Faith-based Hands of The Carpenter has now expanded to three locations to service financially burdened mothers
Federal Heights, Colo.—Dan Georgopulos stresses that his business is not for the general public, just for working, single mothers they can help a lend a hand. Many face challenges such as abuse, potential homelessness, or loss of a spouse that lead to financial vulnerability — and share a fear of job loss without transportation to work or a means to take their children to school or daycare.
Faith-based nonprofit Hands of The Carpenter, which first launched in Golden, Colo., in April 2003, is there to help them with vehicle placement, repair and maintenance. Now, with increased demand, they have expanded within the past three years to three locations, most recently last fall.
“Word of mouth, internet searches and news stories started spreading about what we do, and we would get calls all the time from moms who were too far away for us to serve with just one location — we only had a certain level of capacity,” said Georgopulos, who is founder and CEO. “We had to turn them away.”
In 2020, Hands’ board and staff conducted a strategic five-year plan to grow to meet the growing need outside of its original Golden shop located in Jefferson County. The plan? To include the entire Denver-metro area, which has roughly 60,000 working single mothers.
The organization recently moved into its third location in the Denver area and opened Oct. 1 in the former Robins Automotive site in Federal Heights.
“We had been looking for a site up there for three years — and it finally happened,” Georgopulos said.
Hands opened its second location in April 2022 in Aurora. “We call them Hands East (Aurora — five bays), Hands West (Golden — four bays) and Hands North (Federal Heights — eight bays). They create an intentional triangle when you look at them geographically.” Each location generally serves the population within radius of approximately 10 miles.
How do they do it? Special capital fundraising efforts from the general public and loan funds are used to purchase new locations, while fundraisers, special events, donations and partners including automotive assist with ongoing operations.
Heart of Hope Gala
Hands’ primary fundraising event is the annual Heart of Hope Gala, intended to invite people into its Golden location to get a see what Hands does, and meet clients who share their stories. There’s also a live auction and silent auction (big ticket items include trips), a car is also unveiled and placed with a mother who receives its keys that evening, “so everyone can actually experience that part of what we do,” Georgopulos said.
Last year in October, when it was held, Hands raised $177,000, which was 40 percent higher than previous years. “The excitement we had in the room could be attributed to a couple things: we had Kyle Speller, the “Voice of the Denver Nuggets”, who gets the fans during games fired up, as our MC — he was also raised by a single mom. It was extraordinary. And our auctioneer, Rylie Behr, who is local, was second-to-none this year. She killed it. They both contributed significantly.”
The record fundraiser was also made possible by sponsorships from businesses that also invited friends and colleagues. “We also offer the ability for people to sponsor a mom for up to three years for their repair and maintenance needs and education for $5,000.”
It Takes a Village
Now that Hands is serving the entire Denver-metro area, Georgopulos says they have a “strong desire to start forming partnerships with automotive suppliers who are like-minded and can help support the women we are serving. If we could find those partners who are willing to fully engage, it would be significant. And we love celebrating our partners, and we do that regularly though social media, events, newsletters and more.”
He added that Hands also has a strong number of nonprofit partnerships around Denver that help it engage with other nonprofits that are serving single mothers in different ways — whether it’s food or shelter and more.
Not Just a Job
Georgopulos said it’s important to note, and give credit to, the staff at Hands. “It’s a passionate group of automotive and nonprofit professionals, who are using their skills to help single moms. This is a group that says, ‘Hey, I may not be making top pay, but I’m making a difference in the lives of moms — and that’s why I’m here.’”
What’s Next?
Looking forward, the immediate next steps are to continue to build awareness and capacity for each shop, and then this spring create a new strategic plan to take Hands forward in the next three and five years.
“I would assume that includes expansion, but we just don’t know what that looks like right now — whether it means in-state or out-of-state or different locations for different purposes. There’s all kinds of ideas brewing.”
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