After months of planning and designing with students and families, and their partners at Early Childhood Health Outdoors, The Village Institute is excited to build out their new outdoor space to play, gather, and garden!

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.

The Colorado Safe Parking Initiative (CSPI), founded two years ago by a grassroots volunteer group to address the needs of people seeking shelter in their vehicles, has hired Terrell Curtis as its first Executive Director.

Just as the Barton Institute separated amicably from the University of Denver at the beginning of 2020, Lifespan Local separated from the Barton Institute in early July 2022.

At their Leading Colorado Luncheon, Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation named Dr. Lydia Prado, Executive Director of Lifespan Local, as the 9News Leader of the Year. Voting was open to the public and more than 2,500 people participated in making the selection.

This has been an eventful summer for The Village Institute! Their summer youth program just wrapped up as the older students head back to school. Over the month of July, Little Village kids of all ages contributed to a participatory research project to help design a new outdoor play space.

As the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic persist and the moratorium on evictions ends, more people are experiencing homelessness in Metro Denver, and many of these folks are living in their vehicles while they try to get back into housing.

Commún is looking to build strength in our food and mental health programs. We are hiring for a Director of Food Programs, a Mental Health Therapist, and a part-time Data Analyst to start as soon as possible!

Southwest Denver was hit hard by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Families found themselves struggling to provide for one of life’s most basic and important needs: food. Pantries in the community saw demand increase 3-4 times.

The Colorado Safe Parking Initiative (CSPI) is the latest safe-community-space organization to join the Barton Institute under a fiscal sponsorship agreement. CSPI is a citizen-run group advocating for and providing safe parking to people living in their vehicles in Metro Denver.

In February, Lifespan Local took a huge step forward in addressing these desires. They purchased the property formerly owned by the Redeemer Lutheran Church at the corner of Dakota and Irving in the Westwood neighborhood.