Hello!
Montezuma Youth Alliance here; we’d love to introduce ourselves and our Mission, which is: Mentoring youth through community service, art and nature.
Our vision is: To improve the lives of county youth by creating opportunities for empowerment; building pride and self-awareness through community service, art and nature. We envision a place where all youth belong, joining with trusting adults who can support and mentor them as they discover their potential & grow into powerful leaders of Montezuma County.
Our two main programs are Reading Buddies, and Mancos Wellbeing Project.
Reading Buddies is a learning loss recovery and literacy-based free-play program, which is part of the Friday Programming at the Library. Anyone from 4-17 is welcome to join us, but we notice that the ones who have the most fun interacting with the free-play aspect are typically between 4-11. 3 Year olds are welcome, as long as a parent or guardian is willing and able to stick around the Library in case they are needed.
Mancos Wellbeing Project is a teen engaged community building program that was started after the last teen suicide in Mancos. We work on engaging youth in projects based on the strategy of Connectivity, and our collaborative partners are: Mancos United, and the SAFE Coalition of the Montezuma County Health Department. The big project of Mancos Wellbeing Project right now is the “Skatepark Facelift” for which we were awarded $9,000 from United Way! (See our website for details.) We are also meeting in the park while the weather holds on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month, from 4-8, at the Old Jail for a community potluck. You’re invited! We have food, games, and good company.
We also love doing random fun stuff, like taking youth to the movies in Cortez, (especially superhero movies..) and we can be convinced to take students to cool events (Native American Dancing at the Cortez Community Center for instance), and give rides home when necessary. We are in the middle of creating programming with the local art teacher, doing something we anticipate calling “Printing Club” on Friday Afternoons, in collaboration with the Common Press.
Find us on Facebook and Instagram and visit our website at MontezumaYouthAlliance.org
You can also reach us via phone at (970) 715-1095 and email: MontezumaYouthAlliance@gmail.com
We look forward to hearing from you!