Lisa Rupp is a CBPYT AmeriCorps Member with Urban Peak in Denver teaching job readiness training skills, tutoring GED subject materials, and counseling homeless and runaway youth in all aspects of education and employment.

Urban Peak helps homeless youth and youth at risk of becoming homeless overcome real life challenges by providing essential services and a supportive community, empowering them to become self-sufficient adults.

We are nominating Lisa Rupp for the 2012 National Service Impact Awards because of the invaluable contributions she has made in our Education & Employment Department.

Lisa thinks outside the box and doesn’t accept the status quo, but continually questions and innovates in creative ways, which has resulted in objective reflection on our part, and improvements to our program as a whole. The care with which she serves each client is inspirational because she truly believes in the amazing potential of each one. Her positive attitude is contagious amongst staff and students. When clients see her, their faces light up because they know she believes in them. For our organization, Lisa has quite simply been awesome. Some of her most notable strengths are: • innovation with developing and implementing new goal setting and communication curriculum for JRT • developing strong 1:1 relationships with youth • investing in students’ success through everyday conversation with students and advocacy for clients in team meetings • initiating new activities such as touring SAME Café, an eating establishment that provides meals to individuals regardless of their ability to pay, and job shadow opportunities for clients