June Peak News
2nd Annual Juneteenth Celebration!
June is always a fun time at Urban Peak with so much to celebrate, and this year is no different. Our staff truly went all out for our 2nd annual Juneteenth celebration at the lovely Mestizo-Curtis Park, where lead life skills managers Tamisha and Dwayne cooked up some special (and DELICIOUS) mac & cheese with collard greens and designed and printed custom shirts for everyone.
This year, some of our youth created and led the planning committee and decided on all the activities that they wanted to see at the celebration. We always appreciate insight from our youth on how we can better serve them, and their input was clearly valued, as we had a turnout of around 30 young people!
Highlights from the celebration include:
- Scrumptious soul food with four different kinds of chicken, Tamisha’s mac & cheese and collard greens, plentiful summer fruits and pie for dessert! 😋
- Gift bags featuring hygiene products, snacks and candy, Juneteenth flags and history pamphlets.
- A haircut and haircare station, where youth could get a fresh cut free of charge or pick up some handy new hair products for folks with textured hair from case manager Breanna.
- An art station with all the paint colors one might need to create their own masterpiece. Dalvin and Isis even painted art for some of the staff they’ve worked with. The importance of personal connection and building trusting relationships cannot be overstated!
- An open mic! Youth like Lloyd and Shyqwon were eager to pick up the mic and drop some sick beats on the crowd. More power to them for having the courage to stand up and rap in front of their peers.
What an awesome sunny day it was for our youth and staff to kick back, relax and celebrate Black culture and Juneteenth together as a community. We’re already excited for next year!
Peak Spotlight
This year, Urban Peak again had the honor and privilege to benefit from funds raised at the Pride party hosted by longtime friends Mike Orr and Bryan Fleming.
And they continue to outdo themselves! Last year we raised $30,000 for the youth we serve (incredible!), and this year the total climbed to over $32,000!
Since the inception of these Pride parties, Mike and Bryan have collectively raised more than $150,000 for Urban Peak youth, an astonishing sum!! Just goes to show that there are so many different ways to connect with and support Urban Peak. If you have an idea, reach out and ask us about it.
Happy Pride, Urban Peak family! You are loved and celebrated just for being you. 🏳️🌈
Thank YOU, Mike and Brian, for being the spark!
Partner Highlight
Urban Peak is lucky to partner with the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (DMNS), through which we’re able to provide unique and fun learning opportunities for the young people we serve.
Most recently, a small group of youth and staff received free admission and a meal at the museum and then took an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of some of the exhibits, led by the wonderful and extremely knowledgeable Jeff Stephenson. Jeff has worked at DMNS for over 35 years (!!) and now resides in the Education Collections department where he gets to do things like reminding young people how fun it is to learn new things!
Our youth were collecting education alongside Jeff as they marveled at a wide spectrum of science and history, from collections of diverse butterfly species to big, ancient bones. We’re so grateful to DMNS for giving our youth the opportunity to engage with science and history and, hopefully, ignite a love for learning in them. You just never know if a museum visit like this could be the thing that inspires a passion in our youth that changes the trajectory of their whole lives. It’s rather exciting, isn’t it?
A Day in the Life
Our outreach team loves to share highlights of the awesome things they’re doing every day, so here is an inside look at the kinds of connections we’re making with unhoused folks in Denver.
During an initial meeting with youth on the streets, the outreach team offers snacks and drinks, hygiene materials and a safe conversation for youth to feel more comfortable and start building that trusting relationship with Urban Peak. We can provide referrals for additional resources as well, such as for shelter, housing, behavioral health and more. But mostly, we want to create a relationship with them, human to human, and let them know that we're here and we're ready to help.
In the month of May:
- We had 43 youth contacts on the street, including 32 unduplicated youth.
- This includes five youth who had never accessed Urban Peak before!
- One youth was permanently housed!
- Two youth moved into a tiny home community.
- As a resource provider dedicated to harm reduction, we gave out more than 50 doses of Narcan to our community members to keep on hand in case of emergency overdoses.
Just a day in the life of our outreach team.
Youth Spotlight 😎
Malachi has a goal to finish his degree and start working as an engineer as quickly as possible, and he won’t stop until he achieves it. Since joining the Urban Peak family, he has taken charge of his education journey to achieve this dream. Malachi applied to Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU) and was accepted (woohoo!), completed his FAFSA application, attended orientation and will be starting at MSU in the fall as part of the Mechanical Engineering program! What’s more, he did it all while working full-time in HVAC. Incredible job!
In his free time, Malachi enjoys working out, riding his bike and cooking. His favorite food to cook (and eat) is stromboli, a kind of baked turnover with various Italian cheeses and meats stuffed inside. Yum!
