Sun Valley Youth Center is a sacred place. The center is a constant within a Denver neighborhood that has experienced consistent economic challenges and decades of conflict around urban development. At the center of this Denver neighborhood is Sun Valley Youth Center, and at the core of Sun Valley Youth Center is Kris Rollerson. Kris is a dedicated leader, community advocate, and care provider who has loved the neighbors and neighborhood of Sun Valley for nearly 30 years.

Frances Xavier Cabrini first came to Denver in the early 1900’s. It is only in Colorado that she is affectionately known as “Mother Cabrini” for her compassion and care of children in our city. Her life and legacy are honored at the Mother Cabrini Shrine, located on the land outside Golden she purchased to establish the Queen of Heaven Orphanage. It is in this place she purchased that pilgrims are invited to follow in the footsteps of Mother Cabrini.

Jesus on Colfax is a sacred place. The organization, Jesus on Colfax (JOC), began with an unexpected invitation. Shawn Sikkema had been a pastor in southeast Aurora for 25 years. As he was riding his motorcycle down Colfax, he felt God inviting him to simply show up and love people. It was a present day invitation to the Biblical narrative of caring for the neighbor in need. To join Jesus on Colfax.

The tomb of Julia Greeley holds the bodily remains of the only person in Colorado who has an open case within the Roman Catholic Church for sainthood. It is not the tomb of a bishop or priest, clergy or civic leader, but a woman whose life reflected the selfless and sacrificial love of Jesus. 

Fr. Samuel Morehead is the former Rector of the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, where Julia’s tomb is located. He describes Julia as “a strong woman of faith fueled by her love of Jesus and Jesus’ love for her.”

CAFE 180 is a sacred place. For fifteen years, this light‑filled corner cafe in Englewood has welcomed neighbors to share good food with gracious hospitality. The promise of the cafe is profound: the way a meal is served with dignity cultivates belonging. “We’ve been really careful to never change the way we serve people or the way we present food depending on how much someone’s paying for it,” says Sarah Lesyinski, Executive Director of One Good Turn, the parent organization of CAFE 180.

“The joke is I didn't do the laundry at my own house before we bought this business, and now I'm responsible for over 30,000 pounds of laundry every week.” Matt Barnes is the owner of Professional Touch Laundry Services, the most trusted commercial laundry and linen service in the city. Matt communicated in our conversation a compelling vision for how a blue-collar business does the ordinary work of a laundry service while seeing the sacred in the everyday. 

In the heart of the Sunnyside neighborhood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the well-being of youth in Denver. Save Our Youth was founded in response to the tumultuous "summer of violence" in Denver in 1993. It provides one-to-one mentorship to young people ages 10-17 as a pathway to help them overcome adverse experiences and learn to embrace hope. To cultivate the belief that they can have something better, and they have a role to play in making it better. With over three decades of faithful presence and practice, Save Our Youth has walked alongside thousands of youths, providing mentoring relationships that nurture spiritual, emotional, and economic hope. 

The thrill of thrifting and the warmth of connection are palpable when you enter a Habitat for Humanity ReStore. It is a sacred place where community and commerce converge.

CrossPurpose is a place where lives intertwine, barriers dissolve, and deep, authentic relationships are formed. At CrossPurpose, people from vastly different backgrounds—former gang members, single mothers, wealthy business leaders, refugees, and longtime community residents—gather at shared tables. They come together not as beneficiaries and benefactors, but as family.

Bud’s Warehouse is place for people renovating their homes to support those rebuilding their lives. It is a place for those rebuilding their lives to assist those renovating their homes. It is a place of renovation and restoration. Bud’s Warehouse is a sacred place.

The story of Stan’s Automotive is how a family business has cared for a community for 50 years, and in doing so, made an automotive garage a sacred place. 

Some people may think about a Children’s Hospital and assume they are either sad and scary places. But in reality, Children’s Hospitals are bright and cheerful. They are where patients and their families learn to adapt to injuries and new diagnoses.

To fully experience the beauty, grit, and grace of Jubilee visit the roaster and shop in the warehouse one block off Colfax where a coffee shop is a sacred place.

Honey Bear Tree is a child care center where children are seen, known, and loved. The child care center is a sacred place.

An assisted living home is a sacred place because the residents are created in the image of God and deeply loved by Him. They are our neighbors who can no longer move towards us. Look for an assisted living home in your neighborhood. Be curious, listen, and learn from the long histories and decades of stories of your neighbors who live in assisted living. An assisted living home is a sacred place.