Newest ULC Tenant Hits the Slopes to Educate Denver Youth on Leadership and Integrity
Denver residents have been facing the burden of quickly rising rental prices for several years, and with the influx of newcomers and a drastically bigger skyline, the average cost of a two bedroom apartment has reached $1765 per month. However, these soaring increases do not only apply to the housing market, but to commercial properties as well. According to the Denver Post, the cost of leasing office space in Denver hit $25.62 per square foot this past October, an all-time high for the city. That is why one of Urban Land Conservancy’s main practices is to provide nonprofits with below market rental rates, so they are able to afford to stay in Denver.
Meet SOS Outreach, a nonprofit dedicated to youth engagement in the outdoors. SOS serves at- risk youth, and teaches them the fundamentals of skiing, snowboarding, backpacking and an array of outdoor activities to encourage youth development and leadership skills. Housed in the RiNo district for the past six years, SOS was recently notified of a steep rental hike, which priced them out of their office space. Max Keleman, the Front Range Program Director for SOS, explained that they found ULC at just the right time. Now housed at our Tramway Nonprofit Center, Keleman said the space is ideal due to the extra space, price and location.
“The huge advantage is that we didn’t have a space where everyone could come to us,” Keleman explained. “Now we have this centralized location with an amazing conference room plus an entire building with other nonprofits who we can bounce around ideas with – it’s just been a huge help for us.”
With their new space in Denver, SOS now has five full time and five satellite offices throughout the States. While the program was initially launched in Avon, Colorado in 1993, they have spread their wings in recent years, with offices from Portland to Detroit. And for all the work they do each year, SOS manages to keep a relatively small staff size. Keleman is one of three Front Range employees, and his territory served 2,200 kids this year alone. SOS also employees volunteers known as “Sherpas” who act as mentors/outdoor instructors for the kids.
Keleman, who first joined SOS as a Sherpa in 2008, explained that SOS Outreach has four main programs here in Denver. Their beginner package is known as the Adventure Program, and offers one or two day trips that include ski lessons, rentals and lunch. While transportation is not available for any of SOS’ programs, Keleman explained that most children are participating through their schools or an after school club that helps take care of transport. In 2016, their Adventure programs served over 1,500 children from Denver alone.
SOS has three additional programs for kids that hope to get more involved and stay with the organization as they get older. Learn to Ride Academy, University Program and the Masters Program are each more intensive than the last, and provide a solid foundation for youth to learn leadership and development skills. Keleman said that youth first learn the six core values created by SOS during the Learn to Ride Academy program. Courage, discipline, integrity, wisdom, humility and compassion make up these values, and are a key component to what SOS is all about. Keleman explained that for a student to enter the Masters program, they typically started with SOS fairly young and have excelled in each program. The Masters program allows youth the ability to continue growing with the organization, and eventually taking on a mentor-in-training role.
“The best stories I can think of involve students who enter SOS Outreach at a young age, maybe 5th or 6th grade,” Keleman said. “They go through the University program, they graduate high school, go to college and then they come back and work as mentors. It’s great to see everything come full circle.”
With Colorado entering its snowiest months, Keleman and the SOS Outreach crew are staying busy. Registration is open, youth are eager to hit the slopes and with only three full time staff members here in Denver, you’d think there isn’t much more you could throw on their plate. We are thrilled to share exciting news that SOS is being recognized for their impressive work, winning Gatorade’s nationwide “For the Love of Sports” campaign just last week! This $50,000 prize will make a huge impact for SOS, and will go directly towards their youth outreach programs.
ULC is so proud and excited to be working with such an amazing organization, and we look forward to their future successes while working from the Tramway Nonprofit Center. You can learn more about them at www.sosoutreach.org.