Naja is a Corpsmember with Mile High Youth Corps’ YouthBuild Health & Wellness crew. After exiting the program early due to challenges in her personal life, Naja made the decision to re-enroll at MHYC to get her GED and earn hands-on skills in the medical field. Naja recognized the opportunities MHYC provided to make a positive change for herself, her daughter, and her future, and we were glad to have her back!
Naja’s optimistic attitude is an inspiration to all Corpsmembers and staff. She has stepped up as a leader, learning how to advocate for herself, practice patience, and has worked with our supportive services team to access the resources she needs. Naja plans to apply for a staff position at MHYC after completing her service term so she can support future Corpsmembers. “Everyone needs that. It’s just like a family.”
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.
For the second year, MHYC’s YouthBuild program is partnering with i-kota and the Denver Housing Authority (DHA) to support skill-building of our Corpsmembers in the construction career pathway. Through this partnership, Corpsmembers previously worked on DHA’s Gateway North and Gateway South projects located in the Sun Valley neighborhood, in which i-kota is the general contractor. This year, Corpsmembers are on site, supporting the 129 affordable housing units being built in the Sun Valley Green Haus project. MHYC is grateful for the continued commitment by i-kota and DHA to increase the career readiness of Corpsmembers interested in pursuing a career in construction.
Corpsmembers started their 2021-2022 service term in the YouthBuild workshop learning the necessary technical skills to support tasks on the service site including carpentry, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, solar support, painting, landscaping, fixture installation and general site housekeeping and maintenance. More than 20 Corpsmembers served on the project resulting in 1200+ units of affordable housing built in the Sun Valley neighborhood.
