The city of Aurora’s Youth Services Division recently served up a large helping of local resources, entertainment, food and more during its annual Youth and Family Resource Fair at Prisco Community Center in Aurora.
More than 45 local organizations were on hand April 23 giving kids and their parents access to free programs, services and resources aimed at keeping young people engaged in the summer months ahead.
Simon Rodriguez, Aurora youth services manager, said the event has been offered for more than a decade and that the focus of the event every year “was to help others access resources.”
“The original intention in our community – we had a lot of folks that didn’t know how to access resources, didn’t know what was available to them,” Rodriguez said. “That was the focus as well as keeping kids active and engaged and out of trouble. We know the unfortunate history of gang violence that has plagued ours and many communities. This was one of the ways to ensure that our young people have an avenue to be active in their community.”
Rodriguez said that “summertime creates an opportunity where we can have an education learning loss. Kids aren’t able to retain the things they’ve learned throughout the year so that is why we want to especially highlight the opportunities that youth have over the summer. That includes early childhood through high school and college level students.”
Resources at the event included job opportunities, “after-school and summer programs, the local school districts and library.”
“We have mentors’ groups and many folks from various areas representing physical and mental health and food pantries, both Boy and Girl Scouts, and we actually have a few organizations that are focused on youth employment and career exploration,” Rodriguez said.
Participants at the event said they were glad to have so many resources in one place.
Monica Oliva of Aurora said she has been to the fair in the past and that “it’s always a great opportunity to come out here and see the different resources they have for the community.”
“My daughter got involved before in a summer camp. I’m hoping to look at some of the resources again but we also came out just to be a part of the community and see what they have to offer,” she said.
Whitley Graham of Aurora said this was her first time at the event and that she “was hoping to get something for my son – some resources or programs – summer stuff.”
“I hope to find T-ball or a sports program. He’s very into gymnastics too,” she said. “I like that everything is here all brought together.”
Grace Varela of Aurora said she was looking for resources and that two of her girls would be performing at the event as well.
“I like the raffles and the opportunities to be involved in the community. I’ve come before and it’s a nice event,” she said. “For me, I’ve found things for the kids to do. I know there are the food drives and I’ve looked into programs for my kids … a lot of great things to do. This keeps kids engaged in the summer.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
