Pathway2Progress offers housing and job training to the homeless

Denver nonprofit seeks community support to expand housing and job training for adults facing instability

Lower the Barrier Colorado Seeks Community Support

DENVER — Lower the Barrier Colorado, a nonprofit based in Denver, is seeking community support to expand its workforce training and housing efforts through the Pathway2Progress program.

About Pathway2Progress

Pathway2Progress is aimed at adults who are working, in training, or actively seeking employment but face housing instability.

“Being someone with lived experience, I’ve met people who were so afraid to get out of incarceration because they didn’t have a job, they didn’t have a place to go, they didn’t have resources,” said Jeff Legins, co-founder and program director of Pathway2Progress.

Legins explained that the program combines stable housing, accountability, and workforce support, allowing residents to focus on rebuilding their lives.

“You can’t get housing without a job, and you can’t get a job without housing,” Legins added.

Program Details

Participants in the program live with roommates and pay reduced rent. They receive training and are placed in construction jobs as flaggers, forklift drivers, and other roles.

“Maybe it’s not a permanent job; maybe it’s transitional,” Legins noted. “We have other partners where you can get into different trades once you get your feet wet, and then some of them are making $54 an hour.”

Participant Support

Telesha Padilla, a peer coach and navigator for Pathway2Progress, assists participants and relates to them through her own experiences.

“I started using substances when I was about 13 years old, was an IV user by the time I was 14, was an eighth-grade dropout, and was active in the streets for about 10 years,” Padilla shared.

Padilla has turned her life around over the past 14 years.

“I’ve actually been able to take opportunities that were presented to me,” she said.

Now, Padilla helps others achieve similar success.

“A lot of people just need to be taught that their lived experience on the street, their pain, and their trauma can really be transferred over into real-world skills,” Padilla explained. “Domestic violence survivors are really good at reading the room and adjusting their behaviors based on what’s happening.”

Support and Recovery

Legins and Padilla emphasized that good people can find themselves in difficult situations due to choices or circumstances. With support, they can find the right path.