OUR STORY
We Create Transformational Opportunities
OUR MISSION
Our mission is to create employment opportunities and provide job training for members of our community seeking to rebuild from addictions, homelessness, and incarceration.
OUR VISION
We envision a more prosperous city where barriers to employment are eliminated and every member of the community is empowered with dignity through meaningful work.
OUR PRINCIPLES & VALUES
This is why we do what we do and it’s how we do it. We consider this to be an ingredients list for our organizational mojo. Without these principles in place, we’re merely executing objectives and we’d have no soul to our work. We’ve positioned our shared principles as the guiding light over the entire organization and we see the values as a more simple articulation of similar thoughts that drives daily tasks. The combined reflection and pursuit of both sets of ideals leads us into wholeness and health both as people and as an organization.
Mile High WorkShop Operating Principles
Respect: We are a judgement free community and accept people where they are in their journey. We will have due regard for others feelings, wishes, rights, and traditions. We will trust and value everyone we interact with and practice listening well. When a person feels respected here, they feel appreciated and esteemed.
Integrity: We act courageously in ways that are consistent with the values, beliefs, and moral principles we hold dear. We strive to do the right thing and attempt to be authentic in our whole being.
Commitment: We bring our full-selves to work and wholly participate in both personal and organizational growth and excellence. We empower and invest in those around us and seek collective benefit in our outcomes. When we are committed, we do excellent work and take a great deal of pride in our efforts.
Transformation: We are committed to creating an environment that promotes and encourages intentional personal and professional growth and allows space for people to be empowered, invest in and achieve their goals and grow closer to the person they want to become and their true self.
Community: We work hard to create an environment where all staff are present to each other offering support both through conversations and through support services, so that people feel seen and loved and know that they are inherently valuable to our community. We do this by offering opportunities to connect and talk as a group, but also through the daily environment we create, which provides a soft landing place for people to be who they are in our community.
Love: We align ourselves with the ancient wisdom and definition of love in action and offer it freely and generously to all: love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. We are generous in offering grace and compassion to each other. We approach all relationships with love and affirm the humanity in each other. We will be encouraging and affirming of the good we see in each other.
Mile High WorkShop Values
Our values are structured around the idea of GRACE, which is a concept that we believe carries the dignifying and redemptive qualities we seek to exude in our work.
Growing Everyday: We are diligent in becoming the best version of ourselves.
Responsible to Each Other: We succeed as a team and continually strive to build trust.
Acting with Integrity: We are honest and reliable in our interactions.
Community of Peace: We cultivate a love-filled space with compassion and respect for all .
Excellence in Our Work: Whether with people or products, we seek quality outcomes.
OUR HISTORY
Originally conceived in 2014 as a program of Mile High Ministries, our first year saw us launch and build a variety of our own social enterprises to create jobs in our community. We delivered water, made soap, catered events and even made dog beds. We learned a lot, but ultimately chose to scrap those ideas.
Today the answer to our original question, “how can we have the greatest impact through employment for marginalized jobseekers in our community?”, looks a bit different.
We believe the best approach to creating the greatest number of jobs is through focusing on one part of the supply chain - contract production. We partner with businesses in the community to support their kitting, assembly, packaging and sewing efforts. Instead of asking "what can we build?", we're now more interested in "who can we collaborate with?". In our eyes, it's the definition of a win / win / win scenario.
We are a place in the city to equip, connect and inspire small business for the enrichment of the community. The reimagined Mile High WorkShop opened its doors in May 2015. We focus on supporting production-based businesses that need increased production capacity and are inspired by our social mission to create jobs for the underemployed.
In January 2019, we took a big step and transitioned into our own 501c3 organization!
We’ve moved a few times, but currently operate out of a little less than 20,000 sq ft at 3795 E 38th Ave. Denver, CO 80205.
Want to help?
We sincerely appreciate your support of our mission.
our impact
ALL of us are valuable.
Our work – and most nonprofit impact – can be difficult to articulate in numbers. A first opportunity to work and its impact on someone’s life are not easily quantified.
We measure the impact of our organization in a number of ways, some subjective and others are more concrete facts. Barriers overcome, dignity restored, community gained, success in recovery, healthy reintegration, housing secured and so many other rich experiences are core to our organizational impact and mission. Come by sometime and we’ll share some stories with you. But in the meantime, heres some of the data: