Meet the 2023 "Extraordinary You" winner, Maureen "Mo" Basenberg, Executive Director, Safe Passage Children's Advocacy Center.

In our yearly search to recognize someone making an extraordinary impact on our community, we were especially impressed with the nomination Mo received this year. 

The nomination reads, in part -

In November 2021, Mo opened the first co-located children’s advocacy center (CAC) in the state of Colorado while successfully guiding Safe Passage toward thoughtful growth to meet the needs of the community.

Only 20% of Children’s Advocacy Centers nationwide subscribe to this co-location best practice. That didn't intimidate Mo in tackling her goal.

She worked alongside her team at Safe Passage and the board of directors to pull together philanthropic dollars from foundations, business, and local individuals to fund the capital campaign necessary to expand a continuum of services to the abused and vulnerable children of the community. She visualized and raised $2.2M to bring this model to life.

This is particularly notable due to the diversity of the partner agencies, including Safe Passage, City of Colorado Springs Police Department Child Crimes Unit, El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, El Paso County Department of Human Services, UCHealth, The Family Center, and Kidpower.

This spectrum of agencies provides services that treat the whole child, from investigation to physical health, therapy to safety skills and child abuse prevention training. Now, a child can tell their brave story in one place versus repeating it again and again, and all aspects of support are footsteps away. 

Mo has chosen Safe Passage to receive the donation made in her name. We are also excited to treat Mo to a consultation, a pampering aesthetic treatment, and $350 worth of her own personalized clara Medical Skincare.

Join us in congratulating Mo for this small token of appreciation for all she does for the children that need this help in El Paso and Teller counties.