Education remains a crucial route for advancing youth furthest from opportunity, and enrichment programs outside traditional classroom settings can also significantly impact short and long-term outcomes. Rose Community Foundation recently awarded $525,000 to 19 organizations providing youth programs and services outside of the classroom. These organizations aim to enhance community safety and belonging for young people, while providing academic enrichment and programs that connect youth to career pathways. These nonprofits are also intentionally engaging diverse communities, providing historically underserved populations with safe spaces to explore, learn, and grow both inside and outside of school settings.
One grantee, Homies Unidos Denver, is dedicated to ending violence and promoting peace in the community through gang prevention and intervention, advocating for human rights in immigrant communities, and empowering youth and families to reach their full potential in a just, safe, and healthy society. They provide year-round character development training, healing circles, one-on-one mentoring, recreational activities and social outings to youth aged 10-24.
“By encouraging open dialogue and understanding, we help young people build resilience and strengthen their relationships, creating a foundation for violence prevention and positive community engagement,” says Gerardo Lopez, executive director of Homies Unidos Denver. “With support from Rose Community Foundation, our work continues to grow and make a profound impact in our community, enabling us to reach more youth and enhance our programs.”
In Lak’ech Denver Arts, another grantee, is a free after school program that works to improve access to community responsive arts education for BIPOC youth. Through their curriculum, students develop skills in drama, dance, music and the visual arts, while learning to use the arts as a tool for expanding social awareness.
“Creating cross cultural connections inspires them, and others, to engage in positive social advocacy within their communities and beyond,” says Marianna Lucero, executive director of In Lak’ech Denver Arts. “This grant enabled us to purchase new instruments and trajes (costumes) for our youth mariachi program, dresses, hair dresses and shoes for our folklorico dance program and supplies for our weekly visual art classes. These resources support our instructors in delivering high quality lessons and also help our students engage more fully with the curriculum.”
Gold Crown Foundation, a new grantee to the Foundation, offers a Career Pathways Program that allows youth to specialize in a specific area of technology. The program helps them develop workforce readiness skills and gain real world experience through paid internship placements.
“The goal is to give each participant the agency to choose their own future, the experience to see new possibilities and skills to set and achieve goals on the path to success,” says Fran Baker, impacts director of Gold Crown Foundation.
Colorado Association of Black Professional Engineers and Scientists (CABPES) is another organization dedicated to encouraging underrepresented youth to pursue science, technology, engineering and math careers.
“Our partnership has enabled us to introduce thousands of underrepresented minority students to STEM education and careers,” says Dewey Brigham, executive director and president. “95 percent of our graduating seniors pursue higher education with 75 percent choosing STEM disciplines. Notably, 50 percent of these future engineers and scientists are female. These monumental strides would not have been possible without community support.”
The full list of 2024 out of school time grantees is available below:
Apprentice of Peace Youth Organization
Boys & Girls Club of Metro Denver
Colorado Association of Black Professional Engineers and Scientists
Moyo Nguyu Cultural Arts Center
In Lak'ech Denver Arts
