As a single mom with four kids, life for Gloria Sadler wasn’t easy in San Antonio, Texas. Then her house burned down.
“It was very traumatizing,” Sadler said of the midnight fire about a year ago. “I would have dark moments of depression. We cried it all out in San Antonio and then we left.”
Left for Denver, where Sadler’s brother and sister-in-law live. Soon after arriving in the Mile High City, the 38-year-old mother of kids ranging in age from 10 to 18 was referred to Jewish Family Service, a 151-year-old human services organization based in southeast Denver, for help finding work and a home.
Jewish Family Service, which is part of The Denver Post’s Season to Share program, found Sadler’s family a place in Lakewood to rent, and the organization covered the $1,750 rent out of the box. But Sadler said she has been covering a larger portion of it every month over the last year and plans soon to take on the burden fully.
“I’m really confident now. I know I’ll be able to pay my rent,” she said. “If you’re not willing to put in that much, you’re not going to prosper.”
Jewish Family Service serves an average of 32,000 people a year across more than 30 programs ranging from mental health support to aging services to housing stability to a refugee resettlement program. Last year, the organization helped 68 Afghan evacuees, finding them safe housing and matching them with “cultural mentors” to teach them to grocery shop, navigate public transportation and enroll in Medicaid.
“Our numbers have skyrocketed because of all the migrants coming into Colorado,” said President and CEO Linda Foster. “We serve everyone in need, regardless of their religious beliefs and circumstances.”
Jewish Family Service also has a food pantry that Foster said has been getting heavy use of late.
“Food insecurity is huge,” she said. “The first thing you have to do to help people is get food on the table and a roof over their heads.”
For Sadler, that roof is a home in Lakewood. She has landed a job working for Catholic Charities and is feeling stable in a way she hasn’t in years. She credits that to Jewish Family Service.
“They actually care and they take the time to see what your family needs,” she said of the organization. “They are in it for the right reasons.”
JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE
Address: 3201 S. Tamarac Dr., Denver, CO 80231
In operation since: 1872
Number of employees: 185
Annual budget: $19.6 million
