Elevated Denver

Help us welcome John Olander to our Advisory Board! John is a native Denverite, 68 years young in his “Rewirement.” He attended Denver East High School and Jones Real Estate College, earning his Broker’s license at 21. Diversely experienced in many facets of Real Estate, he is a self-described DCCA, “Dot Connecting Change Agent.”

He is also diversely experienced as a person who struggled with being unhoused, exacerbated by substance use issues. Many years of sustained recovery have led to John making a real difference in helping people to reinvent their lives as a Peer in Humanity.

He is a writer, a multi-generational collaborative performance facilitator, and a lifelong learner. John is always seeking – and sometimes creating – “the new best thing.”

Our CEO, Johnna Fandel Flood, is honored to join Denver Rescue Mission for Conversations on a Bench this week.

24 hours. One Bench. Important Conversations.

Follow along and join us in raising awareness about homelessness in our community.

She'll be joining Dennis Van Kampen, President/CEO of Denver Rescue Mission, on Friday, October 9, from 10:30-11:00 a.m.

Watch live: https://denverrescuemission.org/conversations-on-a-bench/
*Also streaming on Facebook and YouTube

Conversations on a Bench: Ending Homelessness, One Story at a Time - Denver Rescue Mission Join us for a powerful and moving 24-hour livestream event designed to change the narrative around homelessness. "Conversations on a Bench" is more than just an event; it's a movement to rehumanize people experiencing homelessness in our community by sharing their authentic stories of transformation...

Members of our team are honored to be speaking at the 2026 National Lived Experience Leadership Conference next week in San Jose, California! Johnna Flood, Myra Nagy, and Jamie Morgan will lead a workshop on The Wisdom Collective and get feedback from a group of leaders with lived experience from all around the country.

During our workshop, entitled “Supporting Lived Experience Leadership, A Collaborative Approach to Power and Practice,” we will:
-Give a brief overview of Elevated Denver and our Collaboratory model
-Inform the audience about The Wisdom Collective, how it was developed, and what we are planning for this new leadership development program
-Lead a self-guided exploration activity for participants to uncover their gifts, strengths, limiting beliefs, and more
-Ask for feedback on The Wisdom Collective’s curriculum

We are excited to share more after the conference. Thank you to the National Coalition for the Homeless and Destination: Home for this opportunity!

Thank you to these individuals and organizations for their recent donations and grants to support The Wisdom Collective and general operations:

The Colorado Trust Directed Contributions Program
The NowHere Fund
Don and Lynn Burnes
Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) Direct Effects Award to support the Hub

We are grateful to these funders for believing in our work and helping us continue to center people with lived experience to build practical, lasting solutions to homelessness prevention.

Thank you to Matter of Voice for sharing this information in their recent newsletter. Every single pattern here hits home—and strongly reflects what we’ve been advocating for all along...and what we hope The Wisdom Collective will support!

While all of these signals are important, we really agree with this one: "Stories are becoming strategic evidence." To create responses to homelessness that actually stick, we have to preserve and prioritize the raw, unedited wisdom of those who have lived it. From these stories from lived experts, practical solutions follow.

We recently asked Myra Nagy, Elevated Denver’s first Lived Expert Leadership Award recipient, how she sees herself as a leader in the community. This is her response to that question, but there’s so much more that she shared! Read a full article about Myra and see more photos from her portrait session with Lynn Townsend Photography in our newsletter next Wednesday.

If you don’t receive our newsletter, be sure to sign up at elevateddenver.co.

Myra Nagy received Elevated Denver’s first-ever Lived Expert Leadership Award at our annual Voices & Visions event in May. One of the prizes Myra received with her award was a portrait session with Lynn Townsend Photography, which offers authentic brand photography and transformative portrait experiences for women.

We recently sat down with Myra to learn more about what this award means to her and how Elevated Denver has helped shape her into a leader.

Read the full article and see more of Myra’s beautiful photos in our newsletter next Wednesday. If you don’t receive our newsletter, be sure to sign up at elevateddenver.co!

We recently refreshed our website and invite you to take a look at elevateddenver.co!

Some of the changes and additions include:
-New images and descriptions of our work
-Better navigation
-Thought pieces and perspectives by our team
-More photos and videos of Elevated Denver in action
-Easier ways to give and clear depictions of how every dollar makes a difference

Please take a few minutes to browse the site and share it with others who may be interested in supporting our efforts or learning more about our work to create sustainable solutions to prevent homelessness.

You may remember that 9-year-old Tre ran a lemonade stand last month and wanted to donate a portion of the proceeds to us. We received this lovely note and the money from him, and we're so grateful!

This young man, who came to our Voices & Visions event in May, felt inspired and compelled to support our work.

Thank you, Tre, for seeing the value and dignity in all our neighbors, and for being the force for good that you are. It's a reminder that anyone – no matter their age or station in life – can make a difference.