A proclamation celebrating Denver Afterschool Programs and the 2021 Annual National Lights on Afterschool Day.
Thank you, Councilmember each. All right. Not seeing any other announcements. We'll go ahead and move on. There are no presentations this evening. There are no communications. We have one proclamation being read. Councilmember Cashman, will you please read Proclamation 20 1-1, two, six, seven. Thank you, Madam President. This is Proclamation 21 1267 celebrating Denver after school programs in the 2021 annual National Lights on after School Day. Whereas the Denver City Council stands firmly committed to quality after school programs because they provide evidence based learning experiences that are proven to help youth develop social, emotional, physical and academic skills. And. Whereas, afterschool programs have continued to serve youth and families throughout the COVID 19 pandemic and play an important role in helping Denver youth overcome pandemic challenges of learning, loss, social disconnection and trauma. And. Whereas, afterschool programs are essential to Denver's economic recovery efforts because they are a vital support for working families who need to keep their children safe and engaged once the school day ends. And. Whereas, Afterschool programs prevent youth violence by creating safe, welcoming spaces for youth during the key hours of 3 to 6 p.m. where they can connect with trusted adults and cultivate the social emotional skills needed to make positive decisions for themselves. And. Whereas, The Denver Afterschool Alliance has provided significant leadership in the area of community involvement in education and well-being of our youth, grounded in the principle that quality afterschool programs are key to helping our children become successful adults. And. Whereas, many afterschool programs across the country, in our state and in our city are faced with funding challenges that are forcing them to close their doors to youth and families in need. And the temporary influx of federal COVID 19 relief funds will only provide short term assistance and not address the most industry systemic funding crisis. And where, as the city and county of Denver and the Denver City Council are invested in the health and safety of all young people by supporting expanded learning opportunities that will help close the achievement gap and prepare young people to complete to compete in the global economy. Where, as the Denver City Council pledges to support afterschool providers so that Denver's youth and families have access to programs that support their success and strengthen our city. Now, therefore let it be proclaimed by the Council and the city and county of Denver, Section one, that the Denver City Council recognized the recognizes the outstanding leadership of the Denver Afterschool Alliance in bringing together all stakeholders to create a collaborative, long term plan for our city's after school system and recognizes the 2021 national lights on after school day. Thursday, October 28, 2021. Section two that the clerk of the city and county of Denver shall attest and affix the seal of the city and county of Denver to this proclamation and transmitted to the Office of Children's Affairs. Thank you, Councilmember Cashman. Your motion to adopt. Yes, Madam President. I move the proclamation. Number 21. Does 1267 be adopted? Thank you. It's been moved and seconded. Comments by members of Council. Councilmember Cashman. Thank you, Madam President. I think the proclamation speaks for itself. At any time, no less, at a time of pandemic, you know, we know that idle hands and idle minds can be the devil's plaything, as the old expression goes. And by keeping our kids involved, giving them extra learning opportunities, extra opportunities to simply keep their minds working at a time when so many kids spend too much time on screens. So with that, I'd like to thank the Afterschool Alliance for the good work that they do and ask for my colleagues support and with this proclamation. Very good. Thank you, Councilman Cashman. And as a former environmental education provider who did a lot of those afterschool programs, I appreciate you shining a light on this, because the work that those providers do is invaluable, especially for our young people and families. And so happy to support this this evening. Madam Secretary, roll call. Sandoval. I. Cashman, I. Can each hire. Sawyer. I. Torres, i. Black, i. Clark I. Swin I. Herndon. All right. Madam President. I. Madam Secretary, close the voting and announce the results. You have a nice. 11 eyes proclamation 21 dash 1 to 6 seven has been adopted. Councilman Cashman, do you have somebody that we should invite up to accept the proclamation? Yes, thank you. I'd like to call up MAXINE Quintana, the director of Out of School Time Initiative, the Office of Children's Affair. Thank you, Councilman Cashman, Cashman and to the rest of you for letting us shed light on the essential role. That afterschool programs and providers play, not only for our families and our children and our youth, but on our economy. As a whole. Despite all of the great work that we've done in the city to make sure that we have resources available to support programs, we still have a. Significant, significant funding. Challenge ahead of us that is really help long term systemic funding issue, I should say, ahead of us. Over the past year, we've really been working to make sure that our funding. Community and philanthropic community understands what's happening. In the city landscape. And I just wanted to share a quick video with you guys that brings to life a little bit more about what these funding challenges look like on the ground for our children and our families. So hopefully this works. Let's see. They said I. Shouldn't have to do is like playing at. Sea. My daughter attends the after school program because I work. I have nobody to help me take care of her. Simple as that. Johnson Elementary is a neighborhood school in southwest Denver. We really try to pride ourselves as being a true community school and really valuing community partnerships. Boys and Girls Club is a big part of that. I think the Boys and Girls Club has been here as long as I've been here, and really they are the center of what makes that community school program work. That cafeteria is full after school and it is loud. And fun and just. Filled with different choices for the kids to be able to make and learn new skills. And they just get so much more. Out of our school because. Of the after school program. Our afterschool programs are offered five days a week, and they provide essential. Support for working families where they're every day so that kids have a safe, stable, fun place to be while parents are at work. We offer a hot, free dinner every night and snacks available to. Every kid who comes through the club. Boys and Girls Club gives. Them so many opportunities to do the things that they wouldn't have access to. I think some of them need to come here for the kind of activity and care that we offer. We have a lot of students who come from incredible families but don't have the access to different programs or different extracurricular activities for their kids. And Boys and Girls. Club provides all of that, and it's here. They don't have to go anywhere else. Here we have something that we know works better than any of the alternatives to have things available in the school, in the center of the community. It just makes sense to do what we're doing, and it doesn't make sense that we have to beg to scratch and claw our way to to keep these programs up and running and available to our students every year. There's just such. A value to them and to us and our community and just uplift all of us. It's helped me learn and learn activities that help me. I don't see a way where Johnson is, Johnson where the school is, what we want it to be without this partnership. I don't know what I would do without it. So thankful that it's here. You know, when I could speak for a lot of parents that we're so thankful and grateful because if not, I don't think we could work. And then, you know, it affects our children. So families need this like the school hours and work hours. Don't don't line up all the time. And beyond that, it's just like they see the value in what's going to happen here. And they know that their kids are going to have their social emotional learning. They're going to become more confident. They're going to get more academic support. All these things happen after school. They're going to get another healthy meal and healthy snacks. All of these things are things that this program is able to provide that tilt the scale in terms of what you look for as a school, as a parent. It's really fun. I don't know what I'll do without it. So so what that last slide really says is that because of the influx of COVID relief dollars. We were able to save this program for two more years. But what happens in two years when that funding dries up? So we have a long term systemic funding issue. And again, I want to thank you guys for. The. Support that you. Have continued to give to our. School time programs year after year. And yet we still have an issue. So we just want to. Continue to include you in our advocacy efforts. I'm happy to provide each and every one of you with specific information on your. District and what's happening there. If that's something that would be helpful and you can continue to expect to hear from us with all the great things that are happening in that space. So thank you very much. Wonderful. Thank you so much for all your work that you do. All right. We're going to go ahead and move on here. Madam Secretary, please read the bills for introduction this evening.