Thalia came to Mile High Youth Corps YouthBuild with a goal to finish her high school equivalency and complete 300 AmeriCorps service hours. Not only did she reach her goal, but she did so three months early, allowing her to attain an additional AmeriCorps scholarship award. She participated in Volunteers of America, spending quality time with elders in senior living homes and assisted the physical therapists at the Rocky Mountain MS Center with group therapy sessions for patients. No matter the setting, Thalia made each person she met feel valued, seen and heard. She also performed independent service hours at food banks and hospitals on weekends while upholding her weekday responsibilities within the YouthBuild program.
Thalia demonstrated an openness to learning and trying new things, which ultimately led to obtaining her GED, enrolling in Arapahoe Community College and earning her nursing aid certification. With a strong work ethic and a desire to transform her life through service, Medina embodies the values of the YouthBuild AmeriCorps program.
In November 2020, MHYC’s Energy & Water Conservation crew worked with the City of Westminster to retrofit income-qualified multi-family complexes across Westminster. The first project completed by the Energy & Water team in Westminster is the Orchard Crossing, a 90 unit subsidized, low-rent apartment complex. The crew assessed and retrofitted low-flow water fixtures in 73 apartments at Orchard Crossing. A total of 83 Ultra-High Efficiency toilets, and 116 low flow fixtures were installed over 5 days on the service site. It is estimated that these installs will save each apartment an average of 37,000 gallons of water per year as well as $205 in heating and water costs per year.
This project is also projected to save over 2 Million lbs of Co2 over the lifetime of all installed materials.
Since 2021, MHYC has partnered with Denver’s Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency (CASR) office to support preparing young people for the green workforce and fulltime, quality employment. With CASR funding, the Energy and Water Conservation program will increase their Corpsmember enrollment annually over three years.
The partnership helps support outreach and recruitment for young people living in under-resourced and opportunity neighborhoods to expand equitable access to good jobs in the green economy. Corpsmembers receive certifications in Department of Energy and Department of Labor recognized training including Building Science Principles.
This partnership provides a suite of career exposure and exploration activities including guest speakers, job site visits, job shadows and networking opportunities in green industries.
