In recent months Denver has been the landing spot for thousands of migrants, many who have come from Venezuela.
Denver has received over 40,000 migrants since December 2022, the majority of whom have come from Venezuela. When they began to arrive at the bus stop, friends from American Friends Service Committee and Denver Community Church were quick to help organize resources and people to help meet this emerging need. Shortly after, the City of Denver setup and managed shelters to ensure that migrants had a warm place to be safe, sleep and shower.
Since that time, volunteers from churches, non-profit agencies, community members and the City of Denver have continued working to come alongside our city’s new arrivals in substantive ways. People continue to ask how they can help.
My hope is that this webpage can help direct those who want to support our new arrivals toward places that are doing the work. Some of the most urgent needs are legal help, job placement and housing. As I learn of more opportunities I will share them here. As of now, here is what I know:
Legal Help
There are several organizations who provide legal support for immigrants. Recently they have come together to expand their legal services with the increased demand. Right now they are calling themselves the Denver Migrant Legal Services Group. Their goal is to scale legal services to a growing number of migrants, including asylum applications, work permits and other needed services. Currently Rocky Mountain Immigration Advocacy Network is spearheading the collaborative. Those organizations working together are:
American Immigration Lawyers Association
Catholic Charities
Sponsorship
The Colorado Hosting Asylum Network (CHAN) is doing the work of sponsorship under the leadership of Denise Chang.
Volunteering at Denver Migrant Shelters
This page has the daily updates from the city regarding their efforts to shelter migrants. There is a link on the page called “Volunteer Now”, which takes you to their online volunteer application. This is a great place for those who want to volunteer directly in the City-run shelters.
Post-Shelter Housing Support
Rooted with Roofs’ mission is to empower and support recent migrants in Denver by providing employment opportunities and sustainable housing. They aim to create a supportive community environment that helps each family unit integrate smoothly into their new community, ensuring they have the resources for long-term stability and success.
You can learn more about their services and donate to this amazing organization’s work here.
Ongoing Support for Immigrants
Casa de Paz is a long-standing organization that supports immigrants who are both in the Aurora detention center and with post-release needs. Here are two of their programs that you can join in supporting:
Visitation: Casa de Paz’s Visitation Program is a great place to volunteer. Visits take place on Saturdays and Sundays. Training is on Casa’s website.
Post-release support: Casa’s Welcome Team does Casa’s post-release support. While the recent wave of Venezuelan migrants has been in the news, the less well-known story is the wave of 2,000 migrants released from the Aurora detention center in 2022. Casa is always in need of more volunteers in that space.
Denver Newcomer Help is a group of local community members who have come together to help us be better connected with supporting migrants. They connect those interested in a variety of ways from food and clothes to other emergent needs. Additionally, they help connect those interested in supporting our newly arriving neighbors with existing groups who are doing amazing, community work.
Here’s an article I wrote for Christianity Today this past December, sharing a little of what my friends and I were able to join in on to support our new neighbors.
