Stigma

LoVVe for Ellis Elementary School

Crushing the stigma associated with hunger means one thing: providing food with a heaping helping of dignity and love. And that’s exactly what the LoVVe Project in Virginia Village is doing with the students and families of Ellis Elementary School. This is not just a food pantry. It is a cultural crossroads. It is working together to make everyone stronger.

This is community.

At Stigma, we believe that supporting the LoVVe Project with grass-fed and humanely raised meat, fresh vegetables, Colorado honey, and local fruits is at the core of our mission to crush the stigmas of addiction, hunger and homelessness. It’s how the volunteers at the LoVVe project use the food to connect the community that ensures dignity and makes this project special.

So What’s The Story?

“But these stories don’t mean anything when you’ve got no one to tell them to. It’s true, I was made for you.” -Brandi Carlile

We were overwhelmed by so many of you who expressed interest in The Story Writing Workshops we are hosting at SAME Cafe on Thursday mornings. Even with all the interest we have received, there is still room for people to reserve a spot and come write with us. Here are the details:

The Story Writing Workshop

“I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.” – Anne Frank

Writing is powerful. When we write, we dig deep and discover truths about ourselves that we can’t access simply by thinking or talking. Writing is therapeutic. Writing is inspiring. Writing is freedom and growth.

Come write with us on Thursday mornings at the SAME Cafe!

Crush the Stigmas of Addiction, Hunger and Homelessness

Do you ever feel helpless because you don’t know how to get involved? Volunteering feels daunting with forms to complete and schedules to negotiate, right? You want to help, but you already feel stuck before you get started.

Become a Stigma Fighter

Here are five easy ways to get involved with Stigma’s work here in Denver serving our neighbors in recovery, or those experiencing hunger and homelessness.

Join our email list today, and you’ll always know of our volunteer opportunities!

Fooding Cabinet Deployed

Take what you need, give what you can. Food with Dignity!

It started as an idea in the fall shared with us by one of our Stigma volunteers named Sarah. And now, to start this new year, we have deployed the second Fooding Cabinet to get food to people who could use a little neighborly help to make it work right now.

What an Impactful Year

The movie, Elf, is unquestionably one of the greatest Christmas movies of all time. In a scene early in the movie, very early on Christmas morning after he has returned from his annual rounds, Santa congratulates the elves on another successful Christmas. As he concludes his pep-talk, he announces that it is time to get started on making toys for next year. And the elves enthusiastically start pounding away with their little toy-making hammers.

That’s how it feels here at Stigma. We had a very impactful year, but the work never ends, and we are excited to have an even bigger impact in 2021. Just yesterday morning, Monday, December 28th, we found five more rolling suitcases on our front porch that one of you donated. My daughter remarked that the donation came too late. I disagreed. I told her how excited I was to be getting the rolling suitcase and backpack drive for our homeless neighbors for Christmas 2021 off to such a great start!

The new year just brings new challenges. Let’s keep going!

Get Involved and Save Lives

For weeks now, we’ve been collecting rolling suitcases and backpacks to distribute in downtown Denver on Christmas Day. Thanks to the generosity of our awesome Stigma volunteers and donors, we have made great progress toward our goal of 1,000 rolling suitcases and backpacks. But we still have hundreds more to collect, and we need your help.

See what this event is all about. Check out this short video from our rolling suitcases and backpacks distribution from a couple of years ago.

Donate Your Rolling Suitcases

Thank you to all of our stigma fighters who have donated rolling suitcases for our Christmas in the Park event. We are making progress, but we still have a long way to go to reach our goal of 1,000 rolling suitcases and backpacks for our homeless neighbors.

Dust it Off and Save a Life

Christmas is going to be a little different this year, but that doesn’t have to be all bad. In this year of virus-imposed change, make a change for the better.

For the forth consecutive year, Stigma is collecting rolling suitcases and backpacks to distribute on Christmas Day to our homeless neighbors. The health and economic impacts of COVID have devastated our community, and those living in poverty have been significantly impacted. You can brighten you own holiday season by helping your neighbors survive the winter.

The Wait is Over. Let’s Go!

The election is over, but that means the work is just starting. There are a lot of hurting people. Let’s get to work!

Can you help with our Fooding Cabinets? The concept is much like the, “Little Free Libraries,” you see around town. People can take the food they need, and leave food for others as they are able. Small, two-drawer filing cabinets are used to house the food. The filing cabinets become Fooding Cabinets! It is a simple and creative idea, and Stigma Fighter, Sarah, wants to bring it to Denver. We want to support her efforts by stocking the Fooding Cabinets with Neighborlies to get this project successfully launched.