When Kara Collidge first walked into Jessica Blackwell’s parenting group at Samaritan House, she expected another class — another meeting to attend while balancing the stress of shelter life and raising her 14-year-old son Joey.
What she didn’t expect was community.
Now, weeks after graduating from the program, Kara still carries the parenting book Jessica handed out during that first six-week Nurtured Heart Approach cohort. The pages are worn with notes and highlights, evidence that the lessons didn’t end when the class did.
“I still go back to the book all the time,” Kara said. “It really changed the way I think about parenting.”
Samaritan House, operated by Catholic Charities of Denver, has served individuals and families experiencing homelessness since 1986. Founded as the first building in the nation designed specifically to serve people experiencing homelessness, Samaritan House provides emergency shelter, nutritious meals, case management, housing navigation, mental health support, employment readiness programs and other critical services for women, families and veterans across the Denver metro area. With multiple locations throughout the Archdiocese of Denver, Samaritan House remains committed to restoring dignity, stability and hope for neighbors facing housing insecurity and crisis.
Jessica Blackwell, an on-site therapist at Samaritan House, launched the parenting program after recognizing a need among families living in shelter — particularly parents navigating trauma, stress and the daily realities of raising children in an unstable environment. Built around the Nurtured Heart Approach, the six-week class focuses on strengthening connection, encouraging positive behavior and creating healthier family dynamics.
But somewhere between the weekly lessons, journals and charcuterie snack boards Jessica brought each session, something deeper happened.
“It built a community,” Kara said. “Before the class, if I saw another mom sitting by herself in the cafeteria, I probably would’ve just walked by. Now we sit together. We check on each other.”
That sense of belonging became one of the most meaningful outcomes of the first cohort, which recently celebrated its graduation — joking that they deserved caps, gowns and a ceremony after completing all six weeks together.
“We really did feel proud,” Kara laughed. “We all stuck with it.”
Each week, the moms gathered for ninety minutes to learn parenting strategies, process challenges together and talk honestly about what was happening at home. Many of the parents, including Kara, were raising teenagers, which created space for conversations that felt especially relatable.
“We could talk about teen stuff that other people might not understand,” Kara said. “That helped a lot because parenting teens is hard.”
For Kara, the class also reshaped the way she viewed her own upbringing — and the patterns she wanted to change moving forward with Joey.
“It made me think about how I was raised and how some things don’t have to continue,” she said. “It helped me change how I respond to my son.”
Jessica’s ability to connect with the parents came from more than clinical experience. Though she works as a licensed therapist, she openly shared parts of her own story throughout the group — including becoming the primary caregiver for her younger sister at just eighteen years old and later helping raise her sister’s child.
That honesty made the group feel safe.
“She understands parenting in a real way,” Kara said. “And because she’s also Joey’s therapist and my therapist here onsite, she already understood what our life looked like.”
Jessica intentionally designed the cohort to feel welcoming and dignified. Every week included snacks, drinks, journals for note-taking and practical conversations families could immediately apply in shelter life.
“I wanted them to feel cared for,” Jessica said. “Not like they were being lectured.”
By the final week, the room had transformed. Moms exchanged phone numbers. They stayed after class talking. Some even began meeting on their own to continue reading the book together after the cohort ended.
For Jessica, that was the true success of the program.
“They built relationships with each other,” she said. “That’s huge when you’re living through hard things.”
The parenting class is just one of several new mental health and youth support programs Jessica has helped build at Samaritan House since joining the team. In addition to individual therapy, she coordinates with schools, helps families access evaluations and services and creates groups tailored to the specific needs of children and parents living in shelter.
But the first parenting cohort holds a special place in her heart.
“These moms showed up every week for themselves and for their kids,” Jessica said. “That’s not easy when life already feels overwhelming.”
As Samaritan House prepares for the next parenting cohort, Kara hopes other parents will take the leap and sign up.
“You don’t realize how much you need something like this until you’re in it,” she said. “It gave us tools, but it also gave us each other.”