Deon is an eighth grader at Lake Middle School and future aviation engineer. Deon attends afterschool programs at Mi Casa every day, and after nearly three years, Deon has blossomed into a strong leader in the Mi Casa Neighborhood Center, well-liked by other kids for his kindness, patience and respectful attitude. Deon’s energy and enthusiasm are evident in his every interaction, and he loves coming to Mi Casa after school to build robots out of Legos that he then programs to move using a computer. Deon also likes to program his own video games, all of which involve airplanes.

“At Mi Casa Deon can express himself, play, learn, and indulge his wild imagination in a safe environment. Mi Casa has given Deon a community and a voice, and I see him take a great sense of pride in that,” says Sheryl, Deon’s mom.

Gabriela studied fashion design at the Universidad Regional del Norte in Chihuahua, Mexico. By the age of 22, Gabriela operated a modest boutique in Chihuahua where she sold hand-sewn clothing from fabrics imported from Los Angeles and New York.

In 2001 Gabriela moved to the United States to take her fashion design dreams to the next level. Her English was very limited when she arrived in Denver, and Gabriela spent most of her time sewing patterns and sketching designs in her apartment. Gabriela read about Mi Casa’s Éxito Para Negocios (Business Success) entrepreneurial training program in the newspaper and she enrolled - as much to make friends as to learn about business ownership in her new country.

Through Mi Casa, Gabriela made valuable contacts and learned information that not only made her feel more at home in her new city, but also helped Gabriela convert her business aspirations into a brick-and-mortar business – Gabriela Designs Denver – with a steadily growing clientele. 

When she isn’t hard at work, concentrating on earning the highest grades of anyone at the Mi Casa Neighborhood Center, Karla Hernandez is likely to have a broad smile on her face. Her cheerful and willing nature, as well as her extraordinary academic achievement, belies the unsympathetic realities that Karla has had to face in her 14 years of life.  

Karla is from Veracruz, Mexico, where she lived until just three years ago with her brothers and grandmother. When Karla’s abuela died suddenly, she and her brothers made the trip north to be with their mother, who was living in Denver. When Karla entered sixth grade at Lake Middle School, she spoke no English and the cultural differences were overwhelming.

Simona has been working since she was 15 years old, often working two or three jobs at a time to make ends meet and provide for her children. For more than six years Simona worked as a manager in a fast food restaurant. Though she lived paycheck to paycheck, Simona was pretty sure her job was secure.

But in mid 2009 Simona was laid off, and she immediately realized that if she was going to pay her bills and stay in her home, she needed help. The day Simona applied for welfare benefits stands out in her mind as one of the hardest.

“I was embarrassed because I have always been able to provide for my family and I have always been proud of that fact,” says Simona, mother to five and grandmother to four. 

Robin says Mi Casa gave her the tools she needed to expand her business from part-time online to a thriving retail store with triple bottom line aspirations. When Robin enrolled in the 13-week Business Success program, she had a website selling environmentally friendly baby gear, like cloth diapers and BPA-free feeding accessories.

Robin has two children and first got the idea for her business during the many hours of online research she did while pregnant and on bed rest. She learned about baby products and parenting practices that are good for children and the earth, and she knew other parents would be interested, too.

For Gloria eighth grade was an exciting year of new experiences with new friends. Involved in Mi Casa programs since she was a fourth grader, Gloria comes to the Mi Casa Neighborhood Center every day after school. She gets her homework done and then heads over to one of the club activities – one of her favorites is Movie Makers. This year they created a short film based on Little Red Riding Hood with a modern twist. This time it’s Goth Girl up against a pack of bullies as she tries to get across town to her friend’s house.

Gloria was chosen as Mi Casa Student of the Year in 2009-10. Over her middle school career, Mi Casa staff have watched Gloria open up, find her voice, and explore her great potential as a student leader.

It took seven years and three times asking for help from Denver Human Services, but Ted is confident that he’s back on his feet – for good. In March 2010 Ted was hired at Providers’ Resource Clearinghouse (PRC) as a laborer loading and unloading trucks and earning minimum wage. A few months later, he has already been promoted to supervisor and gotten a raise, with more opportunities for advancement on the horizon.

“I absolutely love my job, and I hope to be in it for the rest of my working life,” says Ted, who used to work construction but lost his job when the economic recession coincided with a blown transmission in his truck. With no transportation and in the midst of a messy divorce that left Ted displaced and depressed, Ted was barely scraping by.

With two small children, Laura longed for a way to work from home, but the family couldn’t afford to sacrifice her income. So Laura opened a home-based daycare and after a year in business with an ever-growing waiting list, she knew it was time to move her business to a larger space.

With Mi Casa’s help, Laura and her mother and business partner, Pat Ortiz, were able to purchase, renovate and reopen the Imagination Station Childcare Center in Pueblo, Colorado, a thriving small business serving mostly low-income children ages six weeks to 13 years.

Perla, now 19, has been coming to programs at Mi Casa with her younger brothers for nearly seven years. Their mother saw Mi Casa as a healthy outlet and encouraged her children to spend time there after school. As a result, Perla has benefited from fun and educational programs that have helped her develop her leadership potential and acquire valuable computer skills.

Perla is one of Mi Casa’s Digital Connectors, a group of 20 young people ages 13 to 20 learning in-depth digital literacy skills, earning technology toys to take home, and sharing their knowledge with the community. For three years, Perla was part of Mi Casa’s Leadership for Community Change (LCC) project. Through LCC, Perla worked together with adults and other youth on creative projects to educate and affect positive change.