Youth Afterschool Programming in Pagosa

The Pagosa Community Initiative’s mission is to create interactive opportunities that honor culture and diversity to provide Archuleta residents with services that increase wellness and engagement for a better quality of life.

For the last year, the Pagosa Arts Initiative has operated a youth out-of-school time program primarily funded by a 21st Community Learning Centers grant provided by the Colorado Department of Education. In June, the board of the Pagosa Arts Initiative voted to no longer support this youth programming and to create a partner organization called the Pagosa Community Initiative. Due to the board decision of PAI, we can no longer count on receiving funds through this grant for the current school year. However, we are eligible to apply for future funding for the 2023/2024 school year. This grant was the largest funding mechanism for this program at $109,000 per year.

Due to the loss of our funding, we are in need of financial support to continue our programming for the Pagosa Springs community. All monies donated will be used to provide programming for this school year and can be tax deductible.

The Pagosa Community Initiative will continue to offer the same great youth programming for our youth that was provided last year.

Last year we served 121 students by providing the only consistent afterschool programming while also offering summer programs. Eighty percent of the students we served are considered at risk and underserved. We need to continue offering this programming free of charge to the students we worked with last year and even more this fall. We hope to help as many parents as possible with the ongoing childcare crises and the lack of out-of-school time options. This facility is critical to our local economy.

Additionally, we have provided thirteen families service through our family advocacy program. Through this program, we work to connect families to local resources. We help to stabilize families by connecting them to family education options such as parenting classes for teen and school-aged youth, helping them to navigate the school system and other systems, and connecting them to mental health resources. We are working towards supporting eighteen families this year through this program. We hope to help stabilize families and provide them with necessary preventative support to allow them to operate more successfully as a family unit.

This year we will add parenting classes, provide more family advocacy, and expand the number of students we serve through our afterschool and summer programming.

We would appreciate your consideration in supporting our youth with your donation.