Ahead of Giving Tuesday (Dec. 3), Colorado Gives Day (Dec. 10) and the infectious generosity that the holiday season ushers in, YellowDog presents 20 of our favorite nonprofits making a positive impact.
We asked these community organizations to share their stories with us, and boy did they deliver. We hope you dig up some nonprofits to follow, causes to bark for and some ins-paw-ration for your year-end giving. Let’s spread some holiday cheer with a little help from our friends!
1. Denver Urban Gardens
Denver Urban Gardens is the largest independent network of food-producing community gardens in the country. With over 200 community gardens and food forests across seven counties in the Denver metro area, we have green spaces in every neighborhood.
Community connection: Our first community garden, the Pecos Community Garden, started in the 1970s by a group of Hmong women who wanted to bring a piece of home to Denver. After four decades, our impact has expanded to serving over 25,000 families with our programming, including Grow a Garden which provides families with access to free or low-cost organic seeds and seedlings to grow their own healthy food.
Get involved: Take a class or workshop with us–anyone can learn how to grow, preserve or connect with the land!
Connect with DUG online and on Instagram.
2. Inside Out Youth Services
Inside Out Youth Services provide safe spaces, mental and health resources, advocacy and educational support to LGBTQIA2+ youth in the Tava Kahv (Pikes Peak) region, empowering young people to thrive as their authentic selves.
Community connection: We are deeply connected to the LGBTQIA2+ youth population we serve. Our leadership and staff include individuals with lived experiences within the LGBTQIA2+ community, bringing personal insight, empathy and a commitment to fostering inclusive, affirming spaces.
Ongoing anti-bias and cultural competency training for all staff, volunteers and board members ensures respectful and informed service. Youth advisory boards and regular community feedback sessions keep programming relevant, inclusive and accessible.
Get involved: Join our GEMs (Give Every Month) program, make a one-time donation or simply spread the word about our mission.
Connect with Inside Out Youth Services online and on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
3. Mile High Youth Theatre
Mile High Youth Theatre (MHYT) is a youth arts organization dedicated to the artistic, social and emotional development of our students. We believe that in teaching empathy through the performing arts. We not only nurture exceptional artists, but exceptional humans.
Community connection: We have created a safe, accessible and welcoming place kids can go in the afternoons, and believe in offering programming to ALL kids while removing barriers that limit access to the arts.
MHYT is a woman-founded and operated business. We are dedicated to hiring a diverse group of artists so that our students may have the opportunity to learn from as many different voices as possible. There is a wealth of knowledge and experiences in our community, and our students have the right to be educated by people who see and understand them.
Get involved: Come see a show or volunteer with us!
Connect with MHYT online and on Facebook and Instagram.
4. Sobriety House
As Colorado’s oldest licensed Substance Use Disorder (SUD) treatment center, Sobriety House supports lifelong recovery with a 12-step model and evidence-based practices. We provide residential treatment and a continuum of care regardless of ability to pay.
Community connection: Over 70% of our staff have lived experience with SUD, and many have completed Sobriety House’s own treatment programs. Our shared identities contribute to the compassionate, nonjudgmental approach of Sobriety House, reinforcing our mission to serve vulnerable and marginalized populations struggling with addiction.
Get involved: Share Sobriety House as a resource for those needing treatment with Medicaid – this is uncommon but highly needed in our community!
Connect with Sobriety House online and on Facebook.
5. Colorado Asian Pacific United
Colorado Asian Pacific United (CAPU) unearths and celebrates local AANHPI histories through organizing, storytelling and art, advancing diversity and inclusion as a social justice-driven nonprofit.
Community connection: CAPU is deeply rooted in the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community, with leadership and team members who share lived experiences, cultural backgrounds and community ties with those we serve.
Our shared identities foster a deep understanding of cultural heritage, language and the unique challenges faced by AANHPI communities, including issues around immigration, racial equity and cultural preservation.
Get involved: Support the reinstallation of our Missing Historical Marker with a donation to help us honor and preserve local AANHPI histories.
Connect with CAPU online and on Instagram and Facebook.
6. Soul 2 Soul Sisters
Soul 2 Soul Sisters (S2SS) is a love-based revolution centering Black healing as a response to anti-Black violence toward our collective liberation.
Community connection: S2SS serves all Black women, girls, femmes and gender expansive beings (referred to as Black Beloveds) in Colorado and the Denver metro area. Our virtual programming has expanded our reach and increased our action nation-wide and even globally.
We actualize liberation through our four day work week, unlimited PTO and ongoing wellness and rest practices. We align our organizational strategies with the principles of reproductive justice and make sure that our programming is welcoming for all folks across different abilities and backgrounds (while centering Black folks always).
Get involved: Subscribe to our mailing list! We send updates about upcoming events, breaking news, and ways to take action.
Connect with S2SS online and on Facebook and Instagram.
7. Savio
Savio supports families in overcoming severe challenges. We eliminate barriers that prevent families from getting the help they need by providing in-home mental health and wellness services regardless of families’ ability to pay.
Community connection: We believe every child has a fundamental right to family and mental health support. By providing services in-home to areas that often don’t have easy accessibility, we are creating a greater impact.
Savio has prioritized the recruitment of a diverse workforce in recent years and recognizes it is an ongoing process. We intentionally incorporate and respect family values and culture throughout treatment and emphasize diversity, inclusion and multilingual staff throughout the organization’s structure.
Get involved: Donate! Help fulfill a family’s wish list this holiday season. We also accept in-kind donations (such as cribs and clothing) to help our families meet their basic needs.
Connect with Savio online and on Instagram and Facebook.
8. Canine Partners of the Rockies
Canine Partners of the Rockies raises, trains and places mobility service dogs–with no placement fee–to serve veterans, Coloradans living with disabilities, and patients and students in local schools and hospitals.
Community connection: Staff and leadership with lived-experience of military service, living with a disability and working with our service dogs bring important perspective on the needs of the communities that we serve. Our staff receive regular training on disability rights as part of our Assistance Dogs International accreditation.
Canine Partners has developed new programs to reach historically underserved populations, specifically low income and BIPOC communities.
Get involved: Volunteer! Could you provide a nurturing environment for socialization and training? You can help us raise the next generation of service dogs! ​Not able to be a part of the puppy raising process but interested in fundraising, photography and videography, or clerical work? We’d love to have your help, too!
Connect with Canine Partners of the Rockies online and on Facebook and Instagram.
9. Center for the Arts Evergreen
Center for the Arts Evergreen offers diverse art exhibitions, fine art and ceramics classes for all ages, a dynamic concert series, community festivals and outreach programs that bring art to the underserved.
Community connection: Our small but mighty staff is inclusive of many generations, minorities of varying descents, neurodiversity and members of the LGBTQ+ community. We are all also artists in our own respects: potters, writers, designers, photographers and painters. It is with all these backgrounds, lived experiences and passions at heart that we approach our programming and our service to our entire community.
Get involved: Come experience an exhibition opening, take a class, send your child to a summer camp, take in an outdoor concert, join us for a festival or contribute to our ongoing outreach programming.
Connect with Center for the Arts Evergreen online and on Facebook and Instagram.
10. Assistance League of Denver
Assistance League of Denver supports vulnerable community members, primarily elementary students and seniors, with a focus on education, health and well-being.
Community connection: Our organization is led by volunteers, many of whom have retired from the public education system. We have first-hand experience with the challenges facing both elementary school families and aging seniors and we collaborate with the populations we serve to ensure we best meet their needs.
Get involved: Donate money or time! Monetary and in-kind donations and community volunteers are welcome.
Connect with the Assistance League of Denver online and on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
11. Servicios de la Raza
Servicios de la Raza is a bilingual human organization providing and advocating for culturally responsive, essential human services and opportunities in Denver, Pueblo and Adams counties.
Community connection: Our leadership and staff are a diverse, multicultural group–many of whom are immigrants themselves. We share lived experiences with many of the clients we serve. Our outreach and services include not only basic necessities, but also education and promotion of cultural practices and events that lie at the root of many of our communities.
Get involved: Donate or volunteer!
Connect with Servicios de la Raza online and on Instagram, Facebook and X.
12. Casa de Paz
Casa de Paz offers support to immigrants in Colorado. We meet material and logistical needs such as meals, transportation, basic necessities, and emotional support at no cost for detained and recently released immigrants and their families. As of November 2024, we have served over 20,000 people from 82 countries.
Community connection: People are greeted warmly into Casa and treated with kindness and compassion.
As female Latinx mothers with strong immigrant community ties, Casa leadership has a unique understanding of the hardships of immigrant women, girls and families in general. As an organization, we strive to continue both teaching and learning about diversity, equity and inclusion.
Get involved: Donate and volunteer!
Connect with Casa de Paz online and on Instagram and Facebook.
13. The GrowHaus
The GrowHaus cultivates community-led food justice through reliable fresh food access, health and wellness education, leadership development and long-term solutions. Our culturally responsive food access programs reach nearly 6,000 people every month in seven different languages through 26 convenient food access sites across Denver.
Community connection: The GrowHaus is proud to be a community-led organization, with 80% of our team being residents of the communities we serve. Hiring and training from the community means programs are led from a place of understanding and that strategies are practical and aligned with our neighbors’ needs.
Get involved: Become a member of our monthly giving community, Tambien, to provide reliable support of our work and for exclusive access to volunteer opportunities and networking events!
Connect with the GrowHaus online and on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
14. Cobbled Streets
Cobbled Streets provides children in foster care with experiences and opportunities that mitigate the impact of trauma and adversity and allow them to discover, engage, connect and thrive.
Community connection: Our founder, Shari Shink, dedicated 33 years as the executive director of the Rocky Mountain Children’s Law Center where she navigated the countless challenges faced by organizations serving abused and neglected children. Our organization maintains close connections with the foster care community by including individuals with lived experience on our staff and board. Their insights guide our work, ensuring our programs are relevant, responsive and impactful.
Get involved: Watch Rebecoming Me. Visit CobbledStreets.org/Get-Iinvolved to learn how you can donate, volunteer or take action in other ways.
Connect: with Cobbled Streets online and on Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube and LinkedIn.
15. Students Shoulder-to-Shoulder
Students Shoulder-to-Shoulder works to inspire and support ethical leaders across all sectors of society.
Community connection: We believe in cultivating authentic, balanced partnerships with schools, nonprofits, businesses and community organizations to advance society through the principles of ethical leadership. By actively listening to and integrating their voices, we ensure our initiatives are driven by mutual understanding and shared purpose.
Through our extensive network, we proudly connect individuals from diverse identities, backgrounds, cultures, socioeconomic statuses, age groups and interests. We are dedicated to cultivating diverse student groups, recognizing the transformative power of exposing young people to models of ethical leadership, diverse perspectives, and the importance of mutual understanding.
Get involved: Learn more about us! There are a galaxy of ways to support our work!
Connect with Students Shoulder-to-Shoulder online and on Instagram!
16. Wonderbound
Wonderbound is a nonprofit, contemporary dance company that develops original creations that rise to the highest levels of innovation.
Community connection: Wonderbound works diligently with our staff, board and constituents to ensure the organization is providing dance experiences for all peoples.
We take great pride in the diversity of our audience, and this population represents a vast spectrum of individuals in regard to socio-economic status, race, gender, sexual preference and age. Wonderbound diligently pursues opportunities to engage underserved populations.
We respect, embrace and empower unique identities, experiences and perspectives to cultivate the full beauty of our shared humanity.
Get involved: Attend open rehearsals! The community is encouraged to visit throughout every stage of Wonderbound’s creative process, amounting to approximately 165 days of free artistic experiences for residents every year.
Connect with Wonderbound online!
17. Project Sanctuary
Project Sanctuary provides therapeutic retreats and ongoing support to veterans, active-duty service members and military families. We focus on reconnection and empowerment for the family to continue to heal even after their retreat.
Community connection: Project Sanctuary is led and run by veterans, military spouses and a committed team that is deeply connected to the experience and impact of service.
Get involved: Tell any and all military service members about our services.
Connect with Project Sanctuary online and on Instagram, Facebook, X and LinkedIn.
18. The Salvation Army Intermountain Division
The Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church. Our mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination. The Salvation Army supports the community through holiday giving, rent and utility assistance, veteran services, rehabilitation, shelters and food pantries, disaster relief and job training.
Community connection: We house close to 2,000 people and feed over 3,200 meals every single day, in Denver Metro alone and serve communities throughout Colorado, Utah, eastern Montana and Wyoming.
The Salvation Army serves everyone. With love. With hope. And without discrimination.
Get involved: Volunteer, donate, serve on a board. Ring a bell at a Red Kettle!
Connect with the Salvation Army online and on YouTube.
19. Colorado Doula Project
Colorado Doula Project (CDP) is a grassroots nonprofit organization that provides free logistical, financial and emotional support for people accessing abortion in Colorado. We provide compassionate and personalized care to each client with the belief that they best know how to direct their needs, decision-making and futures.
Community connection: Members of our staff, leadership and volunteer team have lived experience as parents, abortion seekers, LGBTQIA+ folks, disabled people and single and poor parents, all of which are populations we serve. We actively seek out ways to make our services available to the widest swath of people and remove barriers including language, cost and financial disclosures.
Get involved: Take our online Abortion Doula Training! This self-paced training is required for CDP volunteers but is also a great resource to learn more about abortion and reproductive justice.
Connect with CDP online and on Instagram and Facebook.
20. Colorado Photographic Arts Center
Colorado Photographic Arts Center (CPAC) is the only nonprofit organization in Denver dedicated exclusively to the art of photography. CPAC’s award-winning, wheelchair-accessible facility serves photographers, members, students and 5,000 visitors annually. CPAC hosts the biennial Month of Photography Denver Festival, a celebration of photographic art with more than 100 exhibitions and events.
Community connection: CPAC creates exhibition and educational opportunities for underrepresented artists through curated exhibitions, scholarships and workshops.
Our annual Veterans Workshop Series elevates local U.S. military veteran artists, a community underrepresented in the arts.
Get involved: Come to an exhibition! Year-round, we offer thoughtfully curated exhibitions and free events at our Denver space that will inspire and challenge you.
Connect with CPAC online and on Instagram and Facebook.
These are just a few of the amazing nonprofits that we are lucky enough to be in community with. They are each doing such important, inspiring work and it’s an honor to support them. But the list certainly does not end here! Let’s all keep pitching in and finding our own ways to lend a helping paw.
Learn more about how YellowDog supports nonprofits.
by YellowDog.