December Peak News
Youth Spotlight
Meet Max, a former youth at Urban Peak who successfully exited our programs and is now thriving in a life he created for himself. If you’ve been with us for a while, you might recognize him as one of the featured youth in our 2018 Impact Report, just before he moved on to start his own journey.
After a difficult childhood that included a traumatic brain injury, Max had a hard time controlling his anger as an adolescent. He frequently got into fights, struggled to stay sober and reached a point where sleeping outdoors was easier than navigating the relationships with friends and family who could provide housing. He found his way to Urban Peak after too many nights sleeping at a park in Littleton.
Max spent two years at Urban Peak’s shelter, learning life skills and figuring out how to cope with his disability. He had consistent support from his case manager, Katie, whom he credits with saving his life. “Something switched for me,” he recently recalled. “Start fighting for what you want.”
Though his road to stability was rocky at times, Max was able to move from Urban Peak’s shelter to an apartment at Rowan Gardens and, ultimately, a place of his own and a janitorial job that he enjoys. He also sits on the Bayaud Enterprises Community Advisory Council, through which he and others provide feedback and direction to their employers at Bayaud from a participant’s perspective.
Max periodically returns to Urban Peak to joke with his case managers and share his success. He even has his eyes on the CEO position one day! Dream big, Max, anything is possible.
It’s not too late – you can still #BeTheSpark for our youth by donating today. Your kindness and support directly impact the lives of thousands of youth in our community who have confronted homelessness, empowering them toward self-sufficiency and independence.
Will you help more youth like Max by committing to a recurring gift of $15 today?
If you have already donated, thank you so much. Together, we can ensure that all Colorado youth have access to safe housing, supportive relationships and the opportunity for self-sufficiency and success.
Peak Spotlight
From left to right: Simmy, Ray, Cece, Sequoia, Noor, [Anonymous] and Destiny
Over the past few months, seven of our youth (their names in photo caption above) have completed a personalized CU Denver course taught every Monday at The Spot. As part of this course, a professional photographer took portraits of youth with items of significant meaning in their lives. These portraits are on display in their own exhibit on the third floor of the Denver Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA). The exhibition will last through February if you want to check it out!
The artist of the “Unheard Resilience” exhibit stated, “These are photos of young, unbreakable spirits who are overcoming homelessness in Denver. Taking it day by day, these young people are experiencing hard times, but they’re not all hard times. Every individual in this class was given the task of choosing one object that represented a part of their story. What we find is vibrant joy, exuding confidence and hope for the future. Through this class, we have found community, new perspectives, stories, friendship and love in unexpected places. This project is a photo collaboration between Urban Peak, CU Denver, Pathways2Teaching and MCA Denver Teen Programs.”
Thank you to everyone who came out to the exhibition’s opening night! We are so grateful, not only for the support of this awesome community and our partners at MCA and CU Denver, but also to our youth for their willingness to be brave and vulnerable in sharing their stories of resilience.
Partner Highlight
With the recent influx of migrants in Denver, Urban Peak has welcomed an increasing number of Spanish speakers to our shelter and drop-in center. To provide the best support possible, we are partnering with Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network (RMIAN), an organization that provides free legal and social services to immigrant children and adults in immigration detention and the community.
The RMIAN Social Service Project (SSP) team came to Urban Peak earlier this month and was able to identify youth that would benefit from the services SSP provides, such as helping to identify sponsors, connecting to adequate medical and mental health care, and providing case management services. We are also excited to be collaborating with the SSP team to facilitate groups and workshops in Spanish for our non-native youth starting in February 2024.
RMIAN Children’s Program staff held a Know Your Rights presentation for our immigrant youth to help them understand the immigration legal process and the types of immigration relief available. They were able to conduct legal screenings for several of our youth to provide individual legal support as they navigate a very complicated system.
RMIAN has been an incredible support for the Spanish-speaking clients and staff at Urban Peak and we are grateful for the continued collaboration!
Happy Holidays from Urban Peak Staff, Youth and Supporters!
On the eve of this year’s Winter Solstice, Urban Peak youth and staff gathered at The Spot to celebrate the season for our 2nd annual “Spot Solstice/All Holiday/Bah Hum Bug Party.” Thanks to the support of volunteers from PureSky Energy, corporations and community partners both large and small, individual donors and the tireless efforts of our staff, we were able to provide an entire room’s worth of holiday gifts for youth to choose from!
Pictured: August and Jaylen are swamped with gifts!
They chose from a selection of nice winter jackets and backpacks (with goodies inside), as well as one item from several different categories such as hygiene, skin/haircare, art and writing, games, miscellaneous fun toys (like Funko Pop) and of course, tasty treats. Throw in some hot chocolate, gingerbread house building and cookie decorating, and we’ve got a very festive and fun sendoff to the end of the year!
Celebrating 25 Years of Care!
Dr. Jenni Burns has devoted her career to providing compassionate and comprehensive medical care to underserved communities. For the past 25 years (!!), she has generously volunteered her time and expertise as a clinician for our youth out of the Urban Peak medical clinic.
Her philosophy is building partnerships between youth, medical providers and community organizations to serve the overall well-being of our youth, especially those with complex health care needs. Dr. Burns has worked for the last 25 years as a pediatrician at Every Child Pediatrics, a nonprofit pediatric practice that serves more than 20,000 underserved children across Colorado.
Dr. Burns earned her medical degree at Ohio State University's School of Medicine. She completed her pediatric residency and received additional training in Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the Children's Hospital in Denver. In addition to English, she speaks Spanish at a medical level to help provide care for the increasing number of migrant youth Urban Peak is seeing across our services. Dr. Burns is married with three children and loves hiking, tennis, reading, and traveling.
"Serving the homeless youth of Denver has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. I am honored and humbled to be part of a team dedicated to improving the lives of this vulnerable population.”
Pictured: Dr. Burns and youth Colby pose with her new plaque
