Hide in Plain Sight/Youth homelessness
Joe Roos began Hide in Plain Sight, also known as HIPS, with aspirations of eradicating student homelessness, starting in Douglas County. The nonprofit’s central mission is to help students young and old through scholarships and emergency financial assistance.
He wants kids to attend college or trade schools after high school. He doesn’t want students of any age to miss out on field trips, extracurricular activities or be unable to participate in athletics because they can’t afford to. Although he’s still serving Douglas County, Roos’ organization has since expanded into a statewide program generating tens of thousands of dollars in higher-education scholarships and additional programming for at-risk students in grades K-12.
Joe Roos’ Bio
Born and raised in Buffalo, NY, I have been married to his wife Mary for 43 years and we have raised 4 children and have 2 grand kids.
I have had three careers; the first with the IBM Corp. for nearly 17 years in upstate NY. The second, since 1995, in the non-profit world in several executive management positions. My third career began in February of 2015 as I founded and am currently the Executive Director for Hide In Plain Sight.
As a volunteer I have served as the president of the Board of Directors for Angel Eyes, formerly the Colorado SIDS organization and the Castle Pines Chamber of Commerce. I also have served as a Board of Director for the Douglas County Community Foundation and on the Scholarship Committee of the Parker Chamber of Commerce. I have been a member of the Highlands Ranch Rotary Club since April of 2012.