Grants from credit union help child abuse survivors find safety, healing
When a child in the Pikes Peak region of Colorado discloses abuse, the path forward can feel overwhelming for everyone involved. Safe Passage exists to make that path a little less traumatic—and Ent Credit Union, becoming Wings Credit Union, has been helping light the way for more than a decade.
Safe Passage is the Children’s Advocacy Center for Colorado’s Pikes Peak region, providing, what Director of Development Strategy and Partnerships Emily Bowker calls, “critical forensic healing services” to children and families navigating abuse investigations. The Colorado Springs-based nonprofit has received funding through Ent’s Youth Endowment Series (YES) Grants since at least 2011, a partnership that has helped sustain services families never have to pay for out of pocket.
More than a check
The YES Grants program, now in its 26th year, reflects a distinctly credit union approach to community investment. Grant recipients are chosen by a volunteer panel of Ent employees from departments across the organization—but the relationship with Safe Passage runs deeper than an annual application cycle.
Multiple credit union employees have served on Safe Passage’s board over the years, including Anna DeWit, who served eight years and finished her tenure as board president. Annie Snead, Ent’s vice president of community impact and Wings Foundation executive director, currently serves as Safe Passage Board of Directors vice president. When Safe Passage launched a capital campaign to move into its current 13,000-square-foot facility five years ago, Ent (also based in Colorado Springs) provided a major grant outside of its YES program—becoming one of the nonprofit’s largest funders for the project.
“They’re just super-committed people,” Bowker said of the Ent employees she has worked with. “It seems like the credit union does a really good job taking care of their employees, and then we benefit from that in the sense that we get really quality people that come and join our board and stay committed to us and to the greater community.”
“YES Grants are one of the most meaningful ways we invest in Colorado communities,” Snead said. “Whether that looks like a student becoming the first in their family to pursue college, a child feeling safe enough to speak up, or a family finally able to focus on healing instead of survival, these grants help create the conditions for young people to thrive.”
Where the investment goes
What sets Safe Passage apart is its co-located model, the only one of its kind in Colorado. Inside its facility, the nonprofit works alongside the Colorado Springs Police Department’s child crimes unit, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, the El Paso County Department of Human Services, and UCHealth’s forensic nursing team. Children who have experienced abuse can receive a forensic interview, a medical exam, victim advocacy, crisis intervention, and mental health treatment without being shuttled between agencies.
“We want to make sure that for families, when they’re coming here, everything is provided free of charge,” Bowker said. “We don’t bill insurance for medical exams, mental health care, or any of the services provided at Safe Passage."
That commitment requires significant resources. Forensic interviews cost approximately $255 per child; medical exams cost about $1,500 each. A $5,000 YES Grant—the amount Safe Passage received in 2025—can fund roughly 20 forensic interviews or more than 30 mental health sessions for young survivors.
A quarter-century of community investment
Safe Passage is one of more than 300 Colorado nonprofits that have received YES Grants since the program launched in 2000. To date, Ent has distributed more than $2.8 million to organizations serving children through mentoring, mental health services, afterschool programs, food security initiatives, and outdoor experiences. In 2025, the credit union awarded $300,000 to 116 organizations selected from more than 300 applicants.
Ent Credit Union merged with Minnesota-based Wings Credit Union on Jan. 1, 2026, and will transition to the Wings name over time. The YES Grants program continues under the Ent brand this year, with applications for the 2026 cycle open through March 5.
The credit union difference in action
For Safe Passage, the sustained partnership reflects what distinguishes credit unions from other financial institutions: a willingness to invest time, talent, and resources into community needs that don’t generate a direct return.
“They’re investing in the future and believing in what it looks like to really support kids and families in our community,” Bowker said. “That’s what they swear they live by as far as their mission—and they play it out. They really do.”
