Homies Unidos helps Denver youth find a road to peace and mental health
"Homies" aims to address the root causes of gang violence by promoting a positive sense of community and creative expression, helping youth from across metro Denver build resilience.
Greg Rodriguez is studying audio engineering at the Community College of Denver. He's recently taken a leadership role working with an environmental group.
"We go around the parks, we clean the trash, we go around the creekway, we make sure they're clean," said Rodriguez.
Greg Rodriguez
Greg attributes his success with charting a healthy path to Homies Unidos, the group that helps youth at risk of joining gangs to make sense of a complex and often dangerous world.
Homies Unidos Denver is led by Executive Director Gerardo Lopez, who himself - years ago - found a way out.
"These kids do experience trauma, whether it's shootings, whether it's violence," said Lopez. "So we try to tackle those issues and create a safe environment for them to feel comfortable."
There's a strong focus on mental health, as youth learn how to understand their own emotions and each other.
"Those walls start to come down, and they start to look at each other as normalizing each other, looking at each other as human beings," Lopez said, "So they think twice about hurting each other and causing harm to someone else."
Homies Unidos Denver
"When youth are able to talk about the importance of mental health, the importance of healing, the importance of addressing trauma, they can also help their family members heal as well," said Caring for Denver Foundation Executive Director Lorez Meinhold. Caring for Denver helps fund Homies' mental health initiatives.
In the Homies' offices and in the community, young people use tools like virtual reality to explore.
Greg Rodriguez uses the studio to create podcasts and other content peers can relate to. He says he has learned to think differently.
"I used to view situations as there's one way in and one way out. There's no other options. Like there's more than one option. That explore your options and see which one's best for you," said Rodriguez.
And he's closer to his family, "I can actually like, 'Oh mama got this on my mind. Or like, all the stuff about this', we can have, like a deep conversation about it."
CBS
Learning concrete skills in how to manage adversity and build character, Homies Unidos' programming reaches a couple hundred youth across more than a dozen schools every year.
Thursday, May 15, CBS Colorado will recognize Mental Health Action Day by saluting the efforts of people in our state working to promote emotional health for themselves and their communities.
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