Five Point Youth Ambassadors
No Name Youth Ambassadors
Uniting Communities through Public Spaces
The Five Points Youth Ambassadors (FPYA) was our first group of youth to redefine community outreach. By representing the Five Points community of Denver, the FPYA led and designed a project to renovate the St. Charles Place Park with over $1.5 million raised from local donors and the City of Denver. With new park equipment, two natural play areas, a three-story mural, an exercise course, and renovation of the parking areas, the FPYA completely transformed a rundown area into a thriving community center. Following the project’s completion in 2021, the FPYA were eager to spread their knowledge to youth in
other neighborhoods.
2017
The Beginning of FPYA
A group of youth gathered at the St. Charles Recreation Center to discuss how they
could rally the members of Industry RiNo to advocate for the revitalization of St. Charles
Place Park. Shortly after, the youth formed a valuable partnership with Sloane Bullecks
with Denver Parks and Recreation, Kara Szymanski with Industry, and Susan Brown
with Valerian. After creating their partnership, the discussion of redesigning the park and
the connection between the two buildings began.
Team Finalization and Skills Development
The core group of 7 ambassadors was solidified near the end of 2017. Over time, the team learned the fundamentals of public speaking, design development, fundraising, budget analysis, construction methods, collaboration with municipal and business leaders, and developing ideas for community engagement from their leaders and mentors.
2018
The First Community Event
The FPYA led their first community outreach meeting in Industry RiNo Station and had an audience of over 100 community members! Not only was the public in attendance but civic and business leaders such as Mayor Hancock, Jason Winkler, and Happy Haines attended as well. The FPYA were responsible for every
aspect of the meeting from public speaking to feedback collection.
Park Design Development
Based on the feedback collected from the community, the FPYA laid the groundwork for what the new St. Charles Place Park, and the connection to Industry Rino Station would look like. Ambassadors learned a plethora of skills in order to do this including leadership, evaluate budgets, and make critical design decisions.
Park Finalization
The FPYA collaborated with various companies to bring the community’s vision to life. These companies included Iron Horse Architects for park entry designs, Micheal Ford and Pioneer Landscape Centers for selecting materials and natural elements for pathways, Adam Bienenstock with Bienenstock Natural Playgrounds, and Stacey Stickler and Will Kern from Valerian Landscape Architecture to bring the whole vision to life and stay within the budget.
Second Community Event
After lots of hard work to create a park that would reflect the needs of the community, the FPYA was ready to unveil the design to the neighborhood! This was done at a second community event, held in the St. Charles Place Park. This celebration served as a symbol of transformation. The event itself consisted of fun activities including face painting, tricycle races, and a movie.
2019
The Finish Line
Although the FPYA had several donors, they still hadn’t reached their goal. It was
determined that if Pioneer Landscape Centers would donate the landscape materials
and Bienenstock Natural Playgrounds would contribute extra funds the park would be
completed as designed. The FPYA organized community “build days” and gathered
volunteers to support the effort. In the end, they received additional support from
Denver Parks and Recreation and RiNo Beer Garden, ERO, Valerian, and the
community.
Grand Opening
After years of hard work and months of construction, it finally came time to present the
St. Charles Place Park to the Five Points community. The grand opening showcased
speeches from both the FPYA and Mayor Hancock. Instead of the traditional ribbon
cutting, two girls released butterflies in memory of Khobi Eiland who was killed by gun
violence nearby. The park then became a symbol of unity for the neighborhood.
New Beginnings
The FPYA began training the NNYA during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Selected members of NNYA are now working as consultants with the Grassroot
Leadership Opportunities Ambassadors Program (GLO) to train new Ambassadors on
future projects.
Presentations
Colorado Association of Storm and Floodplain Managers
Conference in Crested Butte
Greater Greener Conference
Bringing Innovation to Public Works – One Individual at a Time
Determined to continue the success of the FPYA and youth advocacy within communities, Susan Brown, a consultant for Mile High Flood District (MHFD), formed a new group of Youth Ambassadors. The No Name Youth Ambassadors (NNYA) was another youth-run organization, working with professional designers to bring new perspectives to modern project design and flood mitigation within their community. Representing the Aurora community on the Unnamed Creek Restoration Project, the NNYA assisted with the design of many structural reforms, including adding trash receptacles in high use areas around the creek, rerouting senseless and/or dangerous sidewalks, and constructing a naturally resourced amphitheater! With construction planned to start at the end of 2023, the NNYA has now moved towards youth advocacy in future community projects.
June 1st, 2021
Susan Brown Contacts A New Group of Youth
Following the success of the Five Point Youth Ambassadors begged the question of
whether our approach to youth led community engagement could be sustainable. The
opportunity arose to revive and restore the Unnamed Creek in Aurora. Thus, Susan
contacted the adjacent schools and found Norris Sun and Kris Sun.
Establishing the NNYA
After weeks of interviews and discussion, ten unique individuals were selected to join
the team based on their potential to enhance the project, specific skills and talents, as
well as their well-versed representation of the adjacent community. As a group, they
officially established themselves as the No Name Youth Ambassadors. (NNYA)
The NNYA Meets The FPYA
Starting a team during COVID posed some challenges, but eventually, they were able to
finally meet with the FPYA on-site. This marked the beginning of their community outreach journey.
The Work Begins
The NNYA began weekly meetings online to discuss the changes they thought would be
most beneficial for their community. Ambitious, they sought to create an environment that catered to all residents, with numerous ideas to revitalize Unnamed Creek.
2022
The Beginning of Community Outreach Material
After establishing the foundation for our team and collaborating with professionals on
the Unnamed Creek restoration designs, the NNYA began community outreach for the
project. Eventually, they developed the first rendition of outreach material for door-to-
door outreach.
The NNYA’s First Community Outreach Effort
With the development of our outreach material, members of the NNYA began reaching out to the immediately impacted households in the community. While this attempt received little reception, it laid the foundation for future successful outreach efforts.
The NNYA Meets the Project Professionals
After around a year of online communication between the NNYA and project professionals, they finally met in person to present design concept drafts.
The NNYA Instagram Goes Public
The NNYA used their social media knowledge to promote the team, the project, and their aspiration. No Name Youth Ambassadors (@nnya_co) | Instagram
They NNYA’s Second Community Outreach Effort
After months of preparation, The NNYA completed a full canvassing project, reaching over 500 households. Their outreach director, Sarah Rich, organized pairs and developed neighborhood routes. They created additional outreach material and pitches to summarize their group and the project, all leading to a successful community outreach effort.
The NNYA Website Goes Public
After much discussion about public presence, Janie, the NNYA Design Director, began the creation of the NNYA website. Janie’s knowledge and willingness to learn led to a successful website that highlighted all aspects of the team, project, and goals.
The NNYA YouTube Channel Goes Public
In an effort to continue the NNYA’s public presence, Preston, the NNYA Media Production Director, began developing a series of videos that provided insight into the team, its members, and the project. These videos can be found on the NNYA YouTube Channel.
The NNYA Meets with Thunder Ridge Middle School Administration
To involve adjacent schools in their community outreach, Norris met with members of the Thunder Ridge Middle School Administration, presenting the team and project. From this point, the schools became close partners in community outreach efforts.
The NNYA Attends Thunder Ridge Middle School’s Annual Pancake Breakfast
Throughout the NNYA’s journey, Brandon and Gibson, the NNYA School Communications Coordinators, built close relations with the schools adjacent to the project. Because of this, the NNYA was invited to an annual community event with Thunder Ridge Middle School. This allowed them to expand their presence.
The NNYA Hosts A Community Pick-Up
The NNYA sought to involve the community in aspects of the project, so they invited the community to join in on a large trash pick up day on the Unnamed Creek. Together, they were able to collect and remove dozens of bags of trash.
The NNYA Prepares its Community Outreach Meeting
The NNYA’s next Community Outreach Meeting was quickly approaching. Despite multiple delays due to weather, timing, and incomplete designs, the NNYA persevered and finalized planning. They set the venue on-site at Eaglecrest High School and advertised it with flyers, social media posts, and in person speeches.
The NNYA Hosts its Community Outreach Meeting
The team came together with everyone, from the local community to the design team, to celebrate the finale of the Unnamed Creek Restoration Project designs. Through an open-house event and three presentations, they hosted an event built by the community, for the community, and with the community!
The NNYA Presents at the Mile High Flood District Annual Symposium
The NNYA stood in front of a crowd of over 600 professionals and gave a 20 minute presentation with mentors, Susan Brown and Charlie Pajares. The team presented a call to action for youth advocacy to the greater Colorado public works community.
