For decades, Sr. Sen Nguyen has turned a fractured refugee journey into a Denver life rooted in faith, art, and service. Now 70, the Sisters of St. Francis member is preparing to step back from the nonprofit she founded while returning to the studio and possibly making one more work about the mother she once feared was dead. It is a quieter next chapter, but hardly a small one.
Nguyen lives in Denver and remains a member of the Sisters of St. Francis at Marycrest. A recent Colorado Public Radio profile reports that she plans to leave Bridging Hope by the end of 2026 and return to her art studio, while the nonprofit continues funding projects for underserved people in Vietnam.
Her Denver story also came full circle this spring. Regis University selected Nguyen as an honorary doctorate recipient and undergraduate commencement speaker after she graduated from the school in 1989 and later founded Bridging Hope in 2007.
From Saigon To A Denver Reunion
Nguyen was a teenager in Vietnam when war separated her from Tin, her mother, and the only other member of her immediate family. She became stranded in Saigon after a bridge was bombed while she was seeking food and supplies, and for years she believed her mother had died…