Changing the story for at-risk youth and their families
By Heather Shoning | Photos Courtesy FullCircle
EVERY PARENT HOPES their child will find a future filled with opportunity. But for many families across South Denver, substance use, anxiety, depression, and other high-risk behaviors threaten to rewrite that story long before adulthood begins.
That’s where FullCircle steps in.
Serving teens and young adults ages 13 to 25, FullCircle is a Colorado-based nonprofit that provides no-cost recovery support for young people struggling with substance use and other mental health challenges. Rather than focusing solely on stopping destructive behaviors, the organization helps participants build something even more powerful: a life worth staying sober for.
RECOVERY BUILT AROUND COMMUNITY
Traditional treatment often ends when a program is complete. FullCircle is intentionally different.
The organization combines youth peer groups, family support meetings, one-on-one mentoring, sober social events, and long-term involvement into what it calls an Alternative Peer Group model. The philosophy is simple: Lasting recovery requires connection, purpose, and belonging—not isolation.
Young people participate in regular support groups alongside peers facing similar challenges while parents receive guidance and encouragement through their own weekly meetings.
For many families, recovery becomes a shared journey rather than an individual struggle.
Today, FullCircle facilitates more than 624 support group meetings along with 624 sober social events annually in Colorado, giving young people opportunities to build friendships and create new memories without drugs or alcohol.
Families enrolled in the program receive intensive support, often totaling 15 or more hours each week, including individual appointments, family meetings, crisis support, and ongoing communication with staff. Those services continue well beyond the initial stages of recovery, helping participants navigate the inevitable ups and downs that accompany lasting change.
The organization has also developed recovery workbooks for both young people and parents, and is creating additional resources written by youth, for youth, based on real lived experience.
RESULTS THAT MATTER
Behind every statistic is a young person whose future has shifted course.
According to FullCircle’s 2025 impact data, nearly every participant enters the program carrying significant emotional and behavioral challenges. Among incoming participants:
• 98% struggle with depression or anxiety.
• 98% are battling substance use.
• 95% face serious social consequences related to substance use.
• 89% have experienced suicidal thoughts.
• 84% have driven under the influence.
Within months of entering the program, the outcomes are striking.
Substance use falls to nearly zero within the first 90 days. Suicidal thoughts drop below one percent within six months. Anxiety and depression decrease by more than 50 percent, while 97 percent report improved family relationships, 94 percent improve their ability to maintain employment, and 42 percent increase their focus on education.
The numbers tell an encouraging story, but perhaps more importantly, they reflect restored hope—for both young people and the families walking beside them.
GROWING TO MEET THE NEED
The program started in Arizona, and Colorado FullCircle opened its doors in 2019 and, by the end of 2025, had expanded to five locations and six programs in Colorado, with a team of 18 full-time staff serving communities across the state. The organization has a total of nine locations across five states.
Its influence is extending beyond Colorado as well. FullCircle has hosted international youth recovery retreats, bringing together participants from multiple countries to share experiences and demonstrate that recovery transcends borders. At the same time, the organization is investing in formal research partnerships and data collection designed to measure long-term outcomes and strengthen youth recovery models nationwide.
The program is even reaching across the pond.
After establishing connections in Sweden, Ireland, and Italy, FullCircle is mapping out plans for international expansion. To ensure the model translates well across cultures—for both participants and donors—FullCircle is collaborating with Emily Hennessy, Ph.D., assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and associate director and director of biostatistics at the Recovery Research Institute.
A former Fulbright Scholar to Norway with a master’s in health promotion and a focus on adolescent well-being, Dr. Hennessy is currently conducting a pilot study of the FullCircle program.
INVESTING IN LASTING CHANGE
Like many nonprofits, FullCircle relies on community support to sustain and expand its work.
Approximately 78 percent of organizational funding goes directly toward programming, operations, and growth, while investments in staffing, infrastructure, and data collection are designed to ensure the program remains both effective and scalable for years to come.
Those investments are already making a difference. The organization expects to serve more than 300 families during the remainder of this year alone while continuing to remove financial barriers through scholarships and partnerships that connect families with treatment, therapy, and counseling when needed.
DRIVING HOPE FORWARD
FullCircle is the beneficiary of the AvidLifestyle and Colorado AvidGolfer Wheels of Dreams Charity Experience, an initiative that combines automotive enthusiasm with community philanthropy.
The partnership reflects a shared belief that meaningful change happens when communities invest in people. Proceeds from the event will help FullCircle continue providing life-changing support to young people and families across South Denver, ensuring that financial hardship never prevents someone from accessing the help they need.
For countless families, recovery begins with a single conversation. FullCircle is working every day to make sure that conversation leads not simply to sobriety—but to a future filled with possibility.
The 6th Annual Wheels of Dreams Charity Experience takes place on Thursday, September 17, at The Franciscan Event Center. For more information and tickets, visit wheelofdreams.bolder.bid.
