February Peak News
Youth Spotlight
Josiah is a wonderful human with a bright smile that lights up the whole room and a wicked sense of humor that will keep you laughing until your stomach hurts. He is known around Urban Peak for his impeccable dress and is always wearing a trendy suit and tie.
Josiah first came to Denver from Uganda back in 2021, when he connected with our team at the shelter. Since then, he has been steadily working with our programs to reach his goals and recently he successfully obtained his GED! Additionally, he received a housing voucher just a few months ago with help from our partners at WellPower, and he’s already settled in. He still pops by The Spot to say hello to friends.
Josiah shared what lights the fire in his soul: making other people’s days and making folks smile. 😊 He describes himself as “determined, serious and faithful to my religion,” and noted that his faith is what keeps him going. He can often be found in church, expressing his love of humanity through the power of song. We’re excited to see where this next chapter takes you, Josiah!
How Urban Peak Youth become Legends
Legends, a major vendor at Ball Arena, recently kicked off a partnership with us by hosting a job fair on the floor of the arena that was exclusively for Urban Peak youth. With over 100 positions in warehouse, culinary, concessions and hospitality at Ball Arena, Legends provided a great opportunity!
Youth met up for food and drinks then moved to the floor to participate in interviews with various Legends staff. Of the 13 youth who attended the fair, 10 of them received offer letters on the spot, including Josiah (pictured above)! Since then, several youth have started their new jobs or the onboarding process. Can you say ballers? 😎🏀
It's been an amazing start to our partnership with Legends and we’re super excited for what's to come!
peak spotlight
For a few hours each week, Urban Peak life skills managers Julia and Debbie take a group of youth to RedLine Contemporary Art Center in Five Points. These trips offer a peaceful and quiet reprieve from their often-unpredictable day-to-day lives, where they can relax and just enjoy the art.
For Black History Month in February, many of the creative works throughout the exhibition were created by Black artists or featured depictions of Black culture and people. One particularly striking work of art by local Denver artist Vinni Alfonso featured two humans wrapped in an embrace. Marcus (pictured) went up close for a better look, paused for a quiet moment of contemplation and soaked it all in.
The many offshoot rooms around RedLine’s main exhibit hall often showcase artists as they are working. It’s a great pleasure to be able to ask an artist directly about their work while it’s on exhibit.
Later, everyone stopped by the community studio for some freestyle artmaking. Julia shared that “it is such a joy to come here every week to see our youth explore themselves and their incredible talents,” through the plentiful creative mediums available at RedLine’s studio.
In the corner of the room, a stunning portrait painting of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (made by artist and RedLine board member Thomas "Detour" Evans) watched over the artists, reminding us of just how much we can accomplish when we come together as a community.
partner highlight
This month, a group of our youth and staff are visiting the Sie FilmCenter for a fun and educational outing, where they will be seeing two movies with connections to Black History Month that also touch upon the intersection of race and LGBTQ+ history. One is the modern biopic Rustin (2023), which chronicles the life of noted gay civil rights activist Bayard Rustin who worked closely with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and was the principal organizer of the 1963 March on Washington. The second is the 1990 film Paris is Burning, which depicts the ball culture of New York City in the 1980’s and the Black and Latino LGBTQ+ people who pioneered it.
Thank you to the Sie family, Denver Film and the FilmCenter itself for offering heavily-discounted tickets and providing a space for our youth to experience art and history in an easily digestible format that simultaneously encourages critical thinking. We’ll definitely be back!
📸 Courtesy of the Denver Film Society and 5280 Magazine
Dance Your Heart Out!
For Valentine’s Day this year, staff at The Spot put together a dance for our youth to celebrate love, solitude or whatever emotion they’re vibing with. Activities during the dance included a dance-off (no brainer), karaoke (the highlight of every party), a photo opp (just like prom!) and prizes for the winners. Our youth clearly enjoyed themselves as they flocked to get their pictures taken after battling it out on the dance floor. The competition was fierce, but friendly.
Whether you’re single or partnered, Valentine’s is a great day to reflect on the love in our lives, from wherever it may come. We hope your Valentine’s Day was exactly what you wanted it to be! ❤️
The Mothership and Trauma-Informed Design
We’re approximately five months away from the grand opening of The Mothership, a vibrant and thriving four-story campus that will transform how Urban Peak works with youth experiencing homelessness.
The Mothership is intentionally designed to address youths' emerging needs as they move from finding stability to building independent living skills and breaking out of the system of subsidized housing. And we know that this project must innovate beyond what is already being done because the needs of youth are different than adults who experience homelessness.
With Urban Peak's 35 years of expertise in this field and with input from youth, staff, community leaders, neighbors, funders and elected officials, The Mothership is truly a community project. And the backbone of this project is based in the emerging field of trauma-informed design.
Our partners at Shopworks Architecture are pioneers in this field and have emerged as national leaders in developing affordable housing created with the principles of trauma-informed design. After conducting extensive research and hundreds of hours of interviews with Urban Peak youth and staff, they and their collaborators produced a report detailing the critical impact of this work.
Trauma-informed design creates spaces that act as the first step in healing. Its core principles emphasize creating a feeling of safety, which is accomplished through the three C’s: comfort, connection and choice.
With feedback from our youth and staff, Urban Peak identified four design features that are critical to fostering these feelings:
Abundant natural light
Large and flexible amenity spaces
Access to dedicated healing spaces
Safe and secure outdoor areas
The presence of abundant natural light is at the core of The Mothership's design through the light court, an open space in the center of the building with windows that reach up through all four floors, topped by an enormous skylight. It was specifically included to provide natural light no matter where in the building you are, to help it feel more like a home and not an institution.
One youth stated, “I know people say they want to be alone – nobody ever truly wants to be alone!” To allow for more opportunities for connection with their peers, communal spaces are open to youth on all floors. The Mothership's outdoor spaces, two terraces and a large courtyard, will feature explicit and highly visible safety measures to ensure that our youth know they're always safe.
Through intentional trauma-informed design, we are creating spaces where youth will feel valued, nurtured, housed and supported so that they can break the cycle of homelessness. If you’re interested in learning more, check out the full report!
The Mothership's grand opening is just around the corner, and we need your help to support this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Will you commit to becoming a recurring donor for $15 per month and help us prepare for the big move?
