I was a foster parent for nearly five years, and I adopted my daughter through foster care when she was 11. What I learned, watching kids move through the system, is that the hardest part isn't just one moment — it's not having anyone to help you process any of it. No space to learn what you're feeling, no one who's been there to talk to, no map for what comes next as you get older. So in 2021, I started The Light House to be that support.
Here's what that looks like right now:
Every other Sunday, kids ages 7 to 12 come together in groups of 10 for Emotional Regulation classes — a circuit of hands-on activities designed to help them understand and name what they're feeling. At the same time, their parents and caregivers — foster, kinship, adoptive, or reunified birth parents — meet in a support group of their own, because the adults in this need support too.
Once a month, teens ages 16 to 21 gather for a two-hour Life Skills Workshop led by a professional speaker, on topics like managing money, mental health, finding a job, cooking for yourself, and healthy relationships.
And for teens 16 to 21 affected by foster care, we offer one-on-one mentoring: a mentor who meets with them every week to help set and work toward real goals, with their basic needs treated as a first priority.
I'm also building toward First Light — a warm home where a child could go in the very first hours of a new placement, instead of a police station or a caseworker's office. It isn't open yet. Every gift today brings it closer.
The Light House is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit. I'm the only staff member, so I can tell you exactly where your gift goes.
$25 covers a family's session at Parent Support Group.
$50 covers materials for one child's session in an Emotional Regulation class.
$100 covers a full Life Skills Workshop session, speaker included.
$250 covers a month of weekly mentoring for one teen, including help meeting basic needs.
This Colorado Gives Day, my goal is $2,500 — enough to keep these programs running and take a real step toward First Light. Early giving opens November 1, and every gift between now and December 8 counts toward that goal.
I can't fix the whole system. But I can make sure the kids and families going through it right now have somewhere to turn. Give today. It's tax-deductible, and I personally read every gift notification that comes in.
— Elicia Williams, Founder, The Light House (est. 2021)
The Light House exists so that children and families touched by fostering, kinship care, and adoption don't have to navigate it alone. Right now, that means four ongoing programs: Emotional Regulation classes for kids ages 7-12, a support group for the parents and caregivers raising them, monthly Life Skills Workshops for teens, and one-on-one mentoring for older youth aging toward independence. We're also building First Light, a home for the very first hours of a new placement - that part isn't open yet, and it's what we're working toward next.
The Light House was established by Elicia Williams, who is the current President. She was a foster parent for almost 5 years and adopted her daughter through foster care at the age of 11. While fostering, she noticed that kids didn't have time between moves of foster homes to process what was happening to them.
Most foster children need transition time that the system, handling a high volume of cases, often can't give them. The Light House was built to fill that gap - first through Emotional Regulation classes, a Parent Support Group, Life Skills Workshops, and mentoring for older teens. We're also working toward First Light, a space built specifically for a child's first hours in a new placement. First Light isn't open yet; the four programs above are what's running today.
Organization name
The Light House Partners, Inc.
other names
The Light House Denver
2021
Tax id (EIN)
86-3600887
Category
Human Services
Organization Size
Small Organization
Address
21073 E LAYTON AVEDenver, CO, US
Arapahoe County, CO, US
Douglas County, CO, US
Jefferson County, CO, US