May Peak News
Youths Genelle and Justin pose with Hannah and Celeste
Cool for the Summer
What are some fun and delicious ways to be creative, express yourself and keep cool as we head toward summer? Urban Peak’s peer navigator Celeste and life skills manager Hannah took this question and ran with it, recently hosting an ice cream-making and decorating party with youth at our supportive housing units!
“Hannah and I were not surprised at how creative our youth got with decorating their masterpieces,” Celeste shared. “Picasso, we LOVE IT!”
We hope everyone can find inventive and entertaining ways to come together and keep hydrated as the temperature steadily increases. Stay cool, Urban Peakers. 😎
Nigel Daniels is Ready to Change the World
Nigel Daniels, Urban Peak board member and the commencement speaker at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law's recent graduation ceremony, has been politically and socially active in Denver for most of his life. As he grew up, his family often had to rely on the state for health care and legal support, and through interactions with his family’s lawyer, he learned about the powerful advocacy the legal profession can provide.
After majoring in public policy and government at CSU, he joined U.S. Senator Michael Bennet’s 2016 reelection campaign. While working to coordinate student outreach with Sen. Bennet, he planned a campaign event at the Auraria campus that caught the attention of Denver’s Mayor Michael Hancock, for whom he now serves as senior advisor.
As a law student at the University of Denver during the COVID-19 pandemic and the height of the Black Lives Matter protests, Nigel witnessed firsthand all the ways in which the legal system failed to support the most vulnerable in our community. Consequently, one of his proudest achievements at DU was working with the Black Law Student Association and other student affinity groups to further diversity, equity and inclusivity.
“My classmate wrote this three-page letter about everything wrong with the system and just sent it. The response we got from the campus was amazing. From that letter, we were able to come together — all of us, not just the Black law students — and force a dean to meet with us monthly. We were able to set benchmarks for diversity and equity, for scholarships and recruitment.”
Now that he’s graduated, Nigel will join Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck in Denver, specializing in government affairs as it relates to land use and real estate, two areas that greatly affect low-income Coloradans.
Check out the full story on DU's website. Congratulations, Nigel, we’re excited to continue working with you to advance racial and economic justice in Colorado!
Peak Spotlight
Urban Peak’s music studio, located at the Drop-In Center, has been getting a lot of use since it opened six months ago. Our youth love making music that reflects their unique voices and experiences, and the healing power that comes with taking control of their own narrative.
Naturally, it was important to make sure the studio’s physical space matched the diversity and resilience that our youth bring with them into each creative session. To accomplish this, our longtime partner Owen Kortz, professor at University of Colorado Denver, connected us with CU Denver visual arts lecturer Abby Gregg to help facilitate the creation of a new mural in collaboration with our youth.
“The goal of the project was to add vibrance to the space, to capture the expressive energy of the music studio made up of Urban Peak youths’ authentic voices,” Abby shared. To do this, Abby provided youth like Ivan with a prompt “to listen to some of their favorite music and draw and paint based on how they feel.”
Ivan chose to listen to music that he himself had created in the music studio (cheeky, we love it!), and his painting (pictured below) reflects his cultural heritage and pride in his home country of Kenya. He had moved from Kenya to Texas at the age of 12, and shared how difficult it was initially to fit in with his peers, especially since he didn’t know English yet. Trying to bridge this cultural gap in his artwork, Ivan plastered the phrase “Habari” across the front, a common informal greeting that literally translates to “any news?” in Swahili.
Ivan’s piece and others were pasted onto the wall of the music studio and used as inspiration for the rest of the mural. Abby explained how the dynamic linework, symbolism and unique visual language that wraps through the major parts of the composition evokes feelings of vibrancy, community and fearless authenticity.
We are thrilled with how the new mural reflects our youths’ backgrounds and accentuates the music studio’s vibe! It would not have been possible without the support of Owen, Abby and the CU Denver College of Arts and Media. Check out more of Abby’s work and be sure to stop by the studio next time you’re in the area!
Partner Highlight
Amazon and Urban Peak's partnership is relatively new, but it feels like much longer with how they've jumped right into supporting our work across all levels.
Not only is Amazon a big financial donor to our cause and a sponsor for our upcoming fundraiser Urban Nights, but a number of Amazon employees consistently show up to donate, prepare and serve meals at our Shelter several times a month.
Most recently, Amazon employees gathered together at several of our housing sites on Earth Day to help out with some much-needed landscaping and gardening. Their hard work is deeply appreciated as it really brightens up our physical spaces and because our youth deserve to live and thrive surrounded by nature’s beauty.
Amazon employees hard at work planting new greenery at our housing units
Finally, it wouldn’t be an Amazon highlight if we didn’t shout out the absolutely essential way that Amazon supports us and allows all of you to directly support our work here at Urban Peak: our needs wishlist! Right now, we have an urgent need for new mattresses, microwaves, TVs and slow cookers, and through our Amazon wishlist, you can purchase these items to be delivered right to our front door!
Whether they’re financially supporting our programs, directly working with our youth or giving us a platform to be able to easily purchase necessary supplies, Amazon and its employees consistently show up for Urban Peak and prove that you can always find ways to step up and serve your community.
Housing What Now?
Urban Peak’s housing programs can be complicated, so we sat down with assistant housing supervisors Molly and Marita to take a deep dive into how things work at Rox’s Place, our home for pregnant and parenting youth.
Molly works primarily with youth in the stipend program, a program within the Department of Human Services (DHS) that provides a monthly stipend to youth ages 16 to 20 who are working toward financial independence. After paying rent each month, youth are free to use their stipend however they see fit. Many choose to “live off their stipend funds,” Molly explained, “and they’ll save up all the money they earn at their jobs to use as a foundation when they move out on their own.”
Photo by Evan Semon
Marita works with youth benefitting from the project-based voucher (PBV) program, a program within the Department of Local Affairs (DOLA). Rox’s Place has 10 units set aside for youth who qualify for PBV, all of whom will have had interactions with foster care services at some point as well as some form of disability.
A lot of the challenge of their work, especially with youth coming from foster care, involves a lack of life skills. “Nobody knows what [youth] have already been taught, they don’t get the chance to have sleepovers or do normal teenage things, and then they’re expected to move into an apartment”, Molly said, “but they don’t know the first thing about how to go from day to day.”
But through these programs, youth tend to stay at Rox’s Place for a year or more, which allows our staff to get to know them as individuals and tailor their support to match youths’ specific needs.
“It’s very rewarding, seeing the progress they make from starting here at Rox’s, then seeing them make their own way [in the world]”, Marita said.
“I think the relationship part is the best part of working with them,” Molly added. “It’s getting to know them and teaching them to advocate for themselves and watching them grow, being able to see all their eccentricities and just learning about these really great humans we work with.”
Congresswoman Diana DeGette Requests $40 Million for Denver Projects in FY23
Congresswoman Diana DeGette continually shows up for our youth as a strong ally and fierce advocate for the Denver community, particularly those with the greatest need. Rep. DeGette recently submitted funding requests to the House Appropriations Committee for 15 Denver-area projects “designed to make more affordable housing, food and essential health services available to those in need,” as part of the federal government’s FY 2023 spending bill.
Congresswoman Diana DeGette speaks at a press conference announcing funding for Urban Peak's new shelter. Photo by Evan Semon
Included in the bill is a request for Urban Peak to receive over $400,000 to ensure that we can provide continued, uninterrupted support services to our youth at the Drop-In Center, the second floor of which is becoming our temporary shelter for youth ages 18 and over during the construction of our new facility capital project. This comes on top of the $3 million that Rep. DeGette already helped to secure in 2022 for the construction of Urban Peak’s new youth shelter!
Read more about the life-saving projects that Rep. DeGette is advocating for in this upcoming fiscal year, and remember that no matter the method or size, our Urban Peak family is thankful to have such a strong foundation of support at all levels.
Youth Spotlight
Zach is an amazing peer and a great role model at the Shelter, not to mention that he has dope pink hair that lights up every space he’s in! He recently got a job at Lil Coffea Shop and is doing great so far. He’s also working on getting back into school and recently had a blast while attending prom.
Beyond expanding his horizons at work and trying to enroll back in school (as if that weren’t enough!), Zach’s main focus right now is to get into housing and create a more self-supported life for himself.
Fun fact: ask him about fashion and makeup to light up his eyes the same shade as his hair!
