Commún Builds Mental Health, Food Systems in Southwest Denver

Commún is bustling in the month of May. Their mental health team is half-way through a weekly mental health group for teens, focusing on exposure to different types of mental health supports and working with teens to develop a mental health program for youth. This summer, Commún will hire ten young people to work for nine months to design, pilot, and carry out the program, which will be open to teens across Southwest Denver.

Meanwhile, Commún’s food program is developing from a responsive food bank that sprung up during the pandemic to a community hub for trainings, program design, and collective decision making. In addition to trainings on computer basics and ecological design, Commún is in the process of leading a paid four-week diversity, equity, and inclusion training for volunteers and community members. So far this year, their team of volunteers worked together to create a new weather policy, a conflict resolution policy, and to promote two long-time volunteers to lead the food share.

As summer arrives, Commún’s garden program is taking off. Led by a participant in the program last year, this integral part of their food sovereignty program is providing land, water, seeds, soil, and starts for 22 gardeners and their families this summer.