Peak to Peak Quarterly Newsletter

Denver Volunteer Organizations

Further Opportunities to Support Individuals with Developmental Disabilities

School psychologists often interface and partner with students with autism, intellectual disabilities, and other neurodevelopmental conditions. While school psychologists do amazing work within schools to support the unique needs of neurodiverse students, there is no question that many students with special needs require a continuum of support. Here are some amazing organizations within Denver and neighboring areas which have done some commendable work to help improve the lives of neurodiverse individuals and support their inclusion across communities. For anyone interested in learning more about these organizations and how to potentially get involved, several of these organizations are hosting upcoming events and offer different volunteer opportunities.

VSA Colorado // Access Gallery

VSA Colorado - Access Gallery is an inclusive nonprofit organization that engages the community by opening doors to creative and educational opportunities for people with disabilities to access and experience the arts. Their vision is to create an inclusive world where all people have the opportunity to be transformed by the arts. They host a number of events and other opportunities to support or get involved with, including their 99 pieces of art; an event which features 99 different artists from the community. From nationally-renowned artists to artists who are showing their work for the very first time, many of the displayed works are created from artists with disabilities and are available for purchase for $99.

VSA are also searching for artists, art educators, and art enthusiasts to join their Access Gallery in providing creative opportunities for artists with disabilities! Artist Mentors provide support to artists to develop their own artistic style, learn new art techniques, and help them move in the direction they need to fulfill their artistic career goals. Volunteers are matched with an artist represented by Access Gallery who share similar interests and artistic mediums. An application process is conducted and training is provided.

- VSA Colorado

https://denversartdistrict.org/access-gallery-vsa

Jewish Family Service of Colorado // Haverim and Best Buddies

The Jewish Family Service (JFS) is a chapter of Best Buddies International for adults that match adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) with a neurotypical peer buddy. The JFS is unique from other Best Buddies programs, in that it focuses on creating deeper friendships and connections within the Colorado Jewish community. Volunteer commitment is flexible with a once a month in-person requirement.

https://www.jewishfamilyservice.org/services-jda-haverim-and-best-buddies

CSU Temple Grandin Equine Center

Located in Fort Collins, this is a unique opportunity to work with horses and kids with special needs. The CSU Temple Grandin Equine Center provides occupational and physical therapy to students with children and are looking for volunteer walkers, to walk alongside the horse and assist the therapist in keeping clients safe while on the horse. No previous experience is required on on-site training is provided.

https://agsci.colostate.edu/tgec/

Night Lights Incorporated

Night Lights offers high-quality, no-cost respite care for families of children with special needs. Night Lights helps families in crisis by providing a much-deserved break from the demanding care of special needs children and an opportunity to connect with other families of children with special needs. While at Night Lights, each child (the child with special needs and their siblings) is paired one-on-one with a trained, background-checked volunteer “buddy. During an evening at Night Lights, the children enjoy a variety of activities such as gross motor and free play sensory activities, pet therapy, arts and crafts, movies and a snack (each child brings their own snack due to diverse food allergies). Commitment to Night Lights Incorporated is at least one Friday night a month.

All-Stars Club

Located in Littleton, All-Stars Club provide first-class experiences for individuals with special needs and their families that offer opportunities to have fun, meet new friends, and live out their Christian faith. While observing how the Church has widely underserved those with disabilities, All-Stars Club are working with local churches in building a grassroots effort to develop a volunteer base that is compassionate and energized about serving the needs of the special needs community. They are building this volunteer base by bringing active adults together through sports leagues and tournaments and using this as our platform to teach and mobilize caring individuals. They host a number of fun nights for individuals with special needs, where you can volunteer as a buddy for the night with one of their “all-stars” and make a difference!

- The All-Stars Club

http://www.allstarsclub.org

Friendship Circle of Colorado

The Friendship Circle of Colorado is a non-profit organization dedicated to making a dramatic difference in the lives of children and young adults with special needs, and their families, through one-to-one peer mentoring and social-recreational programs in the homes, schools, and communities of Metro Denver and surrounding areas. The Friendship Circle provides a range of leisure and social opportunities that aim to promote equality, confidence and opportunity, as well as increasing integration into mainstream life. Through the Friendship Circle social programs, participants are able to build meaningful friendships with people whom they wouldn’t normally socialize with, increase their social map and integrate into the wider community. Some fun activities hosted by the Friendship Circle, which you can be apart of are their Friends at Home, Masterchef, Yoga Therapy, and Camp Friendship Circle.

- The Friendship Circle of Colorado

https://www.friendshipcirclecolorado.com/

Special Kids Special Families

Special Kids Special Families is a nonprofit organization located in Colorado Springs founded in 1998 to provide respite and specialized care for children and adults with disabilities and special needs. Various programs offer community support services to families and are designed to meet the needs of individuals with disabilities throughout their life span. Some great opportunities to get involved coming up are their Gift Wrapping 12/15 and 12/16 (9am-3pm) and their 13th annual “Bowl for the Green” Bowl-A-Thon on 3/11/23. You can also donate to their silent auction silent auction and/or drawings to help raise funds for their programs. Examples of past donations include gift cards (restaurants, stores, etc..), electronic items (TV, MP3 player, earbuds, tablet, etc..), spa/salon gift certificates, admission tickets, and travel vouchers, packages or overnight stays.

- Special Kids Special Families

http://sksfcolorado.org/fundraisers/

Autism Speaks Colorado

Colorado’s chapter of Autism Speaks, the nation-wide organization dedicated to promoting solutions, across the spectrum and throughout the life span, for the needs of individuals with autism and their families. Autism Speaks aims to promote equality and excellence among persons with autism through advocacy and support, increasing understanding and acceptance of people with autism, and advancing research into causes and better interventions for autism spectrum disorder and related conditions. Though it’s already passed, be sure to join next years Colorado Walk and help bring Autism Speaks one step closer to ensuring people with autism can reach their full potential and live their best lives!

- Autism Speaks

https://act.autismspeaks.org/site/TR?pg=entry&fr_id=668

The Mile High City is full of volunteer opportunities!

Animal Welfare

Denver Dumb Friends League: One of the largest animal shelters in Denver.

Denver Zoo

Environmental Action

Denver Botanical Gardens: Help the Botanical Gardens in their mission to connect people with plants.

Denver Parks & Recreation

Groundwork Denver: The mission of Groundwork Denver is to bring about the sustained improvement of the physical environment and promote health and well-being through community-based partnerships and action.

Keep Denver Beautiful: Our mission is to enhance the visual appearance of Denver by addressing problems of graffiti and litter through volunteer projects and educational programs. Keep Denver Beautiful focuses on supporting residents and businesses in maintaining an attractive safe urban environment.

Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado: Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC) is the state's oldest outdoor stewardship nonprofit organization. Since 1984, we have been motivating and enabling people to become active stewards of Colorado's natural resources.

Food and Shelter

Food Bank of the Rockies

Metro Caring: At Metro Caring, we're meeting people's immediate food needs while addressing the root cause of hunger: poverty. We provide nutritious groceries to our neighbors, and also offer comprehensive anti-hunger resources so that families can stop hunger at its root.

Soldiers’ Angels: Provides food for Denver’s veteran population.

Urban Peak: Provides housing for youth experiencing homelessness in the Denver metropolitan area. Their mission is toIgnite the potential in youth to exit homelessness and create self-determined, fulfilled lives.

We Don’t Waste: We Don’t Waste works to reduce hunger and food waste in the Denver area by recovering quality, unused food from the food industry and delivering it to nonprofit partners, such as food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, schools and daycare programs, and more.

Human Rights and Services

CIRC (Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition): CIRC is a statewide membership-based coalition of immigrant, labor, interfaith, youth and ally organizations founded in 2002 to build a unified statewide voice to improve the lives of immigrants and refugees in Colorado and the United States. CIRC achieves this mission through non-partisan civic engagement, public education and advocacy to win fair, humane and workable public policies.

Denver Rescue Mission: A faith-based organization that helps restore the lives of people experiencing homelessness and addiction through emergency services, rehabilitation, transitional programs, and community outreach.

Rainbow Alley: Rainbow Alley is a safe, brave space where LGBTQ youth (ages 11-21) and their allies find support and acceptance. We provide a drop-in space, youth-led events and activities, counseling and support groups, health services and life skills—all in a warm and welcoming environment.

The Blue Bench: The Blue Bench is metro Denver’s only comprehensive sexual assault prevention and support center. Since our founding in 1983, we have worked tirelessly to eliminate sexual assault and diminish the impact it has on individuals, their loved ones and our community. Through issue advocacy, scientifically-supported prevention programs and a robust offering of low to no-cost client services including a 24-hour hotline, individual and group therapy and case management, The Blue Bench has helped hundreds of thousands of Denver-area people of all gender identities find the courage to move from victim to survivor.

Women’s Bean Project: A non-profit organization with the mission to change women’s lives by providing stepping stones to self-sufficiency through social enterprise.

Public Services

Denver Public Library

United Way Denver: For more than 130 years, Mile High United Way has united the full force of the community to fight for the education, health, and financial stability for everyone in Metro Denver. They offer volunteer opportunities related to advocacy and civic engagement, youth support, crisis support, business development, education, and more.