Collaborative Healing Initiative within Communities

-USAID
“A woman multiplies the impact of an investment made in her future by extending benefits to the world around her, creating a better life for her family and building a stronger community.”
CHIC is created by and for Black women, women of color, and all women. We are a community that empowers women, young women and girls to create generational legacies of health and wealth. Why? Because when we invest in a woman, she extends our investment toward the betterment of her family and her community — her world. Investing in women impacts generations and transforms futures.
At the core of our work are people: individuals, families, and communities. CHIC works with schools to create spaces where Black girls and young women are valued, are taught to nurture their own mental and physical health, and are exposed to new opportunities. We provide mentorship and advocacy to disrupt the school to prison pipeline, and empower young women who are impacted by the judicial system to change the course of their own lives. We help women develop vital professional skills so that they can advance within high-demand, high-paying, low-barrier career paths, and access newfound economic mobility. We are a community hub for Black women and families to access vital resources, connections and opportunities. And, we are an advocate — we are helping to direct policy, resources, and power dynamics in ways that expressly and directly work toward the empowerment and the betterment of Black women, Black families, and Black people in Colorado.
We are part of a long line of Black women and women of color who have carried the torch for justice. As a part of this legacy, we are called to think not only about the change we can make today, but also about the world we want to see in seven generations. We are working for a woman we may never meet, a woman who will be alive in fifty, eighty, one hundred years. We are called to create a world where she thrives. We are called to create a world where college is free for her, for every Black person - and for every PERSON - in Colorado. We are called to ensure that she is paid the true and full value of her work and her worth. We are called to advocate for her to own her home in a neighborhood where the schools are designed for her children’s success. We are called to believe that she can see - or BE - a Black woman in Colorado’s governor’s mansion.
Thank you for your partnership and support. We are excited to share our accomplishments in 2022 and our vision for 2023! In gratitude, Sade,
Hilari & KatherineCHIC’s mission is to build women’s economic, social and cultural capital because powerful women build healthy families and thriving communities.
By 2025, CHIC will sustain programs, partnerships, policies and people in order to empower women, girls and families of color to create generational legacies of health and wealth.
LOVE | We love unapologetically. Our love for ourselves, team, and community is infused in all that we do, as radical love is the way to heal, realize freedom and build thriving communities.
COMMUNITY | We embrace Ubuntu - I am because we are. We collaborate authentically — we teach, we learn, and we heal as a community, because we are connected in our essential humanity.
HEALING | We come together to heal across generations in order to become radically free. We practice natural healing, seek growth in our pain and our power, and open the doors for trust, relationships, and self-actualization.
CRITICAL HOPE | We see inequities through our lens of critical consciousness. Undaunted, we step towards injustice with optimism, persistence, and a solutions mindset, believing in our collective ability to create a more just future
Over 90% of students enjoy the CHIC class and have a trusting relationship with their CHIC teacher Students achieve positive growth in self-regulation, self-efficacy, and positive identity
83% of school partners believe that CHIC is a valuable part of their school community
CHIC’s Education program provides social, emotional, and cultural enrichment for Black girls and girls of color through in-school, after-school, and summer programming.
In 2022 CHIC partnered with 8 schools and served over 250 students.
“CHIC is Back girl excellence. They teach us a lot about your physical life, your daily life, your mental health. They taught me to learn how to embrace myself a black girl.”
“CHIC is a safe space for you to be yourself. You can express yourself, you can build relationships, It develops you in a better way and makes you understand things from other perspectives.”
“CHIC is a class for people to speak their mind , open up and to be heard. I know sometimes people find it hard to open up.
In CHIC class it's like the opposite. It helps you improve in school or as a person in general.”
Young women in R3’s pilot saw improvements in emotional wellness: increases in happiness, confidence and calmness and reductions in anger and sadness.
CHIC’s R3 program provides intensive 1:1, group, and family mentorship for young women impacted by or at risk of being impacted by the judicial system and school to prison pipeline.
In 2022 CHIC ran an R3 pilot in the summer, and launched our program across Denver and Aurora in the fall.
“I want to thank you for taking the time to teach this powerful class. You have made this thing called life a little more understandable. You pushed me to walk by faith and to keep going no matter what is thrown at me.”
“This program has actually made me open up my soul. My trauma can not be the definition of who I am but it will guide me to become A BETTER PERSON. CHIC has helped me come to the realization that I am not alone and this is just the beginning.”
CHIC’s Workforce program facilitates supported pathways into high-wage, high-growth, and low-barrier careers, with a focus on the construction trades.
In 2022 25 women completed CHIC’s pre-apprenticeship with qualifications for trades jobs, and earned a living wage while completing the program.
100% of participants increased their self-efficacy, positive identity, personal relationships, financial literacy, financial health, and employmeny skills.
CHIC’s community program ensures that the communities we serve - Northeast Denver and North Aurora - have opportunities to connect, celebrate, and access vital resources.
“I had the great pleasure of attending CHIC’s gala on Tuesday and I just wanted to reach out to congratulate you on a phenomenal event and five years of amazing work and growth. It was one of the most uplifting gatherings I have ever attended. Bravo to you and all of the extraordinary women at CHIC.”
In 2022 CHIC hosted Tales in the Hood, participated in community walks in Aurora and Juneteenth celebrations in Denver, and hosted our inaugural gala, where we shared the stories of our team, participants and community.
Following the murder of George Floyd in the summer of 2022, CHIC has committed ourselves to leading for transformational change. CHIC’s long term goal is to advance policy that expressly and directly works toward the empowerment and the betterment of Black women, Black families, and Black people in Colorado.
Today, we are advancing this work through two initiatives.
Educational Justice for Black Coloradans
aims to make six years of post-secondary education and training free for every Black person in Colorado, by leveraging private philanthropy and public dollars to offer last dollar scholarships.
Racial Justice and Reparation aims to lay the groundwork for reparations and publicly-funded racial justice programs in Colorado by engaging elected officials to commission research into Colorado’s racist history and enact policy that offer restitution.
Total 2022 Revenue (actual)
$1,362,575
Top Five Contributors
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Margulf Foundation
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Colorado Health Foundation
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Wend Ventures
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Beacon Fund
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Elevate Initiative
Total 2022 Expense (actual)
$1,132,440
CHIC ends fiscal year 2022 in a strong financial position, with a surplus of $230,093.
CHIC begins the fiscal year 2023 with $935,000 in committed philanthropic and government funding, and $1,467,000 in pending, returning, or invited funding.
In 2022, CHIC completed our first financial review this fall, conducted by Taylor and Roth.
Findings from the review showed that CHIC has strong financial systems in place, that CHIC’s ongoing expenses are reasonable and sustainable, that CHIC’s overhead and fundraising expenditures are appropriate and commensurate with our overall budget, and that our revenue and cash flow are consistent.
In December 2022, CHIC launched an endowment fund in partnership with the Rose Community Foundation’s Nonprofit Endowment program. This fund is a long-term strategy to ensure CHIC’s financial future.
1. Implement consistent coaching & leadership development
2. Raise $2M
3. Grow CHIC’s endowment fund
4. Complete capital campaign feasibility study / plan
5. Host second annual gala
6. Identify new building for CHIC offices
7. Complete organizational succession plan
8. Complete baseline research for site expansion
1. Serve 350 individuals and families
2. Launch Education program in Aurora Public Schools
3. Pilot youth career program
4. Deepen R3 partnership with District 18 Judicial
5. Pilot food justice program in Community
6. Launch Entrepreneurship pathway in Workforce
7. Administer inaugural EJBC scholarships
8. Commission racial justice studies (city and/or state)