Organic Landscape Design

Broomfield Enterprise
Business Monthly
A Broomfield Enterprise Special Report
July 5, 2000
By Matt Branaugh

A N.I.C.E. Touch
Broomfield Man's nonprofit reaches out to Denver Needy

The battering rains of a monsoon were slowing David Ward as the then 16-year old made his way to get a visa out of India.
The rains created a mess of mud and wet, sopping people. Ward found himself stepping over a mother sleeping in the mud with her baby.
It's this and many other experiences that encouraged a young Ward to pursue a lifelong passion of helping others. Stories of segregation in
South Africa. Stories of homeless sleeping next to palaces in Indonesia.

"I saw a need and wanted to respond," Ward said.

Ward, now 44, recently founded a nonprofit business, Network of Interfaith Compassionate Entrepreneurs, from his Broomfield home that
he hopes will help businesses fill human needs. Ward says he was fortunate enough as a boy to travel twice around the world with his father.
Those experiences showed him a number of things, including a gap between wealthy and poor ? a gap Ward found difficult to explain. But,
he said, rather than automatically labeling wealth and business as the culprits for the income gap, he sought instead to find ways he could help
bridge that gap.

"I just saw a need to find balance and harmony in our world that doesn't demolish people," Ward said.

That started with a 22-year commitment as a Jesuit Brother in the Society of Jesus known as the Jesuit Order. The commitment meant
significant involvement with youth and homeless. It also meant no women. No paycheck. And a requirement to work within Jesuit institutions.
Ward spent those 22 years bounding back and forth between Denver and St. Louis. In Denver, he taught theology classes, coached wrestling and
sponsored an outdoor club at Regis Jesuit High School. In St. Louis, he received his degree in philosophy and theology from St. Louis
University and spent four years at St. Matthew's Parish and Northside Community Center, starting a home repair program for seniors and others
in need.

"(St. Louis) was more along the lines of what I wanted," Ward said.

Then Ward returned to Regis for one year, teaching typing, physical education and again sponsoring the outdoor club.

Ward's responsibilities eventually took him to Kansas City for one year, where he started a home repair program with the city's poor. That's when
the other Jesuits told Ward he needed to rest. They told him he was too involved, too generous, to giving with the poor and risking a burnout, Ward
said.

He ended up returning to Colorado, spending seven years at the Sacred Heart Retreat House in Sedalia. Though those seven years were spent
gardening and tending to 280 acres, Ward said he still heard the calling.

"This was where I needed to be to know I needed to work with the poor," Ward said.

About two years ago, Ward started a foot massage program for homeless in Denver. The Jesuit Order disagreed with Ward, basing their reasons on
a Jesuit code that prohibits massaging other people. It became clear to Ward it was time to break away.

Ward's break took tangible form this year with his nonprofit Network of Interfaith Compassionate Entrepreneurs. The nonprofit aims specifically to
get businesses and individuals involved in the lives of the less fortunate throughout Denver. He's hoping for financial backing from businesses and
for those businesses to encourage employees to volunteer for N.I.C.E's programs.

Businesses can help with in-kind donations, such as a business owner providing Ward tips or an automotive dealer selling discounted tires for
N.I.C.E.'s car, Ward said.

Besides the Metro Massage for the Multitudes, Ward has formed three other programs. The Brothers and Sisters Repair helps with home and
neighborhood repair projects. The Storage of Spirit helps families and individuals recently evicted and pays for one month of storage space to keep
belongings until new housing can be found. The Youthful Enrichment Services creates seminars for inner-city youth that develop their dreams and
goals as an alternative to gang and drug activity.

Ward recently received his official 501(C)(3) non-profit status from the U.S. government. He said he's hoping the status will allow him and his wife,
Sallie, to support themselves while meeting the needs of others. He deepened his relationship with Sallie when she volunteered for the Metro
Massage program two years ago and they later married. She hopes to reach out to youths involved with gangs.

"The poor don't need money most. They need a touch that's healing, a presence that's supportive without judging. It's relationship with the poor. It
heals the poor. It heals the wealthy," Ward said.

And the need is there, Ward said. Every day, 12 families are evicted in Denver. Shirley McGuinness, director of the nonprofit Broomfield FISH Inc.,
said Ward has a good chance of succeeding.

"He's doing things that no one else is really doing in the Denver area," McGuinness said. "He's really an innovative guy. He's got a lot of hope
and I think he'll make it go.?

"The N.I.C.E. Corp is the fruition of the dream since I was 14," Ward said. "It's been 30 years of dreaming and praying and failing and re-focusing.
This may fail, too. There's no guarantee. That's where the faith comes in."
 
And Ward is already helping 105 single-parent families living near Decatur and Holden streets in Denver turn a swamp into a playground. The
Broomfield resident is using his 502(c) 3 nonprofit business, The Network of Interfaith Compassionate Entrepreneurs ? or the N.I.C.E. Corp. ?
to generate $5,000 for the effort. So far, $15,000 has been raised for the playground, which would include playground equipment, three picnic tables
and three barbecue grills.

Their deadline for raising the rest of the money is Saturday. Ward learned about the neighborhood's plight earlier this year though a flier posted at
Spirit of Christ Church in Arvada. After contacting the residents, Ward said he asked them what their dream was for the land. Originally, they just
wanted grass planted. After some thought, they decided a playground would be even better.

"We're designing this from their desires," Ward said.

But the effort has done more than generate money for a playground, he said. The membership on the resident council there has grown from one
member to nine since the effort began. Ward said 98 percent of the residents in the neighborhood live in subsidized housing.

"The idea was to build community by building a playground," Ward said.

Having been named massage student of the year by the Colorado Private School Association for Physical and Massage Therapy, Ward is offering
his services from his Broomfield home to those interested in helping the playground effort. Ward gives about 18 free massages per week to homeless
and recovering homeless. He also does massages at the Standley Lake Massage Clinic.

In return for a massage participants can pay Ward the amount they'd like to put into the playground. Ward, in turn, will donate that money directly to
the cause- -- but only through Saturday. Appointments for a massage can be made by calling (303) 463-8458. Those who wish to donate money to the
effort directly can mail checks to United Families Fund, 1155 Decatur St., Apt. 326, Denver, CO 80204