Step Denver: Inside the Recovery Organization Changing Lives in South Denver

Recovery programs in Denver range from hospital-based detox units to luxury treatment retreats, but very few have been doing it for over 40 years on a shoestring budget with proven results. Step Denver is one of them. It’s not fancy. The building is utilitarian, the model is demanding, and the program asks a lot from the men who enter it. That’s exactly why it works.

If you live in South Denver — Cherry Hills, Greenwood Village, Washington Park, Highlands Ranch — and you’ve wondered about recovery resources in the broader metro area, or you’re trying to help someone find a path out of addiction, Step Denver deserves a close look.

What Step Denver Is (And What It Isn’t)

Step Denver is a residential addiction recovery program for adult men. It is not a detox center, not a treatment facility in the clinical sense, and not a government-funded shelter. It’s a structured sober living community where residents stay for an average of about 95 nights, long enough to build genuine stability rather than just get through a 28-day program and be back out the door.

The organization was founded in 1983 as Step 13 by Ray Hayworth — himself a recovering alcoholic — who believed that peer support, work, and accountability were more powerful tools for beating addiction than therapy alone. The model was built by people who had lived it, and that foundational DNA still shapes how Step operates today.

Over the decades, the program evolved. In 2015, a more comprehensive curriculum called Steps for Success was developed, built on the original founding pillars but incorporating evidence-based approaches to addiction recovery. The name was updated to Step Denver to better reflect the expanded program. The mission stayed the same: help men with nowhere else to turn take the first step toward a different life.

📍 Step Denver
2029 Larimer Street, Denver, CO 80205 | Phone: 303.295.7837 | Email: stepdenver@stepdenver.org | stepdenver.org

The Four Pillars: How the Program Works

Step Denver’s model isn’t complicated, but it is demanding. Everything runs through four pillars that residents are expected to live by while in the program:

1. Sobriety

Abstinence from alcohol and drugs is non-negotiable. This sounds obvious, but Step’s approach to sobriety goes beyond “don’t drink” — it’s about building a life structure that makes sobriety sustainable. Residents participate in 12-step meetings, group accountability sessions, and peer recovery support through the organization’s own Peer Recovery Support Method. The emphasis is on tools, not just willpower.

2. Work

This is the pillar that distinguishes Step Denver from many other recovery programs. Residents are expected to work — period. The program has a long-standing relationship with employers throughout the Denver metro area, and 79% of residents obtain full-time employment within their first 45 days. Work isn’t just about income; it’s about structure, self-worth, and the habit of showing up. You can’t build a life without it, and Step doesn’t pretend otherwise.

3. Accountability

Residents are accountable to each other and to the program. House rules are enforced by fellow residents as much as by staff — a peer-driven accountability model that research consistently shows is more effective than top-down enforcement alone. If you’re serious about recovery, being surrounded by other people who are equally serious changes the dynamic entirely.

4. Community

Step Denver serves over 380 men per year. The community that forms among residents — men at different stages of recovery, with different backgrounds, united by the same commitment to getting their lives back — is one of the program’s most valuable resources. Alumni who’ve graduated the program often remain connected, mentoring new residents and demonstrating what’s possible on the other side.

The Numbers That Matter

Addiction recovery is a field where it’s easy to make claims and hard to verify them. Step Denver publishes outcome data, which is more than many programs do. The numbers are worth knowing:

• 380+ men served each year
• 95 average nights of safe, sober housing provided per resident
• 79% of residents obtain full-time employment within 45 days
• 78% of residents report rebuilding healthy family relationships
• 85% of alumni contacted report sustained sobriety

That 85% sustained sobriety rate for contacted alumni is the headline number, and it holds up when you understand the model. Long-term recovery isn’t about getting someone clean for a month — it’s about giving them the skills, structure, and community to stay that way. Step’s combination of employment, peer accountability, and extended residential stay addresses the root conditions that make relapse likely.

Who Step Denver Serves

The program is specifically designed for adult men who have no resources and nowhere else to turn. That means men who are homeless, recently released from incarceration, or caught in the cycle of addiction without family support or financial stability. Step meets people at their lowest point — not after they’ve already stabilized elsewhere.

This is worth understanding if you’re trying to refer someone. Step Denver is not a luxury program and doesn’t require insurance or upfront fees. The men who enter the program often arrive with nothing. The program’s model — built around work from day one — is what makes self-sufficiency possible even for people starting at zero.

If you have a family member who is housed, insured, and has some support structure, Step Denver may not be the right fit — there are other excellent Denver programs designed for people with different circumstances. But for the population Step serves, there are very few organizations in Colorado doing it better.

The History Worth Knowing

Step Denver’s story is genuinely remarkable, and it matters because it explains the culture of the organization.

The program was founded in May 1983 by Ray Hayworth at what was then called Step 13. The name was a nod to the idea that AA’s 12 steps get you sober, but Step 13 — the one they invented — gets you housed, employed, and functioning in the world.

In November 1988, Step 13 moved into the current Larimer Street building, a former department store that residents physically transformed into living quarters with help from local contractors. The fact that residents built much of the facility themselves is consistent with the program’s ethos: you don’t wait for someone else to fix your situation.

In 1991, Executive Director Bob Coté testified before Congress about addiction and government dependency, and was subsequently recognized by President George H. W. Bush as one of his “Daily Points of Light” — a national recognition program honoring Americans making a difference in their areas. It was a meaningful moment for a scrappy program operating out of a converted building in Denver’s Five Points neighborhood.

Bob Coté led Step 13 for decades and became something of a legend in Denver’s recovery community. His passing in September 2013 was a genuine loss, but the organization he built survived and grew. Under subsequent leadership, the program developed the Steps for Success curriculum and expanded its reach, eventually rebranding as Step Denver to reflect the evolution.

How to Get Involved (If You Want To)

For South Denver residents who want to support the organization, there are several real ways to do it:

Donate

Step Denver is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Donations go directly toward housing, meals, programming, and the operational costs of keeping 380+ men per year in the program. One-time and monthly donation options are available at stepdenver.org. They also accept vehicle donations if you have a car to donate — there’s a separate program for that.

Corporate Partnerships

Step Denver’s employment pillar depends on employers willing to hire program residents. If you run a business in the Denver area and you’re open to hiring motivated men who are serious about their sobriety and work ethic, this is worth exploring. The organization facilitates the connection and provides support to both residents and employers. Reach out directly through their website.

Volunteer and In-Kind Support

Step Denver has historically benefited from in-kind donations — meals, supplies, professional services. If you’re in a field (legal, medical, trades) and have capacity to donate time or expertise, it’s worth reaching out to see what’s needed.

Refer Someone Who Needs Help

The most direct way to support Step Denver is to know it exists when someone you care about needs it. The application process starts at their website, and the program accepts men who are serious about recovery regardless of their financial situation. Phone: 303.295.7837.

Why This Matters to South Denver

South Denver is an affluent corridor — Cherry Hills Village, Greenwood Village, Lone Tree — neighborhoods defined by high incomes, excellent schools, and stable family structures. Addiction doesn’t skip those zip codes. It follows people home from good families, good jobs, and good schools just as readily as anywhere else.

The difference is that in affluent areas, addiction is often hidden. The resources to manage it quietly — inpatient treatment, private therapists, extended leave from work — exist for people who can afford them. Step Denver serves the men for whom those options don’t exist. But it’s also relevant to South Denver families as a resource and as an organization worth knowing about, because the addiction crisis in Colorado is not confined to any neighborhood.

Colorado ranks among the top states in the country for substance use disorders, including alcohol use disorder, which affects people at every income level. Knowing what quality recovery resources exist — and what to look for in a program — matters whether you’re looking for help for yourself, a family member, or an employee.

Step Denver vs. Other Denver Recovery Programs

Denver has a range of addiction recovery resources, and they’re not interchangeable. Here’s a brief orientation:

• Step Denver — Long-term residential (avg. 95 nights), work-based, for men with no resources. No cost to residents.
• Denver CARES — Medical detox and stabilization, run by Denver Health. Short-term, handles acute withdrawal.
• Stout Street Foundation — Residential treatment with clinical services, serves men and women. Sliding scale fees.
• Phoenix Multisport — Community-based recovery support through fitness and sport. Complementary to residential programs.
• SAMHSA Treatment Locator — National database to find licensed facilities, filterable by insurance, gender, substance type.

If someone needs detox first, Denver CARES is the right starting point. If they need residential stability and are ready to work, Step Denver is one of the strongest options in the city.

Final Thought

Step Denver isn’t the kind of organization that shows up in “best of Denver” roundups or gets written about in food and lifestyle publications. It operates quietly, serves a population that rarely makes headlines in a positive way, and does the slow, unglamorous work of helping men rebuild their lives from scratch.

That’s exactly what makes it worth knowing about. Four decades in, 380+ men per year, an 85% sustained sobriety rate among alumni — those numbers represent real people with real lives that went a different direction because this program existed. In a city that’s grown as fast as Denver has, and where the addiction crisis continues to claim lives in every zip code, that work matters.

If you want to help, donate, refer someone, or simply want to know what quality recovery looks like: stepdenver.org or 303.295.7837.