through college campuses in sports, academics, and the arts. Funding from the Foundation will support UCS programs in the Denver metro region (Denver Public Schools and Aurora Public Schools, primarily), and help the goal of establishing a UCS program in at least one school in Grand County.
Cal-Wood Education Center: Cal-Wood’s Education Assistance Fund for school programs expand access to environmental education for low-income youth. Cal-Wood collaborates with teachers to customize each trip to best supplement what is being taught in the classroom and meet state science standards. Among class offerings are geology, fire ecology, animal adaptations, weather and climate, pond study, snow science, and much more.
Breaking Silence: Breaking Silence is a storytelling project for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. Their work, through programming and film, reaches universities, youth sports, hospitality spaces, and large-scale public environments with the goal of creating a world of advocates.
Greenhouse Scholars (repeat grantee): Greenhouse’s Whole Person College Program equips young people from low-income backgrounds to persist through college, graduate into strong careers, and become leaders in their communities. Currently, the program serves 65 young Coloradans from under-resourced communities and has supported 257 Scholars statewide since 2005. The program, which consists of 10 programmatic components, is designed to help students overcome socioeconomic barriers, earn their degrees, launch into meaningful, well-paying careers, and develop leadership and entrepreneurial skillsets that will equip them to positively impact others.
Whiz Kids Tutoring (repeat grantee): Whiz Kids’ Tutoring, Mentoring, and Academic Support Program provides consistent, one-to-one services at no cost to elementary and middle school students in under-resourced Denver area schools. Students are paired with trained, caring adult tutors who meet weekly throughout the academic year, building foundational academic skills while also fostering confidence, positive relationships, and engagement in learning. Grounded in a relationship-centered model, the program integrates structured support with social-emotional development, ensuring students receive both the academic intervention and encouragement needed to succeed.
Hope House Colorado ECE Program (repeat grantee): The Early Childhood Education Program at Hope House Colorado provides a variety of developmental and educational supports for the children of teen moms. The 11,000-square-foot early learning center located on the Hope House campus in Arvada provides full-time, licensed, quality early childhood education for children ages 6 weeks to 5 years old, as well as summer camp for school-age children, while the Early Learning & School Age Program serves children while their moms are on site in the resource center.
North Littleton Promise (repeat grantee): NLP is a community space with many different facets, one of them being supporting students through academic support and summer programming. Funds for this grant will bolster afterschool and summer learning, family engagement activities, and support the addition of a part-time Education Specialist who will enhance data-informed instruction across all programs.
Arapahoe Santa Clause Shop (repeat grantee): Arapahoe Santa Claus Shop offers families who live in or attend school in Littleton, Sheridan or Englewood and are experiencing financial need an opportunity to “shop” for free gifts from Santa for their children age ten and under. All funds will be used to purchase gifts to offer families who may otherwise not have presents under the tree Christmas morning.
