The Hope Gala at the Ritz

SafeHouse Denver celebrated with hundreds of supporters and guests Saturday night at the exquisite Ritz Carlton hotel in downtown Denver. The annual Hope Gala benefitted adults, children and youth at SafeHouse. The express mission this year and, every year at SafeHouse, is that every house should be a safe house.

Since 1977, SafeHouse Denver has provided lifesaving services to victims of domestic violence and their children.  It operates as the only shelter in the City and County of Denver that exclusively serves victims of domestic violence. Hard as it is to believe, the grim fact of domestic violence remains – one in three women suffer domestic violence. Those statistics meant that even the women at the gala were counted in the statistics of the one in three. It’s a despicable situation but heartening to see the hundreds who bought tickets with hope, to eliminate violence in the home in Denver.

SafeHouse began as a 16-bed shelter providing a safe place for women and their children. Today, SafeHouse’s shelter has 26 beds plus cribs, serving more than 340 women and children in a typical year. In addition, SafeHouse serves hundreds more women and children through non-residential services. More than just keeping women and children safe, SafeHouse services include individual counseling, advocacy support groups, legal assistance and referrals to other services.

The evening festivities began with beautifully prepared passed hors d’oeuvres of prosciutto and gorgonzola lollipops, fresh spring rolls and a tasty wild mushroom tartlet. Table after table of auction items decked the classy hotel halls while guests enjoyed cocktails, nibbles and bidding on the fine auction items such as wine baskets, gourmet dinners, get-a-way packages, sports collectibles, and more wine cases and wine tastings.

This event was a time to listen and give recognition to those who donate their time and money to the harsh reality of domestic violence. The Carolyn Hamil-Henderson Memorial Award was presented to Irene Blatnick from the Denver District Attorney’s Office.

Jeff Thorpe, president of AutoNation, accepted the Susan Noble Community Impact Award. AutoNation was recognized for their outstanding efforts to assist victims of domestic violence and create change in our community.

Dayle Cedars, emcee, brilliantly moved the evening along while Adam Kevil, auctioneer, got the money rolling in.

It was an night to recognize the effective work that’s been done in Denver to quell the number of domestic violence occurrences. Supporters successfully rallied that evening to help SafeHouse Denver provide safe shelter, counseling and advocacy services to victims of domestic violence, as well as educational programs to prevent future incidents of abuse.

You can be involved in SafeHouse Denver. 1649 Downing Street, 303-318-9959. www.safehouse-denver.org.

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