Empowering our Tomorrow Breakfast

On May 26, 2010, nearly 800 people packed the ballroom and it was clear that people were there because they care deeply about our kids and our community.  We raised nearly $230,000 in cash and pledges to serve current students in our program as well as to begin to address students who are on our wait list.  Over $80,000 was raised for this year and 25 individuals and organizations joined the Investing in Our Future Giving Circle guaranteeing over $145,000 over the next five years and our ability to provide life-changing programs well into the future for our students. 

We have over 100 children who qualify for our program but cannot participate because there are currently not enough counselors to serve these kids.  Because of the incredible success of the breakfast and your personal support, as well as the $50,000 Challenge Grant from the Anschutz Foundation, we expect that we will be able to hire one additional counselor to serve 50 of these students.  In addition, over 100 attendees have expressed interest in getting involved in Denver Kids, Inc. through our mentor and volunteer opportunities. 

Below are the inspiring words of Christina Mijares, one of the breakfast's speakers and a Denver Kids, Inc. graduate and current mentor.

Thanks Janay! I really appreciate seeing your wonderful smile today.

Good morning – my name is Christina Mijares and I would like to share with you my story – and how I come to stand in front of you today. Before I start, I want to say hello to my 13 yr old niece Mariah-who is here to support me today.

Denver Kids came into my life when I was a freshman at Abraham Lincoln High School.  My sister, Cynthia, was in Denver Kids and I would see her Denver Kids Counselor, Denise, picking her up at school and taking her out to  lunch.  At first, that’s what I thought Denver Kids was all about and I remember being jealous - telling my mom that I wanted to be in Denver Kids too.  Little did I know that Denver Kids was about way more than hanging out with my counselor and having fun – now 11 years later I am able to see how that one decision totally changed the story of my life.

Even though Denver Kids doesn’t usually take students once they are in high school, I was lucky enough to get accepted into the program at the beginning of my sophomore year. What was important to me about becoming a part of Denver Kids was the additional adult role model that I got in my counselor, Denise.  I really needed that kind of support in my life. 

From the outside, it might have appeared that I was heading down a good path – for example, I was taking part in the Daniels Fund College Prep Program therefore going in what seemed to be the right direction. But I felt like I was just going through the motions.  The one thing that was really missing in my life was support and acknowledgment that I was doing the right thing and Denver Kids played that role. You see during high school, my relationship with my mom was not the best – it was so bad that we lived in same house but did not talk to each other for over a year.  What my counselor, Denise did for me, was help me realize that I could break the negative cycles I saw going on around me from teenage pregnancy, gangs, to high school drop-outs.  She showed me that I could write my own story and she helped by empowering me to create a great life for myself.

Denver Kids held me accountable for my grades, my attendance and my overall behavior inside and outside of school.  When Denise came into my life it helped open my eyes to the possibilities that were out there if I graduated from high school and went on to college. I graduated from Lincoln High School in 2003 and am happy to say was a recipient of the Daniels Fund Scholarship and was also a Rotary High School Scholar.

In the spring of 2004, I started classes at Colorado State University with the hopes of obtaining a degree in Geology.  I took a few classes in that field and realized that I hated math with a passion and would rather be lost in dreams of discovering volcanoes than study math and physics.  I then started the adventure of exploring majors and finally landed in Social Work. I remember during my breaks from school I would run into Denise when she was seeing my little sister and my niece, both of whom are in the Denver Kids program. I remember enjoying talking to Denise about my college experience because I could sense that she was truly happy for me.  Denise always stuck in my mind as someone I couldn’t wait to share my adventures of “The Fort” also known as CSU.  I can’t help but think that seeing Denise’s work with my family was what got me thinking about the field of social work.

While in college I took full advantage of the experience and learned from those around me.  I joined Pi Lambda Chi Latina Sorority whose mission statement is basically to support women, preserve Latina/o culture and history and promote education and community service in the Latina/o communities.  I am still active in the sorority as Alumni and enjoy watching my sorority sisters in their journey to fulfill the mission.

In December 2007, I graduated from CSU with a degree in Social Work and a minor in Ethnic Studies.  I was the first person in my entire family to graduate from college!

After graduation, I took a job at Urban Peak here in Denver. It is an emergency shelter for youth between the ages of 15 to 21 and I am a Direct Care Counselor.   In my work at Urban Peak, I have seen firsthand how having a positive adult role model and having education in one’s life can help you go a long way.  At the shelter, I see youth that have not had the support of an interested adult and know if they just would have received it at an earlier age that they most likely would not be in the situation that they are now. I am mindful everyday of having a smile on my face for the youth I work with, knowing that I might be the only person that smiles at them all day.  Just like Denise did for me.  I feel so fortunate to be a part of their journey to success.

I love my work because I get to show youth and especially females that they can make it with hard work and it doesn’t matter where you come from. 

The fact that I can help open doors by role modeling to the youth at Urban Peak is amazing and just makes me smile a little bit inside. 

But I haven’t talked to you yet about the primary reason I was asked to speak with you today.  Two years ago I decided to re-pay Denver Kids for all they have done for me and become a mentor.  Why did I decide to become a Denver Kids Mentor? 

One day when my niece Mariah was in 4th grade, she wrote an essay about her role model and at first, I thought she was writing about her mother and actually I found she was talking about me.  I remember asking why and she stated, “why not? - I love you and you have done so much for me”. I was shocked to hear those words from my niece and it gave me that little extra push to give back to Denver Kids. 

I grew up in a single parent home, my mom struggled to make ends meet raising 6 kids on her own.  I have family members who are incarcerated because of gangs and I have way too many friends and family members who had babies when they were in high school.  I know what it is like, first hand, to grow up in a community where dropping out of high school is normal.

Growing up there was a lot of inconsistency in my life.  My mom was very up and down and you never really knew who you would get when you walked in the door.  That can be tough for a young person because the adults in our lives are the ones who create our reality.  What I want to show my niece, Mariah and now my mentee, Janay, is that they don’t have to carry on the negative cycles they have learned from their families – they can create their own reality.   That is why I became a Denver Kids mentor!

Janay came into my life almost two years ago. I remember being nervous because I was not sure if she was going to like me and not talk at all.  I remember our first meeting we went to McDonalds, a place she loved, but a place I hated.  That’s when I realized that our adventure of exploring new things would take place.  We ran into her cousins that day and she told them that she was hanging out with her “big sister” and at that point I could tell we were going to have a great time together. 

We have explored many things since our first meeting from trying every ice cream at every fast food restaurant in Denver to making blueprints of our dream home at Home Depot. Janay and I will walk down the aisles of Home Depot looking at window finishes and picking paint colors while thinking about the possibilities of where hard work can truly take you.    

I believe we both have taught each other about life struggles and not letting the little things get in your way of enjoying life. Janay has become a new member in my family and she has a little part of my heart.  I often call Janay my little girl when I talk to others about all the wonderful things we do.   I believe that we came into each other’s life at the perfect time and I could not imagine it any other way.  I am glad that I can allow Janay to be a part of all these experiences and help open doors to opportunities to learn from each other.

One of my friends recently told me something that will stay with me forever.  She said that “you can’t ever be the last link in someone’s journey but at least you can be a link in it”.  My understanding of this statement is that we should look at our role in peoples life journey as a blessing and no matter what we should always try to be that positive force in someone’s life. I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to help open the doors of possibility for others – especially Janay and my niece, Mariah.

Dreams can come true and those who are around you can help with support but ultimately you’re the one that can make it happen. My hope for the future is for all Denver Kids to graduate from high school, learn how to write their own history and know that no one has control of their life’s journey but themselves.