The Heart & Hand Center

Description

The Heart & Hand Center is an after-school drop in center for at-risk youth, located in the Northeast Denver Five Point community. The Center provides programming for 60 youth between the ages of 6 and 16, after school. Each evening, the children are fed a hot meal, spend an hour engaged in academically focused activities, and participate in a one-hour workshop. Workshops vary in order to expose the youth to an array of activities. Current and past workshops include: yoga, taekwondo, cooking, theater, writers’ workshop, choir, art therapy, science, swimming, etc. All Heart & Hand programs are offered free of charge to participants.

Without the Heart & Hand Center, many of these children would not have access to a safe, productive and supervised environment to go to after school. Statistics show that the peak hours for drug and alcohol use, gang participation, smoking, and sexual activity are between the hours of 3:00 and 6:00 p.m. due to a lack of supervision. The Center addresses these issues of supervision as well as provides enriching and educational activities that foster youth development, and offers these kids a safe haven after school.