In honor of moms in the STAR Transitional Program, the Mission held a special celebration at The Crossing in time for Mother’s Day.
The households in the program are made up of families, seniors and individual men and women. The year-long program provides case management, mentorship and life skills classes as well as enrichment programming for children. Mothers in the program find support from their case manager and the Youth Center staff as their family leans on them as a pillar of strength on their journey to self-sufficiency.
To make this Mother’s Day extra special for those moms who call The Crossing home, the chef team prepared a special dinner on Friday, May 7 including ham, four-cheese chicken orzo, mashed potatoes, vegetables, croissants and assorted pie and cheesecake.
Children were invited to help select gifts for their moms including customized gift bags provided by the Parker Task Force and the MacFarland Family. Mission supporter, Karen MacFarland, gathered the gift items and assembled the bags together with her daughter and granddaughter. Each gift bag included pampering items like lotion and bath accessories to bring extra comfort and refreshment to the moms this Mother’s Day.
“Moms have an incredible role to play in their families, and I think all moms should be celebrated,” Karen said. “This was one way we could celebrate some moms who have fallen on hard times.”
Moms also received a gift of full bars of handcrafted soap. Manos Soap, an Arvada-based company that creates small batches of soaps with natural, nutrient-dense ingredients, provided 100 bars of soap specially for the moms to enjoy.
Each woman received three bars in irresistible aromas including eucalyptus lavender, oatmeal milk honey, Epsom salt, coffee bean or olive oil.
Nicole, a mom of seven children who has been at The Crossing since November 2020, was tearful as she expressed her gratitude for this Mother’s Day celebration.
“When you end up homeless, you feel like you lose the rights to celebrate because there’s really nothing to celebrate,” Nicole said. “Having the home-cooked food here and the gifts, it gives us a sense of normality.”
Nicole explained that after difficulties providing for her family, living in a hotel and getting COVID herself, the STAR Transitional Program at the Mission provided the support she needed and the ability to keep her family together.
“My mom taught me how to treat people how you want to be treated,” said Alex, Nicole’s son. “I love my mom.”
Thank you for all the ways you come alongside those experiencing homelessness so that moms like Nicole can find stability and hope for their families at the Mission.
Written by: Christine Branson, Events Specialist
