BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Jennifer Zertuche – Board Chair
Jennifer Zertuche joined the Hope House Board of Directors in May 2018 and has been a member of the finance committee since 2009. Jennifer earned her Bachelor of Science degree in finance from Metropolitan State University of Denver. She is a senior vice president of accounting at FirstBank and has over 15 years of experience in banking. Jennifer and her husband Erik have four children and enjoy hiking, riding motorcycles and traveling.
Paul Snyder – Vice Chair/Treasurer
Paul Snyder joined the Hope House Board of Directors in 2020. He is a strong believer that breaking the cycle of poverty begins with impactful programs provided by Hope House. Paul is the president and founder of American West Construction, LLC, a heavy civil construction company based in Adams County, CO. In addition to Hope House, he serves on the board of directors for the Colorado Contractors Association, a construction industry trade group. Paul earned a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY, and is a licensed professional engineer in Colorado and Virginia. Paul and his wife, Missy, are blessed with a young daughter and enjoy spending time outdoors in the mountains of Colorado.
Steve Reynolds – Secretary
Steve Reynolds, who is passionate about empowering teen moms to break the cycle of poverty and create brighter futures for themselves and their children, joined the Hope House Board of Directors in 2019. Steve is the founding partner of Indigena Holdings and the co-owner and vice president of Infinity Oil & Gas, Inc. He also holds board positions for A Precious Child and Fellowship in Service to Humanity (FISH). Steve earned a Bachelor of Arts in geology as well as a Bachelor of Arts in business from Western State College (Western Colorado University). He and his wife Paula live in Broomfield and are the proud parents of three adult daughters and two adult foster daughters.
Wayne Anderson
Wayne Anderson joined the Hope House Board of Directors in 2021. He is the senior international executive leadership coach, CEO and founder of the Leadership Science Institute, LLC. He is a certified master coach (CMC). He has extensive experience in helping his international executive clients to expand and grow their careers and/or businesses through skills assessments, coaching and training. His company was awarded the “2020 Top Leadership Development Company” by Manage HR magazine and the “2021 Top Leadership Development Company” by HR Outlook magazine. Wayne was an adjunct professor in business and management at Front Range Community College (FRCC) in Westminster, Colorado where he taught a variety of business courses. He was a publicly elected official. He held the positions of city council member and county commissioner for the City and County of Broomfield. Wayne is also the author of eight books. He holds degrees in information technology, business finance and organizational leadership. His hobby is astronomy where he loves studying the stars. His extensive experience and life-long passion to assist people in achieving success on their life journey is why he has joined the Hope House Board of Directors.
Chris Johnson
Chris joined the Hope House Board of Directors in 2020. As Gorilla Logic’s executive responsible for new client acquisition and growth, Chris leverages his business acumen and passion for helping others. He coaches the sales team and guides Gorilla Logic clients in reaching their maximum potential through partnering on enterprise application development. He joined Gorilla Logic after serving as director of global business development for a technology solutions provider. Prior to these work experiences, Chris began his professional career running a motocross training and coaching company while partaking in the sport himself. Outside of work and his love for riding motorcycles, Chris balances family time with giving back to his community through organizations like Hope House Colorado. He and his wife Brittany have been married for seven amazing years and have a 5-year-old son and 1-year-old daughter.
Alicia Quintana
Alicia joined the Hope House Board of Directors in 2021. She first joined the Hope House family in 2013 to begin a new journey with her daughter as a teen mom. Hope House became the foundation for their healing process and enabled Alicia to become self-sufficient by introducing her to life skills, resources and business partnerships. After graduating from Hope House, Alicia began her career in 2016 at WAXIE Sanitary Supply as a sales administrator. Since that time, she has consistently given back to her community by serving on the board of various nonprofit organizations. In 2017, Alicia served as a mentor and board member at an organization that mentored grade school girls and provided workshops to teach them the importance of life skills. In 2020, she served as a board member for a nonprofit whose focus is to create economic empowerment in the community by providing a safe space where diverse people groups can connect and exchange knowledge. In her free time, Alicia enjoys spending time with her significant other and their two children, a boy and girl, as they explore the beauty of nature in Colorado.
John Steven
John Steven, with his wife Lisa, is one of the founders of Hope House Colorado and has served on the Hope House Board of Directors since the ministry’s inception in 2000. John and Lisa were teen parents and have been married 23 years. John is a machinist and has been with his family’s business, J&D Machine Technology, for 26 years. John is also a kinetic sculptor and designs steel sculptures that can be viewed at www.jrssculpture.com
Brian Sump
Brian Sump joined the Hope House Board of Directors in 2020. Brian is a former professional athlete and entrepreneur. In 2007, he started his first business, Avalon Motorsports, which specializes in German car service and sales. In 2014, Brian and his team opened Urban Autocare, a second shop in Denver to cater to all makes and models and they are currently working on their fifth shop location. Brian has been involved with many different businesses including SaferNet, an Arvada-based tech company that empowers parents to protect their children and their electronic devices from malicious attacks as well as businesses in gourmet confections and athletic performance training. He provides consulting services for a variety of industries and serves on several nonprofit boards including Novation Church in Westminster, CO where he is also an associate pastor. Brian was one of the first businesses to partner with Hope House in employing young moms and one of the first members of the development committee, where he served for several years prior to joining the board of directors.
Nicole Trujillo
Nicole rejoined the Hope House Board of Directors in 2023. A veteran to the board, Nicole previously served as a board member from 2014 to 2019. With over 20 years of legal and administrative experience, Nicole holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a Master of Business Administration from Regis University. Over the course of her career, Nicole has helped with strategic management, human resources, relationship management, change & risk management, budgeting & forecasting, project management and business planning at a variety of banks and firms. Nicole currently holds the position of administrator at BakerHostetler where she oversees the day-to-day financial, operational, and human resource activities of the Denver office in the delivery of support services to attorneys. Her seasoned experiences bring a great perspective to Hope House as the nonprofit continues to grow its services and building spaces in Arvada, Colorado to continue empowering more teen moms and children across the Denver metro-area. Nicole enjoys investing in her community in various capacities to support the Hispanic community. In her free time, Nicole enjoys the outdoors and spending time with family and friends.
Clarene Shelley, 2006-2007
Roger Stapleton, 2008
John Scott, 2009-2010
Stacy Hougland, 2011-2012
Pat Smith, 2012-2013
Mindy Brown, 2013-2016
Brandon Ideker, 2016-2017
Brian Bess, 2018-2021
ADVISORY BOARD
FINANCE COMMITTEE
DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE OF THE BOARD
Do you have a friend or someone you would like to introduce to Hope House? Please email our Director of Development Lisa Schlarbaum to learn about upcoming meetings and events.
MEMBERS:
Lindsay Gooch
Etkin Johnson
6475 Benton Street BLDG A,
Arvada, CO 80003
(303) 429-1012
Hope House Colorado is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Our Federal Tax ID number is 84-1567838.
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CONNECT WITH US
Lauren is a teen mom who was raised by a mother who depends solely on government assistance. With the encouragement of her Hope House Mentor, Lauren decided to break the mold and become independent, but her family was not willing to support her decision. Through the donation of a reliable used car, Hope House was able to make a real difference in Lauren’s journey:
“Recently I was blessed enough to receive a donated car from Hope House. The weight lifted off my shoulders the moment the keys were handed to me. Now I am not only able to attend college and take my daughter to my mom’s during class, I have also been lucky enough to start working. When it comes down to it, I wouldn’t be as successful without my car.”
Today Lauren is living on her own and is working for one of our Career Partner businesses, where she is up for a promotion!
A teen mom without much hope, Kori joined our GED Program this summer. Her story is hard to hear and includes physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her own family. However, she is committed to breaking this cycle of abuse and providing a different kind of childhood for her three little daughters. With this goal in mind, Kori is now attending our Parenting classes, where she is known to be one of the most enthusiastic, engaged students!
Hope House recently received this note from Kori:
Thank you so much for believing in me when I didn’t believe in myself. Thanks to you I’m getting my GED, I’m bettering my life, and I’m going to be someone in life. Now my kids can look up to me. Thank you Hope House for giving us a better tomorrow.
With love,
Kori
Vanessa first used alcohol at the tender age of 8. She dropped out of school in 10th grade and became a mom at age 16. Unfortunately these are common realities for a young woman growing up in poverty. However, not only did Vanessa grow up in generational poverty, she also grew up in an environment that did not trust the police force and actually hated police officers.
Fortunately Vanessa found Hope House where she earned her GED and joined our Mentoring program. Wanting to break out of the vicious cycle of poverty, she explored a variety of career options. Through this process, Vanessa had the opportunity to go on a drive-along with an Arvada police officer. This experience completely changed Vanessa’s perspective of the police force, and she now wants to join the legal system by becoming an attorney! We look forward to offering Vanessa practical support through our Learning Lab as she enrolls in college to pursue her dream!
Alondra is a teen mom following her dreams. She has a scholarship and is attending Metro State University of Denver where she is working toward an RN degree. She lives downtown with her son and works part-time while attending college full-time.
Alondra’s journey is amazing because she had many challenges to face… she became a mom at age 16. That fact alone meant she had less than a 1% chance of ever earning a college degree!
Alondra also had to overcome homelessness and generational poverty.
Today at age 19 with a 3-year-old son, Alondra is still a teen mom. But she is also a graduate of Hope House Colorado, and she is working hard toward self-sufficiency. Her future is bright!
Brittani was born into poverty and chaos — and her mother struggled with cancer and her father with kidney failure. Dropping out of school in 10th grade, Brittani was pregnant by age 15 .
Brittani named her baby girl Deavyne and set out to create a different life for her daughter than she had known growing up. One of her friends told her about Hope House, where she earned her GED so she could go on to college. She also met with her Hope House mentor regularly and took Parenting classes at Hope House.
Today Brittani has finished her degree program and works full time as a Medical Assistant with benefits… and she loves her job!
She has been living in the same duplex for two years, which is longer than she has lived anywhere in her life. Her daughter goes to school a half block away and loves it. Brittani and her boyfriend are working on their credit score so they can buy a house.
“For the first time in my life, I feel stable and stress free. And I couldn’t have gotten here without Hope House to get me started,” says Brittani.
Stephanie is no longer the vulnerable, frightened teen mom who applied to Hope House.
Her background is not uncommon around Hope House. Stephanie grew up in generational poverty, became a mom as a teenager and dropped out of school. By the time her daughter was born, her boyfriend was gone. She was sleeping with her baby girl on a couch in a crowded mobile home.
Fortunately Stephanie found Hope House. She knew she would have to work hard — her first educational assessment placed her at 5th grade.
And so she worked hard! I am proud to say Stephanie earned her high school diploma through one of our online high school partners. She also completed our Parenting, Healthy Relationships, and Financial Literacy classes – as well as an internship at Head Start.
Stephanie’s last requirement was to find full-time employment. With support from our College & Career Program, she found a customer service position at PC’s for People, a non-profit organization that provides computers to low-income individuals (I love seeing the process come full circle in her life!).
The teen moms at Hope House are true heroes… Kathryn is no exception. We are not the only ones impressed with her incredible resilience in the face of hardship – Kathryn was recently given the Adams County Mayors and Commissioners Youth Award!
In 2018, Kathryn wrote and recorded her story for Hope House. You can view that video here and learn about her incredible resilience!
Janelle remembers when her world crumbled. She was 12 when her parents’ fights and addictions led them to split. Although Janelle and her brothers were already used to living in chaos, now they were left on the sidelines, trying to take care of themselves. Janelle ended up meeting an older boy – and they connected deeply as they shared stories from their rough childhoods.
By age 14, Janelle was pregnant, and that same boyfriend became abusive, leaving her with bruises make-up couldn’t cover. By the time Joseph was born, Janelle had stopped going to school. By the time he turned four, Janelle had another baby boy.
Janelle and her boys eventually became homeless — sleeping in a car, on the ground, or in homeless shelters. Sleeping in a car was actually a good night because the ground was cold and the shelters were crowded, smelly and scary.
Janelle knew she had to make a change.
She found Hope House online and enrolled in our GED Program. Surrounded by staff and volunteers who encouraged her, Janelle began to feel hope.
Six months later, Janelle had earned her GED and had found her own confidence. With the support of our College & Career Program, Janelle applied to the Community College of Denver and began working toward a certification in machining.
The tutors at Hope House helped Janelle when she needed it, and she stuck with the program. When she graduated, she was offered a job at Ball Aerospace as a machinist. Today Janelle is loving her job, where she gets to use the skills she learned in college. She also now owns her very own house, where she and her boys are thriving!
Edith, pictured with her son Ian, started at Hope House in February 2019 when Ian was just five months old. At the time, Edith was experiencing depression while facing the economic challenges of being a teen mom. After a friend introduced her to Hope House, Edith felt the encouragement she needed to move forward with her life and build a healthy future for herself and her son. In a year’s time, she was able to cover her expenses and begin saving for a down payment for a house.
During the year of the pandemic, Edith accessed our curbside Grab & Go for food and essentials; took virtual parenting and healthy relationships classes; received individual counseling; and participated in group classes to support mental health on her path to building a healthy future for herself and her son. She works at Amazon and continues to make smart financial decisions to reach her goal of owning a home.
Fatima’s childhood felt very lonely and isolated. Her family dynamics were difficult, and at an early age she felt neglected and left to fend for herself. As a preteen, she was given freedom without the tools to navigate it. Landing in the wrong circle of friends, Fatima began smoking and drinking at age 10. At 15, she found out she was pregnant. Already struggling with little support, five months into her pregnancy, Fatima lost her brother to suicide.
Life felt so intensely depressing that Fatima feared she would have a miscarriage. Her living situation with family was chaotic and unsafe all throughout her pregnancy, but at 16—with little support or encouragement—she gave birth to her son Julian.
Falling into a deep post-partum depression, Fatima knew something needed to change.
Fatima heard about Hope House through a friend of a friend, and after having joined the program, she quickly began working on her high school equivalency through Penn Foster. She also applied to and was accepted into the Residential Program. Fatima and Julian moved into the house and started making friends with other moms and staff. A residential staff member had a huge influence on her and became like a grandmother to her, something Fatima never had. Older moms in the house became mentors and guides to her. At the house, Fatima found a caring community.
Through classes at Hope House, Fatima learned how to set boundaries and establish healthy relationships. Hope House also helped her get a car, a paid internship with Jefferson County and an apartment.
Today, Fatima and Julian live in an apartment by themselves. She feels safe and is excited to provide an environment for Julian that is supportive and caring, two things she longed for as a child. Eventually, Fatima hopes to become a tattoo artist. She is drawing every day to practice her skills while raising her lively, talkative and energetic little boy.
Reflecting on her own experience and what she would say to a future or current teen mom, Fatima genuinely shares, “I’d ask her where she sees herself in the future. I’d ask her who she has as support. And if she says she doesn’t have anyone, I’d tell her I’ll be her absolute best friend. I’d tell her I’ll support her. I’d tell her my story. I would want to be that person, that support system, that I needed three years ago.”
Since becoming a Hope House Mom, Alejandra has been able to finish her GED through Penn Foster in February of 2022 and is incredibly thankful for the support and motivation she had through Hope House Staff. She attended the GED graduation in May 2022 and gave the graduation speech. Janely, Alejandra’s 9-month-old-daughter, is also enrolled in the Early Learning Program. At first, Alejandra said, “I was hesitant because of bad experiences I had with babysitters for Janely, but I got to meet the staff and they’re really nice and I’m never far away from [Janely] which is really great”. Alejandra has also taken other classes including Parenting 101, Relationship Classes, and Self-Care classes.
Alejandra is so proud to have graduated Penn Foster in only two months and have gotten her permit and driver’s license since becoming a Hope House Mom. Alejandra also attended a House of Congress meeting and testified on behalf of the Colorado Teen Parent Collaborative and Bill HB22-1042 to support the state providing driver’s education to teen parents. “I’m very vocal about the rights of my community – the Hispanic community, the Teen Parent community, and the people around me,” Alejandra explained.
Alejandra hopes to get her Real Estate License and move into that field, to find an apartment, and to continue to create a bond with Janely where Janely can tell Alejandra “anything and everything. I want to see her grow up and do something she is passionate about, and to be able to get her started with a good and healthy foundation.”
Alejandra found out that she was pregnant just days before her 17th birthday. An “A” student who had spent her first three years of high school taking IB and college classes, as well as working, Alejandra wasn’t sure what her life would look like as a teen parent. Alejandra hid her pregnancy until she was about six months along, and eventually told her parents and friends. She felt shamed and scared, and she was struggling with preeclampsia and migraines as she got closer to her due date. Eventually, Alejandra got connected to Hope House through clinic staff at the office where she went to get ultrasounds. At first, she was nervous about what her family would say, but in January of 2022, Alejandra became a Hope House Mom and has loved it ever since.
Since becoming a Hope House Mom, Alejandra has been able to finish her GED through Penn Foster in February of 2022 and is incredibly thankful for the support and motivation she had through Hope House Staff. She attended the GED graduation in May 2022 and gave the graduation speech. Janely, Alejandra’s 9-month-old-daughter, is also enrolled in the Early Learning Program. At first, Alejandra said, “I was hesitant because of bad experiences I had with babysitters for Janely, but I got to meet the staff and they’re really nice and I’m never far away from [Janely] which is really great”. Alejandra has also taken other classes including Parenting 101, Relationship Classes, and Self-Care classes.
Alejandra is so proud to have graduated Penn Foster in only two months and have gotten her permit and driver’s license since becoming a Hope House Mom. Alejandra also attended a House of Congress meeting and testified on behalf of the Colorado Teen Parent Collaborative and Bill HB22-1042 to support the state providing driver’s education to teen parents. “I’m very vocal about the rights of my community – the Hispanic community, the Teen Parent community, and the people around me,” Alejandra explained.
Alejandra hopes to get her Real Estate License and move into that field, to find an apartment, and to continue to create a bond with Janely where Janely can tell Alejandra “anything and everything. I want to see her grow up and do something she is passionate about, and to be able to get her started with a good and healthy foundation.”