Denver non-profit connects teens to a more joyful life

At Colorado Circles for Change, the focus is connecting young people to their sacred self.
Because that is the mission, the organization’s leaders soon realized that this type of self-exploration and actualization wasn’t possible until the young people had the basics. And one of the most essential was food.

“We know that in our programs, our youth can’t focus on the larger goals if they don’t have access to nutritious food,” said Frida Soto, the organization's lead program manager. “So we started with snacks and then meals.”

But quickly, it became clear that working on food stability for the entire family needed to be a priority if the youth were going to get the most out of the leadership and restorative justice programs Circles for Change offered. It was then that the Healthy Hood Initiative was born.

“All of the youth the come to us are automatically offered the food program,” said Paloma Soto, the Health Hood Initiative program coordinator. “Ultimately, about 95 percent of them say yes. It has made a real difference in our ability to support families and help our other programs have the kind of impact we are hoping to see.”

Soto said the focus of the food program is to provide fresh, culturally meaningful food. Where the group does provide food that might not be as familiar to some of their families, they also provide information on the food and ideas and recipes about how that food can be cooked or substituted into more familiar dishes.

“We serve largely the Latino community. People wrongly think of that community as one monolithic block. But we as Mexicans aren’t the same as our families from El Salvador. And we don’t cook the same,” said Frida Soto.

Today, the organization works with about 40 youth and provides other supportive programs to their families. The issues they deal with are real-world and often challenging. There is a youth justice apprenticeship, opportunities to learn strategies for activism, rites of passage programs for both female and male-identified youth, advanced leadership groups for girls and restorative and transformative justice programs.

“Our goal is to connect these youth to something bigger than themselves. To let them know they are loved and have a safe place where they can trust adults to give them the dignity and respect they need,” said Frida Soto. “We can’t do that without extending the same respect and dignity to their families. Our food program helps us do that.”