Stride is about taking big steps toward long-term changes designed to help families move off - and stay off - government assistance.

The nonprofit organization was founded in 1991 in Jefferson County as a clearinghouse for people who need safe housing, a job to pay for it and the resources to support a family. It also has offices in Lakewood and Aurora.

"The art is to stay with a family long enough to try to have an acceptable level of confidence that they are going to succeed in the future, so that they have the same crack at it as everybody else," said Ken Miller, Stride's executive director since January 2007. He talked recently about Stride.

How did your agency get started?

A group of public employees and nonprofit organizations in Jefferson County recognized that many families most in need were falling through the cracks in the social service system. They came together as a group to form a nonprofit specializing in working with families in need and staying with those families to make sure they got the services they need to get on a path to self-sufficiency.

Can you talk about a case in which your agency made a difference?

We were just working with a woman who finished and graduated in November. She had her first child when she was 17, then dropped out of high school and got herself into two relationships, each of which led to another child. The last relationship was abusive. She had no regular place to live, three children, and was 20 or 21 years old.

Within two years (with Stride), she had gotten into a stable place to live, finished her GED, was working full-time and enrolled part-time in a community college business program. A life on the rocks is now stable.

How have your clients changed in the past few years?

They are much more likely to be homeless. Of the most conspicuous changes, that's No. 1. We see it more so from our experience working in Aurora.

There's been an economic recovery for a number of years, but not a recovery at the lower end of the job market. There's the hope that economic good news is going to roll down hill, but that's not happening with us. Families are stuck at a lower level than they used to be.

What's the biggest need among the people you serve?

The biggest need, day in and day out, is hard to get fulfilled: good quality day care. It's often theoretically available through county human service agencies but not practically available.

Stride

* Mission: To help families become self-sufficient and independent of government programs

* Year founded: 1991

* People helped: 350 mainly single-parent families in 2006

* Staff: 11

* Volunteers: About 20, working to rehab computers and perform some tutoring

* Budget: $700,000

* Web site: stride-co.org

How to donate

Post-News Season To Share, a fund of the McCormick Tribune Foundation, gave more than $1.79 million to 62 agencies serving children, as well as people who are hungry, homeless or in need of medical care last year. Donations are matched at 50 cents for each dollar, and 100 percent of all donations go directly to local charitable agencies. To make a donation, see the coupon on page 37 of today's paper, call 1-888-683-4483 or visit www.seasontoshare.com.