12 09 24 Mile High Youth Corps CEO Kia Abdool discusses the work they do in Colorado

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Tomorrow is Colorado Gives Day and there are hundreds and
hundreds of Colorado nonprofits who could use your help. One
of them is the Mile High Youth Core.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
And joining us now is the CEO of the Mile
High Youth Core. It's Kia abdul Kia. Thanks for coming
on Colorado's Morning News. Tell us the importance of the
Mile High Youth Core and what exactly you all do
for young adults.

Speaker 3 (00:19):
Hi, good morning, Thank you so much for having us.
My High Youth Core has been an organization that has
been around since nineteen ninety two, so just over thirty years,
and we consistently empower young adults through work experiences that
help build their leadership skills, job skills, and educational opportunities.
We have four program we have three programs with four

(00:41):
different pathways. We focus on conservation, healthcare, and construction.

Speaker 1 (00:48):
Kia, how are those pathways decided? Did we realize there
was a need in the community and the job force
in the world in order to get young adults prepared
or I guess kids prepared to be young adults in
some of these brands.

Speaker 3 (01:01):
Yeah, when the organizations first started, our founder Josie Heath
really recognized that there was a need for young adults
to be providing and giving back to their community, and
so over time the pathways have evolved. It started with
land conservation really getting out into the mountains and the
Denver Community Park clean up things like that, and over

(01:24):
the years we have really recognized and taken heed from
our young adults who are serving that there are pathways
where they really see themselves. And as the workforce has
evolved over the last few years, these industries have become
critical to ensuring that we continue to support Coloraden's and
that Coloradens continue to be able to really think through

(01:47):
what it means to be on the land, in the
land through conservation, to continue the health community health benefit
through healthcare, and then also really thinking about continuing building
affordable home which is what our construction program does.

Speaker 1 (02:03):
Chee.

Speaker 2 (02:04):
It sounds like to me, I like this because you
help direct the youth when they have ideas, but also
you're allowing them to come to you to saying I
like this idea within this framework? Am I getting that right?
You give them a chance to kind of tell you
what they see and where they fit.

Speaker 3 (02:17):
We do part of what we really kind of take
from the youth is really how do we continue to
grow right? And so just before COVID, our healthcare program
was born, which came from a need that we saw
evolving in Colorado, but then also core members who recognized
that this was a pathway that they wanted. Now, we

(02:38):
aren't able to just build programs right, but we do
take feedback from them and we are thinking about what
does technology look like. Most recently, some of our core
members have mentioned really wanting to be in the mental
health field, and so we are working to try to
understand what it would take for us to build another
branch through the Health and Wellness program to get mental

(02:59):
health as a certification.

Speaker 1 (03:01):
What are some of the success stories are? What could
a donation on Giving Tuesday do for the Mile High
Youth Core?

Speaker 3 (03:08):
Yeah, every single donation allows us to continue our mission.
And so Talia is a Core member who came to
Malhai Youth Corps seeking the second chance after challenges from
dropping out of high school and facing some systemic barriers.
Talia joined our Youth Booth program to finish her high
school equivalency and complete three hundred and Mayor Corps service

(03:31):
hours and she was able to do that and more
she completed it three months early and she received a scholarship.
She has a strong work ethic and a desire to
transform her life through service. She went on to earn
her Nursing Certificate Nursing Aid certification from a rapa Hoe
Community College and continues to be in the field. Over

(03:53):
the course of the thirty years that Malhaith Core has
been around, we've served over five thousand Core members who
are now alumni. So we continue to have an impact
not only on the daily lives of the Core members
that we're serving right now, but also those who are
citizens providing important civil service through many pathways in the communities.

(04:17):
We have alumni who are lawyers, we have alumni who
are working in the forest service, we have alumni who
are continuing in veterinary and so it's so important we
know that the ages of eighteen to twenty four are crivital,
critical point in our youth lives, right that's an opportunity
for our youth to really decide what is their next

(04:38):
step and what's their next path. And so a donation
from anyone out there who's listening would allow CORE members
and Mahigh Youth Core to continue to thrive for another
thirty years.

Speaker 2 (04:48):
A worthy organization worthy of your support for Colorado gives
Day with the mile High youth core. It's the CEO,
Kia Abdul. Thankskia, thank you,