Hair Care is Self Care

What better way to celebrate April being Global Volunteer Month than with a story of how Urban Peak’s volunteers and staff came together as a community to address gaps in our resources.

When recurring volunteers Ryan and Rod came into The Spot a few weeks back to help organize our in-kind donations, Ryan noticed that most of the hair care products we’ve received are for thinner hair, even though a significant proportion of the youth we serve are Black and have thicker, textured hair. Rod’s immediate reaction was to say, “let’s do something about it!” So, he went to his poker buddies for help raising money to purchase textured hair products, and together they raised over $1,000!!

Dee and her partner Jaylen filling up their DIY hair care kits.

Bry Anderson, a case manager at The Spot, purchased supplies with Rod’s generous donation and put together an interactive hair care workshop for our youth. She taught youth and staff how textured African hair differs from European and Asian hair (generally speaking), how to take proper care of textured hair, what can happen if you don’t take care of your hair (spoiler alert: it falls out!) and much more. Of course, every person’s hair is distinct and there are all kinds of textured hair within our community, so we ended the workshop by inviting youth to grab some empty bottles and create their own unique hair care routine, finding products that suit their specific needs.

We couldn’t have hosted this invaluable workshop without volunteers like Ryan and Rod, who recognized a need and then did something about it. We love to see it!

**First Annual "Spark for our Youth" Resource Fair!**

Urban Peak was thrilled to host our first-ever youth-focused resource fair, Spark for our Youth, for young people in the Denver metro area this past. Held on Friday, April 21st at the Town Hall Collaborative, a women-owned community gathering space in SoBo (South Broadway), the collaborative event was designed to congregate resources available to youth into one space.
None of it would have been possible without the support of more than 30 community partners who also donated food, drinks and raffle prizes.
“When you walk in, there’s a sense of community here,” noted Clayton Gonzales, Urban Peak’s Director of Strategic Initiatives.

Upon arriving, youth received a starter raffle ticket and a bingo card with instructions to fill it up by visiting different resource tables. Then for every row they filled in, they got an additional raffle ticket. Midway through the fair, our partners at Art from Ashes took over the mic for a chill poetry slam. And with a little encouragement from the crowd, youths Dee and Brontaza got up on stage to share their truths.
The raffle featured exciting prizes like a signed Broncos football, a signed Avs hockey stick, camping gear, an art set, gift certificates and more! Unsurprisingly, youth like Jack were THRILLED to win such cool prizes.
The event was a smashing success, thanks in no small part to the generosity and support of our amazing community partners. We can’t wait for the next one!

Peak Spotlight

New to Urban Peak this month: youth cooking groups!

“Cooking is community,” explained Manon Nadeau, Urban Peak’s social emotional coordinator. “Cooking brings people together. It’s something that, whether you like to be the chef or you like to eat, or both, it’s something that joins all of us.”

It was for these reasons that Manon initially envisioned starting a cooking group together with our youth. Youth would run the show, cooking and serving to their friends, and just having a good time together!

Though it’s a new program, Manon has already seen enthusiasm among the completely different groups of youth who've shown up each week. The first week, she was understandably nervous, wondering if anyone would even be interested. Thankfully, “Titus came in… Titus dreams of having a food truck of his own someday. He has a name for it, he has a plan, he has ideas. We had this whole conversation about that, and then he completely took control. He knows his way around a kitchen in a nuanced way that I just don’t," Manon shared.

Titus and his helpers spent the next two hours meticulously sautéing portions of frozen chicken for everyone at The Spot to munch on that night. “It was a real labor of love,” Manon observed. And when it came time to serve the chicken, watching our youth interact with each other was “beautiful,” in her words. “I’ve seen it spark some new friendships too!”

She recounted an instance when one youth came to the kitchen and excitedly asked, “who seasoned this? Who seasoned this?” David, who had cooked that night, was proud to share that he did. “They dabbed each other up,” (something the kids do), “and now they chitchat whenever I see them. And they’re two people who never talked before!”

With the massive success of these groups at The Spot, Manon is looking to expand into our housing sites as well. The groups will be a bit more flexible and unstructured at housing since those youth are “on their independence flow,” as she described it. “Catering to the needs of different spaces.”

“I would say the cooking often isn’t even the highlight,” Manon explained. “It’s getting to share some private time in a very hectic environment. It’s just a nice, communal moment.”

Partner Highlight

Urban Peak was thrilled to partner with Ben & Jerry’s as part of their annual Free Cone Day.

Initially envisioned as a means of thanking the Burlington, VT community for their support during Ben & Jerry’s first year of business in 1979, Free Cone Day has since grown into a global celebration of ice cream and community.

Urban Peak and Ben & Jerry's staff had a blast on Free Cone Day!

This year, all donations made at the Ben & Jerry’s in Denver were donated directly to our programs! At the end of the day, we had raised over $1,000 for our youth through donations large and small from more than 75 members of this generous community!

Urban Peak staff and youth like Nyx, Noah, August and Izzy had such a blast volunteering as ice cream scoopers alongside Ben & Jerry’s wonderful staff and WOW, what a wrist workout! Meanwhile, folks waiting in line outside the door had the chance for some fun fake tattoos and face painting courtesy of staff. It was a huge hit with the kiddos. 😊

We’re so grateful to Ben & Jerry’s for welcoming us into their space and for such a fun day of tasty ice cream and community togetherness. We’ll certainly be back!

Youth Spotlight

Meet Oscar! He is very hard-working, motivated and driven by his education and employment goals.

He is passionate and goes for what he wants. One day he walked up to his case manager Gabby and said, “I am looking for a job today, AND I will get a job today.” Lo and behold, later that day he was happy to share that he got a job with a local construction company!
In addition to his new job, he is also planning to start at the Community College of Denver this fall where he’ll be studying business administration.
Oscar is kind and respectful to everyone he meets and has become an integral part of the Urban Peak family in the short time he’s been with us. We’re so excited to see where he goes next!

Thanks to you, we're able to provide Oscar with resources to exit homelessness and create a self-determined, fulfilled life. Will you help us support youth like him with a donation of $20?

I Will Help!