Creating
Impact
Your stories connect us
They reveal our similarities, honor our uniquenesses, and challenge our flaws. Your stories are revealed in art, music, and spoken word, and help us find commonality in a way that has the power to normalize our shared struggles and move our community forward. Together we have the #PowerTo turn your stories into action and impact.
MSU Denver Expands Mental Health Workforce Program
As demand for mental and behavioral health services continues to grow, Metropolitan State University of Denver's College of Health and Human Sciences is helping prepare the next generation of providers. In May 2026,...
MSU Denver Expands Mental Health Workforce Program
As demand for mental and behavioral health services continues to grow, Metropolitan State University of Denver's College of Health and Human Sciences is helping prepare the next generation of providers. In May 2026,...
Leslie Herod
#PowerTo Help https://youtu.be/OhXrQdm7a5Q As a state legislator, I hear facts, figures and anecdotes about substance abuse, mental health and recovery frequently. I work on issues like jail overcrowding, homeless youth and people in crisis. But as a daughter, a...
Dr. Clark
#PowerTo Thrive https://youtu.be/Pi8Vwp0jZNk As the President & CEO of the Mental Health Center of Denver, I work to inspire a culture of well-being among our staff, the people we serve and the greater Denver community. We work to deliver strengths-based,...
Melanie Stritch
#PowerTo Fight The Stigma https://youtu.be/JIvU63TS-cs 2 years sober I am not just a recovering alcoholic – I am a mother, a wife, a daughter, a soccer coach, a first-time college student. I am also living proof that there is a solution to addiction...
Eric B.
#PowerTo Thrive https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=69&v=HecSE-MGb1A&feature=emb_logo 2 years, 3 month, 12 days April 3, 2016 – clean date In August, I will start studying to be an addiction counselor. My path to get here has been long and difficult...
Adam Lerner
#PowerTo Act https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b68Xjqyzjz4&feature=emb_logo The museum is a place of belonging, expression, where outsiders are not just welcome but celebrated. Many who are here are those who would otherwise feel alone. In fact, creative people are...
Gabrielle Rodriguez
#PowerTo Create Change 28 Years Old I have been in recovery since 2012; recovery from co-occurring disorders. After I got sober, it was amazing what I could accomplish. I went back to school, bought and sold a house, got a job, moved to Colorado for graduate school,...
A State of Flow – Darin’s Story
Six years ago, I was sleeping in a stairwell in the dead of winter. I had been on the streets of Denver for seven years. My addiction to meth had taken me from the peak of graduating at the University of Colorado Business School, to being covered up in...
Artifacts of a Storm – Kristin’s Story
Artifacts of a Storm Art installation by Kristin Smith, an interdisciplinary artist from Aurora, Colorado. Artist Statement When a raindrop hits the earth, the measurement of its impact is minuscule; a moment of respite to a dry terrain. The single drop of rain is not...
Alan Smith
#PowerTo Make It https://youtu.be/4kCVIKv3MNs