Changing Lives Through Outreach: Sarah’s Journey to Stability
April 17, 2026 - The following story was originally written by RecoveryWorks and published as part of the RecoveryWorks Guest Stories.
Stories like Sarah’s are made possible through compassionate, on-the-ground outreach led by staff like Michelle Chorens, whose role as a RecoveryWorks street outreach specialist is funded through a state grant secured and administered by Lakewood’s Housing and Thriving Communities Division.
Read below to learn more about the life-changing impact of this work and the partnership that makes it possible.
Sarah's Story
Sarah describes herself as a “Daddy’s girl.”
“My dad made me feel like a princess,” she says. “Every problem I had, my dad would fix.”
Sarah, now 33, has spent her adult years in Colorado after moving here to live with her father, a Colorado native. She worked steadily from a young age—starting at 15—first as a nurse’s aide and later as a Starbucks manager.
Life brought both joy and hardship. Sarah became a mother and built a life here. But over time, a series of losses and health challenges changed everything.
Her mother passed away first. Then, two years ago, Sarah lost her father.
“We were staying at a motel on Colfax,” she recalls. “An hour after my dad passed, the hotel told me I had to leave. They assumed it was drug related, and it wasn’t. At that moment, I lost my my dad and my home.”
Sarah spent the next year and a half living outside in Lakewood, in a park near Colfax Avenue. “It’s so hard,” she says. “Anyone that’s homeless, I give them mad props. It is not for the weak.”
During that time, Sarah struggled with serious health challenges and overwhelming grief after a lifetime of one trauma after another. “Shortly after my dad passed, I gave up,” she says quietly. “I didn’t care anymore. I thought I was just going to lay there and die.”
Then someone showed up who refused to let her disappear.
“Michelle was an angel,” Sarah says. “Almost literally she dragged me out of that tent. She didn’t give up on me.”
Michelle Chorens, RecoveryWorks’ street outreach specialist, checked on Sarah regularly, bringing food and encouragement—even helping her care for her dog. Even when Sarah missed her first appointment, Michelle and Housing Specialist, Stacy Galvan, returned to the park and helped her fill out the paperwork on the spot. Soon after, Sarah moved into RecoveryWorks. Through RecoveryWorks’ housing and recovery programs, Sarah was able to move indoors, stabilize her health, and begin working with staff on her next steps toward permanent housing and rebuilding her life.
“At first I was so depressed I couldn’t do anything,” Sarah says. “My room got trashed because my mental health was so bad. My recovery has really been about mental health recovery.”
With support from staff, including her case manager Quinn Cox, things began to shift. “After a couple weeks at RecoveryWorks, I finally snapped back into being me again,” she says. “I started taking showers, cleaning my room, and taking care of myself. They cared, and they helped me help myself.”
Today, Sarah says RecoveryWorks has given her something she hadn’t felt in a long time. “RecoveryWorks made me feel normal again. It’s my safe spot.”
Her motivation moving forward is clear. “The whole reason I’m here is because I want to fight and get my parental rights back,” she says. “I’m a good mom, a good human. I want to be the best mom I can be because that’s what my daughter deserves.”
Sarah has already started giving back by volunteering and hopes to return after she moves on to teach sewing and crochet classes. “As long as I make someone‘s life better and to bring the world up, that’s all that matters, that makes me happy.”