The Early Years

SHALOM Denver began as The Utility Workshop of Denver, established in 1955 through the joint efforts of Jewish Family and Children’s Service (currently Jewish Family Service), the Allied Jewish Community Council (currently Allied Jewish Federation) and the Denver section of the National Council of Jewish Women.

As executive director of Jewish Family and Children’s Service (JFCS), Dr. Alfred Neumann sought funds from a German government restitution program for Holocaust survivors. The JFCS Board, through the leadership of the late John Kamlet and the late Bob Aaron, helped the Utility Workshop become a reality.

With $20,000 in startup funds from the German government and additional funds from the US Department of Health and Human Services and the Colorado Department of Rehabilitation, the Utility Workshop began serving six refugee clients. Bob Aaron and John Kamlet, with the help of David Silver, quickly found jobs for these clients.

The Utility Workshop provided the following types of rehabilitation services: diagnostic and vocational testing, individual and group therapy, work evaluation and work adjustment training, vocational and career counseling, selective placement and follow-up services. The Workshop also provided vocational training in printing, power sewing machine operation, clerical and janitorial services.

The Workshop began in the basement of the United Way building and had several other temporary homes with limited space near downtown Denver. The first paying contract the Workshop attained was attaching fabric samples to catalogs for Miller Stockman. The Workshop then acquired a large job assembling luggage tags for Samsonite and several sewing and fabric assembly jobs for furniture and catalog companies as well as printing projects.

The Workshop evolved to serve new groups of clients including refugees from Soviet Bloc countries in the 1960s and a diverse clientele of people with developmental disabilities starting in the 1970s. This program was a major development in the evolution of human services in America. It was a revolutionary concept to emphasize work and rehabilitation instead of welfare. In the 1970s, the Nixon Administration viewed the program as a national model and prototype, and sent a federal commission to visit the workshop. In the 1970s, the Utility Workshop landed at 1212 Delaware, its first permanent home since its inception.

Throughout the years, the Utility Workshop moved away from primarily helping Holocaust survivors to serving people with developmental disabilities. In 1978 it was renamed “SHALOM Denver” and shortly after this time, the organization took on collating and mailing services for the Mile Hi Girl Scout Council, which then grew into a large-scale mailing services component. Due to a favorable community response, the program soon served more than 70 clients.

In 1999, SHALOM Denver added another group of clients, people in the TANF, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program, the welfare-to-work program. Now, in addition to helping people with developmental disabilities, the organization helps single parents on welfare become part of the workforce. SHALOM Denver’s main focus for future development is based on helping the “untapped workforce” gain valuable job skills and find meaningful employment.

In 2001, SHALOM outgrew its 6,000 square-foot location at 1212 Delaware Street and moved to a new state-of-the-art 18,800 square-foot facility at 2498 West 2nd Avenue. The new facility helps SHALOM Denver meet many of its goals including expansion and automation of its mailing enterprise, development of more multifaceted employment programs, expansion of its welfare-to-work program and case management services for families with disabled family members.