Growing Home (GH) ha anunciado hoy el fallecimiento de su fundadora, Kathleen Drozda, el 6 de agosto, tras perder su batalla de un año contra la esclerosis lateral amiotrófica (ELA).

Growing Home es una organización sin fines de lucro que ofrece una red de programas para personas y familias en el Norte de Denver. Como fundadora, la Sra. Drozda creo conciencia sobre los retos que afrontan las familias que viven sin un hogar o corren el riesgo de ser desalojados, ayudando a desarrollar programas y servicios para atender sus necesidades y fomentar alianzas para transformar el futuro de muchas personas.

"This is the end of an incredible chapter for Growing Home," said Michelle Bettis, Chair of the GH Board of Directors. "Kathleen founded this organization in 1998 and guided it through different stages of growth for over 26 years. She imagined the impossible and made it happen. I speak on behalf of the entire Board when I say that we will forever be grateful for all she did for Growing Home and for homelessness prevention, food security, parenting education, and programs to advance financial resiliency for local families. We are confident that Veronica Perez, CEO, will continue the trajectory that Kathleen led us on to move Growing Home's mission forward."

A nurse by training and a tireless community advocate, Mrs. Drozda began her career as a clinician at St. Anthony North Hospital. After engaging a woman who appeared to be living in her car with two dogs in the hospital's parking lot, she learned the woman had fled a domestic violence situation. Mrs. Drozda asked the hospital's director if they could offer her temporary shelter until a longer-term solution could be found. He approved and this event led to the founding of the nonprofit as the Adams County Interfaith Hospitality Network, that would later become Growing Home.

Con el tiempo, y con la colaboración del hospital, Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati, Regis University, líderes religiosos y de la comunidad local, docenas de congregaciones y cientos de voluntarios, se estableció una red de recursos de alojamiento transitorio bajo el Programa Canopy. La Sra. Drozda fue directora general, presidenta del Consejo y también desempeñó otras funciones en Growing Home. Recibió numerosos premios, entre ellos el premio Spirit of Planetree Award en el 2014 por mejorar la vida de la comunidad.

This is an excerpt from the message Mrs. Drozda delivered last fall at GH's gala on occasion of its milestone anniversary:

"Nos unimos por una causa común y compartimos recuerdos celebrando 25 años. En 1998, un encuentro casual dio origen a Growing Home. La idea básica era que una comunidad podía utilizar un enfoque de vecino a vecino para apoyar con éxito a otras familias locales proporcionándoles refugio y alimentos en tiempos de crisis. Cientos de voluntarios trabajaron mano a mano en aquellos primeros años, y muchos de ustedes siguen conectados a Growing Home y han compartido el viaje hasta este aniversario memorable.

To those of you who have donated time, dollars, food, and gift cards, I thank you! To those of you who moved furniture, families' belongings, cooked, cleaned, drove trucks, carried boxes, did laundry, and volunteered for so many tasks to support the Shelter Program and keep it going over the years, there are no words of gratitude that suffice. But I will try with a heartfelt "thank you", not just from me, but from all the families and individuals you helped, and for the children whose smiles you brought to life in times of need.

As we celebrate our 25th anniversary year, we are reenergized and focused on our next generation at "Growing Home," now a multi-program nonprofit that is maximizing its capacity and building on our learning and successes. In 2022, almost 250 volunteers provided over 6,000 hours of time to Growing Home's mission, AND over 40 partner organizations joined us in our integrated effort to respond to our community's needs. We are grateful to each of you, our supporters, who continually invest in building our capacity to serve our community!

There are so many things I would like to share tonight. Above all, I want to say I am so proud to be part of the community and that my heart is full of hope as we look forward to the next 25 years of Growing Home. And last, but certainly not least a quote from Mother Theresa, "It's not how much you do, but how much love you put into what you do, that counts. Thank you!"

En un acto conmemorativo a principios de semana con el personal de GH, Veronica Perez transmitió el siguiente mensaje:

"Kathleen saw building GH as the privilege of a lifetime, and she was incredibly proud of the contributions we have made to improving the lives and wellbeing of North Denver families. I am confident that our outstanding and dedicated leadership and staff will continue to move our programs forward as a tribute to the spirit and determination of our founder."

Ms. Perez added, "Since I first met Kathleen in 2022 and became a member of the Growing Home community, I have been in awe. Kathleen was a force of nature, a fierce and effective advocate for children and families, and a true visionary. She was also a dear friend. Without question, her impact on our community has been enormous and, quite frankly, unmatched. Though I wish that Kathleen could have continued her incredible and effective guidance of GH for the next decades, I am nonetheless honored to lead the programs she loved."

A la Sra. Drozda le sobreviven su marido Gregg Drozda, su hermana, Carol (Mark) Rickman, sus amigos y familiares que la querían profundamente.

La familia desea que cualquier donación en memoria de Kathleen se haga hacia Growing Home o a una organización caritativa favorita para continuar con su legado.