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11 19 24 Colorado Dream Foundation's CEO Kaye Taavialma talks about their Mission
But there's only one feeling like knowing your banker personally, like growing up with a bank you can count on, like being sure what you've earned is safe, secure, and local. There's only one feeling like knowing you're supporting your community. You deserve more from a bank. You deserve an institution that stood strong for generations. Bank of Colorado, there's only one. Member FDIC. It's beginning to sound a lot like the holidays. The Roku Channel, your home for free and premium TV, is giving you access to holiday music and genre-based stations from iHeart all for free. Find the soundtrack of the season with channels like iHeartChristmas and North Pole Radio. The Roku Channel is available on all Roku devices, web, Amazon Fire TV, Google TV, Samsung TVs, and the Roku mobile app on iOS and Android devices. So stream what you love and turn up the cheer with iHeartRadio on the Roku Channel. Happy streaming! If you put aside $0.25 every week for a year, what could you get at the end? A few cups of coffee maybe, a candle, or you could get a year of the best reporting from all over the world. Go to washingtonpost.com/bf24 right now. You'll get a Washington Post subscription for $0.25 a week for your first year. This is a Black Friday sale, so it won't last long. Washington Post.com/bf24. It is Colorado's morning news. Marty Lenz-Genaganda Good Morning Colorado Dream Foundation believes that through a deep sustained commitment to youth and their families, our community can thrive. The commitment to the pillars of academic development, emotional wellness development, college and career development, and system advocacy are key catalysts in fighting barriers that often earn the way of achieving one's dreams. Early giving is already underway for Colorado Give's Day, and we welcome the president and CEO of the Colorado Dream Foundation, K. Tal Fiamma in the KOA Common Spirit Health Studio this morning. Talking a little bit more about this local organization, K. Thank you so much for your time again this morning. We appreciate it. Absolutely so glad to be back. It's crazy that we're already around this time of the year, and to talk a little bit more about this organization that means so much to our local community, tell us a little bit more about what the Colorado Dream Foundation does. Absolutely. So we provide a combination of out of school time, after school time, programming and support for youth and grades 3 through 12, as well as free low, well, same thing, low no cost, mental health, care and support for community members. What barriers do young people face today that say they didn't face 5, 10, 15, 20 years ago? I would say, especially our youth right now, face and continue to face struggles that come post-COVID. So so many of our youth that we're dealing with have an increase in mental health issues, have gaps in their education, and even struggle to just understand how to engage socially in the context of being face to face. They spent their formative years in their homes and on computers. So we're still struggling with the coming out of COVID. We hear this all the time. So that's what you're seeing as well. Absolutely. I think that that just continues to be something we can't quite get our arms around as a society. And that's a lot of the work that we focus on doing as well, is when we get and receive the kiddos after school, then we spend time focused on social emotional learning, really developing the ability for them to connect and communicate with their peers. And I think one of the ways that we tackle that is our programs are based in what are called opportunity centers, so they become hubs. And so it's not like the kids are in their set school where they're just comfortable with the kids they see every day. Instead, they're engaging with other youth from across the city, which really reinforces these skills of socialization and engagement. And the Colorado Dream Foundation is probably not only just an organization that helps the students in these after-school programs, but I bet a lot of parents rely on this as well. Oh, without a doubt. Some of the research that came out of an effort from a comprehensive out-of-school time group that I'm part of over the summer was really identifying that one of the major things these types of programs provide is access for families to maintain their current employment, because so many of our families who have these shorter hourly jobs are looking for spaces and places where they can actually receive support for their youth. That's what you want to the tenants you talk about is barriers breaking down the barriers, having access. Is that is that more or less the biggest hurdle to overcome is just giving people the access to do the things that they can do and achieve that success? Oh, without a doubt. I would say so much of it is focused on asking the question, what really is in the way for this youth and this family? How do we then go in and support them? And what are the connections we need to make to ensure they can break through those barriers? Like we mentioned, Colorado Gives Day is coming up on December 10th, but we like to say that you could give all year round when it comes to this and early giving is already underway with a donation. What would Colorado Dreams Foundation do with it? Absolutely. So there are three different areas that we're really focused on right now and ensuring that we provide adequate support and resource for our youth throughout the year. I want to say a caveat, a lot of our funding comes through government and grant sources, which is amazing, but what makes individual donations so unique and powerful is that it comes with almost no strings attached. It allows us to make decisions to meet the needs of our youth and families we're there at without having to report to a governing entity. So the impact of a donation to us helps us support after school programs, specifically providing unique field trip opportunities. This summer we took the kids to go see inside out to and rented out a theater to do that. It was amazing. Another way that this goes to support us is through providing stipends for our interns in the mental health clinic. So those individuals come to us and they do tremendous work, but that work we need to actually be compensating them for. And so having provided over 10,000 hours of flow no cost therapy, it's really our job to ensure we're taking care of our people as well. And when you do that, you give these young people this opportunity, then I would assume that it opens up the possibilities to them. And one of those things is, hey, maybe I can go to something beyond high school, whether it's a trade school or a college or do something like this to the point of barriers and access. They did not think it was possible. And probably more importantly, the parents didn't think it was possible. I absolutely think that's correct. And one of our biggest proponents is if they graduate from high school with us, then they may have access to a $12,000 scholarship to pursue what we're calling a T-34 pathway. We're post-secondary agnostic. You just have to have a plan. So T-34 stands for trade, technical two year or four year. So we just want to make sure our kids set the plan with us and then we're going to help them achieve it. And part of the way that we do that is through that $12,000 per youth scholarship. Okay, give listeners all the details of what they need to know if they want to give during this Colorado Gives Day year or month, whatever you want to call it because it goes on as long as we can. Colorado Gives is giving as long as it can and we need the help. So if you're interested, please, you can visit our website at www.coloradodream.org or you can go to coloradogivesday.org and search for Colorado Dream Foundation. Okay, I always love when you come in with us. I love being here. I'm glad that you're here. The president and CEO of Colorado Dream Foundation, K Talviyama. Thank you. Thank you. But there's only one feeling like knowing your banker personally, like growing up with a bank you can count on, like being sure what you've earned is safe, secure and local. There's only one feeling like knowing you're supporting your community. You deserve more from a bank. You deserve an institution that stood strong for generations. Bank of Colorado, there's only one. Your FDIC. I have a way to make your morning more efficient. You can get caught up on the news in about seven minutes. That is my promise to you as the host of the Seven Podcast from the Washington Post. And in that time, I will run down seven stories, everything from the most important headlines to fascinating new information you might miss otherwise. My name's Hannah Jewell. Go follow the seven right now, wherever you're listening. And we will get you caught up. (upbeat music)