Investing in Dreams: The Salazar Family Foundation’s Heart-Forward Philanthropy
When Lola Salazar offers a hug, she often asks people to hug to the left. “Because that’s where our hearts touch,” she says.
She smiles. “We’re going to change the world, one hug at a time.”
A heart-centered approach has defined Lola’s work throughout her career, and it continues with the Salazar Family Foundation, which she and her husband Rob established 25 years ago.
The Foundation has been a supporting partner of Warren Village for three years, providing sustained financial support and hands-on volunteer engagement.
Their commitment exemplifies the power of strategic, heart-centered philanthropy that doesn’t just provide resources—it builds relationships and breaks cycles of poverty for generations to come.
Long Walks and Big Dreams
When Lola and Rob were newlyweds in Alamosa, Colorado, they’d spend evenings taking walks through the small San Luis Valley town. The couple would talk about their future: what they wanted to accomplish, the family they hoped to build, and how they might one day give back to their community.
“We had all these dreams,” Lola recalls. “That’s why I’m really big into manifestation and setting goals and working hard, because that’s how we started off as a married couple. We’re going to have these goals, we’re going to work hard, we’re going to do what we can to make it work.”
Having found success – Rob in running his own business and Lola as an educator – they wanted to dedicate their lives to ensuring others can dream too.
From Education to Breaking Cycles
The Salazar Family Foundation began 25 years ago, sparked by the tragedy at Columbine High School, where the Salazars’ son was a student. Initially, they focused on conflict mediation and supporting the schools that had shaped their own lives.
But about five years ago, as Lola drove to the foundation’s office in Denver each day, she was distressed by the scene around her.
“I’d see all the unhoused people on Broadway, and I’d get to work and it would just break my heart,” she remembers. “I was thinking, what do we need to do?”
After two years of due diligence—visiting organizations, volunteering, and learning—Lola and her team made a strategic pivot. “We thought, we can’t solve the homeless issue. But maybe we can help break the cycle.”
That’s when they found Warren Village.
“They Got Me At Hello”: The Warren Village Visit
Three years ago, the Salazar Family Foundation began searching for a new partner organization to support families experiencing homelessness. The moment Lola and the foundation’s Director of Communications & Community Liaison, Erin Salazar, walked into Warren Village, something clicked.
“They got me at hello,” Lola laughs. “The kids shaking my hand with their little runny noses. It was like, ‘Okay, what do we need to do to be part of this?'”
For Erin – who also happens to be Lola’s daughter-in-law – the visit was deeply personal. As a child, Erin had lived at Warren Village with her mother, who was navigating homelessness.
“My mom was a teen mom,” Erin explains. Warren Village’s program at First Step helped them find stability. “We lived there for two years while my mom finished and graduated. They really helped my mom get her diploma, helped her get on food services, and she was able to get a great job.”
Erin still remembers the playground at the Warren Village location off Federal Boulevard—the Lincoln Log structure where she’d play so enthusiastically that her mother would have to pull splinters from her hands each night.
Now, decades later, Erin works alongside Lola at the foundation, helping identify organizations that provide the wraparound services that transformed her own childhood.
“What really impressed us was that Warren Village doesn’t just say, ‘Okay, here you are. You have a roof over your head,'” Lola explains. “They monitor them. They have meetings. It’s those wraparound services that really do make a difference.”
Giving with Heart and Hands
The Salazar Family Foundation operates differently than many philanthropic organizations. They select just three “supporting organizations” at a time, committing to deep, sustained partnerships that last years, sometimes decades.
“I could have written a check and been done, but no, I gave my soul to these projects,” Lola explains. “We don’t just drop off a check. We want that connection.”
At Warren Village, this philosophy comes alive. The foundation hosts annual holiday events where guests bring gift cards for Warren Village mothers (this year’s event happened December 10th). They organize clothing drives. Lola and Erin volunteer at mom events—spa days, vision board workshops, inspiration sessions.
“When we do these gift cards or give toys, we don’t want them to think we’re looking at it as ‘charity,’” Lola emphasizes. “We’re not giving them a handout. We’re trying to give them a hand up.”
When they toured the new Warren Village at Alameda campus at its grand opening, Lola knew they’d made the right choice. “That community needed housing there. When you see it in action—not on paper, but when you get in there—then you know we did good.”
Giving Where They’re Living
Lola’s approach to philanthropy has evolved over 25 years. “When I first started, I believe foundations were trying to find something they could fix,” she reflects. “Now I believe philanthropy is more about empowering other nonprofits. It’s not ‘I have to solve it by myself.’ Let’s get other people together. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel.”
She lives by this collaborative spirit, hosting events at the foundation office where nonprofit leaders can connect and learn from each other. “It takes a village,” she says simply.
For Lola, giving back to her hometown is personal and what drives her decisions. She grew up in the Westwood neighborhood, a “reduced lunch kid” at Denver Public Schools. But her life felt abundant, she said, just having a roof over her head and food on the table.
She wants her six grandchildren—her “grand angels,” as she calls them—to love Denver as much as she does. When she takes them to volunteer or to visit the organizations the foundation supports, she hopes she is planting seeds.
“I want them to know that the world is theirs,” Lola says. “That they can go anywhere, do anything. But also that where you come from matters. This is our city. These are our roots.”
“Don’t just write the check.”
When asked what advice she’d give to other donors considering a deeper partnership with Warren Village, Lola doesn’t hesitate: “Go inside. Don’t just write the check—go to Gilpin or Alameda and meet the families. Volunteer. Listen to their stories of where they’ve come from and how far they’ve come, and their dreams and aspirations of where they’re going.”
She pauses, then adds: “Go in there with an open heart.”
Looking ahead, Lola is excited to witness Warren Village’s continued growth. “It’s just going to continue to get better. Those moms and dads who live there—they’re the ones who are going to be our future. They’re going to say, ‘I know how to change this. I lived through this, and now this is what needs to be done.'”
As for her own legacy, Lola’s vision is clear: “I want people to say, ‘Salazar Family Foundation, they made a difference.’ Not just with money, but with their hearts. I go to sleep at night with no regrets because I know I made a difference in somebody’s life. Even if it’s just a smile or hug at a time.”
Help build lasting stability for low-income, single-parent families by making a year-end gift today.
If you are a foundation or institution looking to make a sustaining gift to Warren Village, please reach out to our Development Director Michele Kilen at mkilen@warrenvillage.org. We’d love to speak with you!
