Program to teach, take care of migrant children in Denver expanding to serve even more ages
Inside a gymnasium in Denver's Cole neighborhood you can find new migrant children moving, shaking and learning for the first time as new residents in Colorado.
"You see, [and] you hear the children laugh," said Yoli Casas. "The first day they come they're quite, and all of a sudden they start speaking to you in English."
Casas is the executive director of ViVe Wellness, a nonprofit that has been collaborating with the city and other nonprofits to help Venezuelan families get the resources they need as the ongoing migrant crisis continues.
"We've housed over 2,800, almost 3,000 people between December and January and August," she said.
Nearly a year ago, the nonprofit started an after-school program for migrant children.
"Started teaching English as a second language, mental health," she said. "Physical activity, mindfulness, music, [and] art."
The program serves as a place where migrant children five and older can come during the day instead of staying all day inside a shelter.
"The children are here probably max five weeks because that's how long they can stay at the shelter, so it's a rotation," said Casas, who also says there is currently a waitlist for those wishing to add their children to the program.
The hope is it gives migrant parents more time during the day to search for jobs and housing, while the program also helps get these children ready for schooling and placing them in the Denver Public Schools system.
"We probably ended up enrolling about 182 students. Even one graduated from high school, from East High School. So it's beautiful," she said.
The program has fluctuated in size throughout the migrant crisis, starting with only a couple dozen, but sometimes has surpassed more than 120 kids at a time.
"Today, we have 78," said Lilamar Barroso, who is a coordinator with the migrant program through ViVe Wellness.
"We have tripled in staff and now," said Casas. "Currently looking [for more] because the numbers keep going up, and as long as we have space and we have capacity, we will help."
ViVe Wellness is not a licensed daycare, which has put constraints on the age range of children they are able to host through this after-school program. However, they have been searching for months or a way to support roughly 80 children ages 2 and a half through 4 who currently live in migrant shelters.
"Parents are ready to go. They have children ready to go," said Casa. "And that's taken a while but it's finally happening."
ViVe wellness has partnered with a preschool academy to now be able to take care and provide schooling to younger migrants for free, starting with 21 kids.
"Tomorrow is the first day that we'll have another bus driver that's going to come into the shelters at 7 in the morning to pick up those kids that are 3 and 4 years old," said Casas.
Casas believes this will give even more families time to search for opportunities to continue to thrive in the Denver region.
"It's an early education. They'll get schooling," said Casa. "But, it will also allow those parents to work because we've had in the past parents, single parents with little kids who have not had the opportunity to work."
More importantly, it gives an even greater number of migrant kids the chance to simply be kids.
"What I love is just the smile that they give me every time, they enjoy so much," said Barroso.
