No young mom should face this season alone. Bold Steps offers life skills, mentorship, and community to pregnant and parenting teens in Colorado, and we are building a ranch home where mothers and babies can stay together.
What We Do
Teen moms in Colorado's foster care system are balancing parenting, school, and growing up all at once. Bold Steps walks alongside them with life skills, mentorship, and community, working hand in hand with their caseworkers, and we are building a path to safe, stable housing.
Our flagship program equips parenting teens in foster care with practical skills for everyday life: parenting, budgeting, cooking, and building a stable home. Two generational support that strengthens each young mom so her child grows up in a steady, loving home.
Hands on workshops in parenting, cooking, budgeting, GED prep, and healthy boundaries, held in our community and at schools upon request. Childcare is always provided so every mom can show up and learn.
Colorado's first faith based ranch home for teen moms and their babies, keeping mothers and children together with equine therapy, life skills education, mentorship, and 24/7 care. Our capital campaign to make it a reality is now underway.
Capital Campaign Underway
Our Impact
Bold Steps has served over 300 teen parents and their children through events, workshops, and mentorship. Every interaction provides more than resources. It provides the experience of being seen and known.
300+ teen parents reached through community events and programming
Caring mentors and trained staff walking alongside every young mom
Ranch capital campaign underway, Colorado's first of its kind
Referral partnerships with county Department of Human Services caseworkers and schools
Program Details
Every program is designed with one goal: meeting teen moms exactly where they are, with support that's personal, practical, and rooted in lived experience.
Our flagship program equips parenting teens in foster care with practical skills for everyday life: parenting, budgeting, cooking, and building a stable home. It's two generational support, strengthening each young mom so her child grows up in a steady, loving home.
Practical life skills: parenting, budgeting, cooking, and home management
Caring mentors: who offer steady, judgment free support
Trauma informed approach: built on compassion, not judgment
Faith rooted support: that honors each young mom's dignity and potential
We bring life skills education directly to teen moms, through community workshops and, at their request, on site groups at partner schools. Topics are practical, relevant, and taught in a safe, encouraging environment.
Parenting, cooking & budgeting: hands on workshops with real life application
GED prep & college readiness: partnered with Community College of Aurora
Healthy boundaries & relationships: foundational skills for breaking generational cycles
Childcare always provided: so every mom can attend and focus fully
School partnerships: we go to them, with groups and workshops held on site at schools upon request
Right now, very few places in Colorado are built to keep a teen mom in foster care and her baby together. Bold Steps is building one.
15 teen moms and their babies: housed together at a time with no separation
Equine therapy & working ranch: healing through land, animals, and purposeful work
24/7 caring staff on site: always someone on site who truly understands
We are working toward no cost to participants: for every family we serve
$4.5M capital campaign underway. We're seeking Legacy Ranch Partners, including land donors and capital investors, to make this a reality.
Learn about Legacy Ranch Partnership →Legacy Ranch Partnership
Bold Steps is building Colorado's first faith based residential ranch community for parenting teen foster youth, a place where young mothers and their babies stay together, grow together, and build a future together.
We are looking for Legacy Ranch Partners: men and women who understand the value of land, the weight of legacy, and the power of investing in something that outlasts them.
The Problem
Not because anyone wants to separate them, but because there is no place built to keep them together. Bold Steps exists to change that. Not with a program. With a home.
Teen moms in foster care are 7.5× more likely to lose custody
Half of children born to mothers in care enter the system before age two
Without intervention, the cycle continues for generations
A Two-Generational Impact
Every girl we house is a life transformed. Every baby who grows up with a stable, supported mother is a generation redirected.
We are not just changing one life. We are redirecting the trajectory of an entire family line.
One mother. One baby. One generation at a time.
Our Ranch is in active development.
How to Partner
We are seeking 10 or more contiguous acres of Colorado land donated by one family or two neighboring families, located within 90 minutes of a major medical center.
“Your name will be on the gate arch that every girl drives through on the day her life changes. That is not a metaphor. That is a legacy.”
3–4 year pledge timeline · drawn at build milestones
$3.5M for land acquisition and full build · $1M for year one operating reserve
Your name on the property, gate arch, building dedication, or brick recognition wall
Invitation to the groundbreaking ceremony and founding dinner
Annual impact report showing exactly what your investment is doing every year
Prayed for by name at Bold Steps board gatherings, woven into this organization forever
Ranch Roundtables
Ranch Roundtables are intimate gatherings hosted across Colorado where you can hear the full story, meet Heather, ask every question, and decide if this is the legacy investment you have been looking for.
Heather Heacox · 720-513-4202 · heather@boldstepsco.com
About the Founder
Bold Steps was founded by Heather Heacox, who grew up in foster care and experienced homelessness, abuse, and teen parenthood firsthand.
That lived experience is what makes Bold Steps different. Heather doesn't just understand the statistics. She's lived them. And she's building the organization she wished existed when she was a teen mom in the system.
Today, Bold Steps is a faith driven nonprofit serving the Denver metro area, with a vision to expand statewide and build Colorado's first ranch style housing for teen moms in foster care.
Heather's own story carries that hope forward, from surviving homelessness and trafficking as a teen mom to becoming a devoted mother and now a champion for young women in the same system. She's living proof that the hardest chapters can become stepping stones.
She's also writing a book, a raw faith filled memoir of her journey from the foster system to founding Bold Steps, with the hope of reaching even more young women and inviting readers into the mission.
Get Involved
Whether you're a teen mom needing support, someone ready to serve as a mentor, a school wanting workshops, a caseworker looking to refer a young mom, or a landowner or investor ready to make history. Bold Steps has a way for you to step in.
If you're a pregnant or parenting teen in foster care (ages 14–25), we're here for you. Get connected to a caring mentor, attend a workshop, and find a community that truly understands.
Reach out to us →Have a heart for young moms? Our mentors offer steady, caring support as teen parents in foster care navigate parenting and independence. You don't need to be perfect, just present.
Apply to serve →We come to you. Bold Steps will hold on site workshops and support groups at your school upon request, at no cost. Connect teen moms in your building to real, practical help.
Request a workshop →Refer a young mom to Bold Steps and we'll partner with you to coordinate support, invite us to present to your team, or help us better understand the needs of pregnant and parenting teens in care by completing our short survey.
Own land or looking for a legacy investment? Join our $4.5M capital campaign to build Colorado's first faith-based ranch home for teen moms. Attend a Ranch Roundtable near you.
Learn more →Every gift, large or small, funds workshops, mentorship, community events, and our ranch housing vision. Bold Steps is fiscally sponsored by Trailhead Institute, a 501(c)(3), so your donation is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Contact Us
Whether you're a teen mom looking for help, a volunteer ready to serve, or a donor who wants to make an impact, we'd love to hear from you.
Here are answers to the most common questions we get from young moms, volunteers, and supporters.
Pregnant and parenting teens in foster care, ages 14–25, are our primary participants. We also welcome volunteers, mentors, and donors from the community.
No. Case management and county services stay with the Department of Human Services. Bold Steps provides voluntary, additional support alongside the caseworker, and we stay in communication so everyone is working together for the young mom and her children.
Yes. Our approach is rooted in Christian faith, compassion, and respect, but we serve all young moms regardless of background.
You can become a mentor, volunteer for workshops, donate, or join our advisory or fundraising boards. Email boldsteps@boldstepsco.com to get started!
Our Ranch is in active development, and we are currently evaluating land in Colorado within 90 minutes of a major medical center. Until then, we offer life skills training, mentorship, workshops, and community events.
Reach out via our contact form or email boldsteps@boldstepsco.com. We’ll guide you through the application, training, and background check process.