Five young adults at Dry Bones Denver have just completed Phase 2, Motivate, of the Dry Bones Living Academy. These are young people who are choosing to deeply invest in their own lives. They are showing up, stretching themselves, and leaning into the hard, sacred work of becoming.

The growth is real. And it is an honor to walk alongside each of them.

One member of the cohort, Ray, continues on medical leave, but he remains very much part of this journey. His place is held. His progress is honored. The community waits with him, not without him.

What Phase 2 Means

The Dry Bones Living Academy is a one-year journey unfolding in four phases: Opportunity, Motivate, Empower, and Thrive. Phase 2, Motivate, is where participants begin to find their footing. The initial willingness of Phase 1 deepens into genuine momentum. Participants build on the practical life skills, therapeutic support, and weekly coaching that anchor the program, and something shifts: the work starts to feel like their own.

Each phase concludes with a stepping-stone "success moment," a pause to celebrate how far they have come before pressing forward. For young people who have spent years surviving without recognition, these milestones matter more than most of us can imagine.

More Than a Program

The Living Academy is not a cookie-cutter approach. It is holistic by design, weaving together emotional, spiritual, and practical support. Small cohorts of six ensure that no one gets lost. Each participant shapes their own path. For some, that looks like steady employment. For others, stability, healing, or building life skills they never had the chance to learn.

For all of them, the deeper aim is the same: creating an inner sense of home. That, as Dry Bones has long understood, is the true ending of homelessness.

The Academy's permanent space, a classroom, office, living room, and patio in the lower level of Dry Bones' headquarters on Downing Street, was designed to feel like home itself: safe, welcoming, and built for growth.

Onward to Phase 3: Empower

As these five students step into Phase 3, they carry with them something they may not have had before: evidence that they can do hard things. The next phase, Empower, will continue to build on that foundation, pushing toward deeper agency, confidence, and readiness for whatever comes next.

Open Soul Foundation: Carrying the Mission Forward

Deep gratitude goes to the donors and community who continue to carry the mission of Dry Bones forward. The Living Academy operates on an annual budget of $250,000 and depends entirely on community investment to sustain its work. Open Soul Foundation is proud to be part of the network of supporters who believe in the worth of every young person and who put that belief into action.

To each student moving forward: we see the work you are doing. We see the courage it takes. And we are honored to walk this road with you.

Open Soul Foundation was here.

"Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." Philippians 1:6