September 18, 2025

On September 18, 2025, members, partners, and friends gathered at Lifespan Local’s new venue, Blossom House, for an evening dedicated to courage, community, and collective impact. Prior to the program, Dr. Lydia Prado, Executive Director of Lifespan Local, led a tour of the Blossom House. Blossom House is the vibrant, community- driven center in the Westwood neighborhood offering early childhood education, the Lena Archuleta Branch of the Denver Public Library, a community kitchen, youth spaces, a hydroponic farm, and various community gathering areas. Opened in late 2024, the facility serves as a hub for community activation, providing resources and programs developed through extensive community listening and collaboration.

The program, “Sharpening Our Focus: A Call for Courage,” felt especially timely. The latest National State of the Nonprofit Sector Survey reveals the difficult terrain organizations are navigating: rising costs, shrinking government funding, and unprecedented demand for services. With 36% of nonprofits ending 2024 in deficit and only 36% able to rely on six months of reserves, sustainability has never felt more fragile. And yet—amid these daunting realities—we see leaders and organizations demonstrating courage every day. We were reminded that fear can mean two things:

Forget Everything And Run or Face Everything And Rise. What our nonprofit partners model for us daily is the latter. Courage is not always loud or dramatic; sometimes it is the steady, quiet voice saying, “I will try again tomorrow.”

That spirit was embodied by the evening’s distinguished panel of changemakers:

• Moderator: Elizabeth “Lizzy” Neufeld, CEO & Founder, Strat Labs, a social-impact agency
• Neha Mahajan, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Transformative Leadership for Change
• Cris Cardenas, Director of Finance, Mi Casa Resource Center
• P Barclay Jones, Project Manager through the Giving Project, Chinook Fund

Together, they shared stories of persistence, risk-taking, and the unrelenting belief that communities can—and will—rise. Their insights illuminated how courage takes many forms: challenging inequitable systems, balancing financial strain with mission-driven urgency, and holding onto hope in the face of uncertainty.

Specifically, several speakers mentioned the increased costs for nonprofits associated with security to keep their staff and constituents safe. Ms. Cardenas cited the development of creative partnerships to facilitate job training and financial stability as reflected in the new grant Mi Casa Resource Center received from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

As Brené Brown reminds us, being brave and afraid at the same time is the great adventure. Our panelists embodied this truth, and their words left us with both inspiration and resolve.