How The Other Side Academy (TOSA) program raised capital funding to open in Denver
PE worked closely with the organizing committee of TOSA to successfully complete a capital campaign and raise additional programmatic support totaling $2.5M, which allowed TOSA to purchase their first campus in Denver (slated to open in early 2019).
The Challenge
There was a lack of funding to bring the effective work of TOSA, currently operational in Salt Lake City, to Denver.
Changing Lives and Becoming Self-Sufficient
TOSA is a public non-profit organization where individuals with criminal records and a history of chronic substance abuse, many of whom experience homelessness, can change their lives, free of charge, in a two-year, residential, non-clinical, work-oriented environment. TOSA is a social enterprise modeled after the Delancey Street Foundation located in Salt Lake City and has agreed to make Denver its first replication city, opening TOSA:Denver in 2019.
The Solution
After a trip to Salt Lake City to witness the impact of TOSA, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, along with the support of community leaders in Denver, decided to bring TOSA to Denver to open in 2019. When this idea was realized, the TOSA organizing committee brought PE in to raise $2.5M to purchase their first campus and fund programmatic support of the organization until they are self-sufficient in 24 months.
Grants Applied for and Received:
Anschutz Foundation: Applied for $500,000; Received $250,000 for the first year, with potential of an additional $250,000 in 2019
Colorado Health Foundation: Applied for $1,000,000 and Received $750,000
Daniels Fund: Applied for $750,000; Received $500,000
Connie Burwell and William White Foundation: Applied for $10,000; Received $10,000
Anonymous Foundation: Applied for $100,000; Received $100,000 (verbal commitment)
City of Denver: $450,000 pledged to the project
