Over 30,000 migrants from Venezuela and other Central American countries have made the grueling journey to Denver in the past year and thousands are here to stay. Denver Public Schools (DPS) has had more than 2000 new students enroll. These migrants have traveled through five different countries, often with children in tow, to seek asylum in the United States. Now they are searching for housing and work here in Denver.
This crisis has been brewing for most of 2023. Busloads of migrants have been coming to Denver from the southern border since December 2022 and city resources are stretched thin. The city has been working to provide shelter in hotels and rec centers but it hasn’t been enough to keep migrants off the streets.
An encampment at Zuni and Speer has been the most prominent migrant camp in the city and neighbors have taken action to help support the incoming neighbors.. Highlands Moms &Neighbors- Venezuelan migrant support, a Facebook group dedicated to organizing and helping these migrants, has set up fundraisers and ways for members of the community to help. One of the ways people are helping is by “adopting a family.”
“Adopting” a family is not a complicated process, in the Facebook group there are many posts of people introducing families and individuals they met who are looking for support from the community. You can message them directly to see how you can help.
“What I always focus on as a community organizer, is making sure that there are very few barriers to entry, creating a very inclusive environment for folks to help,” President of the Tre-Vista PTA Mariah Kamei said. “You know, some folks, maybe all they can give right now is money. Some folks might not have any money and they can give time, right?”
Kamei has “adopted” three of these families and has been helping them with jobs and housing but beyond that Kamei has been building relationships with the family she has welcomed into her life.
“Each of those families I have gotten to know incredibly well, in fact, just before I came here, they were over at my house having breakfast with me,” Kamei said.
Other organizations like the PTA have been fundraising to give families Walmart gift cards for food and clothing, organized clothing drives in the camps, and partnered with food banks to make sure everyone is fed. DPS has also been providing children with two meals a day and a safe place to be for eight hours a day. This helps one of her families, a single dad with three children.
“DPS opening its doors I think is incredibly helpful for these families.” Kamei said, “His kids are in school, that gives him at least eight hours a day that he can be working right. He would not be able to work with a three year old if he didn’t have them in school.”
To hear more about Denver’s migrant crisis and how you can help, listen to our Mimi Herrick interview Mariah Kamei in this month’s Bucket List Community News podcast.