By Jami Hayes  YouthZone Executive Director  During the last year, YouthZone experienced a significant need for intensive mental health and substance use counseling and support for our families in our communities. Substance-related referrals doubled, and parent consultations and education significantly increased. From 2019 through 2020, YouthZone served 1,300 youth and families through counseling, coaching, parent education and restorative justice. Twelve […]

The 2021 YouthZone Legacy Event was an opportunity to reconnect with our legacy members. This year’s focus was to show appreciation for the longest-running donors as well as the newest additions to the Legacy Club. This event gave YouthZone’s new Executive Director Jami Hayes the opportunity to meet some of the organization’s wonderful supporters and […]

Sharlene (Sharla) Salinas recently joined YouthZone’s team of youth advocates with a mission to bring lived experience and understanding to the organization’s work. Sharla has a passion for mentoring youth and has always been intrigued by the criminal justice system. She believes that her diverse work history in education, legal work and health services will be an asset to her as […]

YouthZone Offers Tools to Handle Stress Through Mindfulness By Katie Westcott How you handle stress is important. At YouthZone, we’ve seen kids facing both real and perceived pressures that they are often not equipped to handle. During a YouthZone assessment, kids talk to us about how they deal with stress. Some have positive coping skills […]

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, COLO. (April 4, 2021) – YouthZone’s evolution from an activity-based youth program in the 1970s to a full support network for teens and families who are in crisis or need legal help has required strong leadership through the last 45 years. Jami Hayes, recent Vice Principal of Riverview School, is next in line […]

Rami El Gharib Restorative Justice Coordinator   Covid has both isolated and disconnected us from our friends and families, and many of us have been craving that sense of connection again. To bring some peace to our community, YouthZone is holding a “Listen to your Community” project. This project aims to hold restorative community building […]

Lori Mueller Executive Director “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” H.P. Lovecraft At times we look forward to different opportunities on our horizon and to a fresh way of doing things. There is a sense of adventure that can […]

Claire Hemme Communications Coordinator   In the last year schools have seen a dizzying number of obstacles that have destroyed any sense of normalcy for students and teachers alike. Last spring’s pandemic wave left schools scrambling to find solutions to make online learning possible. Because of this, many teachers stopped seeing students for reasons ranging from poor accessibility to a general lack of motivation. Now, it is unclear whether existing attendance policies or the pandemic are to blame.  Any […]

YouthZone is humbled with gratitude for the 1,870 donations that came from the Channel 9 News Word of Thanks feature with Kyle Clark. Lori Mueller said, “This kind of support is what empowers us to continue working with kids and families. Each donation helps us make our community even stronger.” Channel 9 featured YouthZone and two other nonprofits on the Western Slope, Friends of Youth and Gear […]