Less then 24 hours after Melissa’s arrival we got down and dirty in the kitchen. Every year honorary gypsy Melissa uses her vacation days to spend some time living the van life. We didn’t waste any time today. The three of us got up shortly after the sun and headed to downtown Denver to Urban Peak.
Urban Peak was founded in 1988 and today is the only non-profit organization in Denver that provides a full convergence of services for youth ages 15 through 24 experiencing homelessness or at imminent risk of becoming homeless. Their goal is to help these youth overcome real life challenges and become self-sufficient adults.
They do this by providing five essential services at little or no cost to the youth

an overnight shelter
a daytime Drop-In Center

Street Outreach

Education & Employment programming

Supportive housing

What better way is there to help today’s youth then provide them with the most important meal of the day, breakfast? The three of us, along with the helping hands of a few other weekly volunteers, took over the kitchen and made scrambled eggs, pancakes, and a shelter favorite, tots, for over 100 kids.

The people at Urban Peak and the youth at the shelter were very appreciative of our kitchen skills and we left with smiles on our faces and a whole day to explore.