AROUND TOWN: Supporting Teens With Promise

A lovely young woman with long, wavy, dark hair stood in front of several hundred people and hesitatingly told her story.

Who would have believed that this “typical teen” in a brilliant blue prom dress was instead a throwaway child who had been dispensable for all of her young life? She had been kicked out of her last foster home for one reason: The day she turned 18, Selena Brown was considered emancipated. She was no longer a financial asset for her foster parents.

Selena was homeless.

Selena is exactly the type of teen Robin Coen is there for. She’s a teen with promise.

Selena finally has an opportunity to dream about her future, which could include attending the Art Institute of Denver.

Coen’s nonprofit is there for at-risk teens when they need something to wear for prom or homecoming, events that are an impossible dream for most. She and her volunteers are there with school supplies, winter socks, to make referrals to agencies, to help them continue their education, to seek out dental and medical care and to provide holiday gifts for those who live up to their agreement and stay in school.

Support for Teens With Promise at the fourth annual fundraising dinner Sept. 16 came from Olympians at the Olympic Training Center, who had photos taken with guests, helped out at the live auction and, in fencer Cory Mattern’s  case, taught novice adults in the audience how to do a little fencing themselves … lunge, advance, parry and retreat to their tables.

Bobsled champ Jesse Beckom proved adept at running an auction, occasionally pushing the bids higher by urging teammate Curt Tomasevicz to “show them your medal, your GOLD medal!” And if it would bring more money for the teens, he’d even allow them to touch it.

The keynote speaker was also an athlete, now a sports psychologist, Roberta Kraus. And Wasson High School’s Ted Stevens offered a testimonial about Coen and her program.
The pledge challenge work went to The Rev. Paul Peel, who admitted that Coen knew he would tell a bunch of stories like the ones he tells at First Lutheran Church on Sundays. And, he said, laughing, Coen knows he has experience “asking for money.”

Update: a Promises Thrift Store has just opened at 4360 Montebello Drive, Suite 1100. Plato’s Closet is a partner, but there’s clothing for the whole family at Promises.