Background Statement
In 1986, Connie Zimmerman felt led to help the homeless but was not sure what that meant. Connie was working at an assisted living facility when she discovered a coworker had lost his home. She raised money to provide steady housing for her coworker's family and discovered her passion in the process. In 1987 she created a nonprofit called Colorado Homeless Families (CHF) whose goal was to assist working families in their pursuit of stable housing. In the following 29 years, more than 500 families were housed.
In 2016, Karen Allen took over as the new executive director. As a former LSW, Karen utilized her social services expertise to implement a fresh holistic approach. In addition to housing and job readiness, Karen added required group night courses to the program, ranging from parenting skills and emotional intelligence to financial literacy. Perhaps of greatest importance, was the added element of trauma-informed private therapy for all of CHF's residents, adults, and children alike.
In 2020 CHF rebranded and became BeyondHome. BeyondHome continues to assist working families who are experiencing homelessness or who are on the verge of becoming homeless by providing the opportunity for them to achieve self-sufficiency for life. BeyondHome is grateful to own 2 acres of land near 80th and Allison as of June 2022, which will serve as the future site of at least 20 more BeyondHome townhomes. This parcel of land and Beyond Home’s current 39 units continue to be 100% debt free.
Since 1987:
• 453 families have successfully graduated from our transitional housing program.
• 182 families graduated from BeyondHome to become homeowners.
• 129 individuals have graduated from tech schools, colleges, or universities.