Juaquin Mobley, senior vice president of CommunityWorks, a faith-based nonprofit organization, remembers watching his father struggle after the family emigrated from the Dominican Republic to the United States with not much money and few possessions.
“It was hard,” Mobley said.
While Mobley’s father was able to find placement in the military, many immigrants aren’t able to get a job or build a career after relocating here from their homeland and end up in the criminal justice system, Mobley said.
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Which is why he’s looking forward to working with some of the newly arrived immigrants who unexpectedly have shown up in Denver.
“As a way to prevent that (criminal activity), we have to serve our brothers and sisters and help them to preserve their dignity,” Mobley said Monday at the CommunityWorks' office in Colorado Springs.
About 600 migrants who crossed into the United States at the Mexico border have landed in Denver over the past few months, according to the Denver Office of Emergency Management.
A total of about 250 have arrived in the past few weeks, with 153 being housed in an emergency shelter set up in an undisclosed recreation center, the agency said.
Forty-eight migrants have been relocated to a church-run shelter site, the agency said, and 35 are preparing for reunification with family or friends and preparing to leave the Denver emergency shelter.
An additional 52 migrants arrived at Denver homeless shelters overnight, the agency reported Monday.
It is unknown how the influx of immigrants reached Colorado, officials have said.
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The Colorado Springs office of CommunityWorks, 1652 S. Circle Drive, isn’t sure how many immigrants it will assist or when they will arrive here, Mobley said.
The local office is one of seven service locations in Colorado and the largest by size and operations, he said.
Some 600 clients come through the Colorado Springs location each year, and 2,000 system-wide, to learn trades’ skills, such as construction, carpentry, woodworking, screen printing, computer software, music and culinary arts.
About 70% of participants have served time in prison or been otherwise entangled in the criminal justice system, Mobley said. Himself included.
Now, the organization will add some of the country’s newest immigrants to its client base.
“This is near and dear to my heart,” Mobley said. “I saw what it’s like to acclimate to the American culture, and there are still a lot of barriers that are hard to overcome. Let’s support them.”
CommunityWorks didn’t seek to become involved with the arrivals; it just happened, Mobley said. The organization doesn’t have an official program for immigrants but will absorb them into the programs it already operates, he added.
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The large office in a strip mall on Colorado Springs’ southeast side buzzes with a barbershop, a resource closet with free clothing, toys and other items, bike giveaways for children and adults, a section for tattoos and a professional clothing boutique for women.
“We’ve got a lot of women battling depression and have no access to nice clothes for job interviews, events or pro-social activities,” Mobley said.
Mobley said because Black and Brown people relate more readily to hair stylists and tattoo artists than they do therapists or counselors, the organization’s barbers will be trained in peer coaching for substance use.
Clients and staff — most of whom are former clients — are building Adirondack chairs and cornhole boards, imprinting business logos on baseball caps and T-shirts, and learning how to use a power drill and a laser wood cutter.
“We built this space because we learn by doing,” Mobley said.
Clients are paired with personal coaches to help them with employment and also are taught how to become entrepreneurs. Hint: Find a solution to a problem a lot of people have, then pitch it to bankers, venture capitalists or investors to jumpstart the idea.
“Restoring hope, empowering lives” is the motto of CommunityWorks.
“We remove barriers, establish goals and improve their quality of life, with everything centered around employment and entrepreneurship,” Mobley said.
Federal and state agencies as well as foundation and individual donations fund the organization, which began in Denver in 1995.
“When people walk through these doors, they’re feeling defeated,” Mobley said. “Our job is to help them restore their dignity and help them find purpose and a career.”
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Immigrants will have access not only to the organization’s offerings but also will be connected to other community resources they might need, Mobley said, such as housing.
“We’re here to serve the underserved,” he said. “We’re going to figure out getting them all the resources they need to be successful, whatever that looks like.”
