A place for kids to be creative in the summer can influence the outcome of their life and faith. It was the unique combination of creativity and compassion that Jazmin Lopez Geminiano experienced as a child that she would extend decades later for children through Art & Jesus Camp.

Jazmin came to the US from Mexico as she entered high school. She lived in the Barnum neighborhood, and during her first summer was encouraged by her mother to attend a Whiz Kids camp. It was the hospitality of Sue Herrera, a Spanish-speaking camp counselor from Taos, New Mexico, that would be one of the many people who would impact the trajectory of Jazmin’s life and faith. Sue invited Jazmin to help the Spanish-speaking children with the crafts. The summer camp is where Jazmin would develop the bravery to speak English aloud. It was also where Sue would share stories about Jesus at the end of each day. Jazmin participated in the summer camp, helping lead crafts alongside Sue every year until she went to college. It was through the encouragement of Sue and many others that Jazmin would go to college to earn a degree in art and graphic design. 

Jazmin married Johnathan, and as her family grew, they became a part of Celebration Community Church. She built relationships with families in the Virginia Village neighborhood through the church’s community outreach programs, including Whiz Kids and MOPS (now Mom Co.). “Neighborhood presence is who we are,” shared Celebration’s Lead Pastor, Jill Jones. “The questions we ask are, ‘What does the neighborhood need? What does the neighborhood want?’” It is Celebration’s value of being incarnational and integrated into the neighborhood combined with Jazmin’s love for creative expression and compassion for children that became the Art & Jesus Camp.

Art & Jesus Camp is a week-long summer day camp for kids in Kindergarten through Middle School with a focus on different art mediums each year. The people of Celebration Community Church continue to host this low-cost camp each year to provide an invitational way for kids in the neighborhood to have a memorable summer experience. “Parents want their children to get out of the house in the summer, but many families can’t afford $600 to send their kids to a traditional summer camp,” shared Jazmin. Art & Jesus Camp provides connection and nutrition for more than 70 kids, many who have limited access to friends and food through the summer season. “We serve a lot of food!” shared Sarah Crippen, who now leads the Art & Jesus Camp. “We have a crew we call the ‘Grandmas in the Kitchen,’ and the kids absolutely love them!”

The creativity of the camp provides a way for kids from different cultural backgrounds to connect. Sarah shares, “Our people love dance and love art. It creates a place for kids to be creative, and they get both the freedom and the safe space to create and to be kids.” Jazmin adds with her infectious delight of creativity that “Everyone loves to leave with something they created to share with their family.”

Creating a place for kids to be creative during summer can have unknown influences in the lives of children and their families. For Jazmin, the arts were an entry into a story of belonging and belief. This summer, Art & Jesus Camp will continue to provide that creative space for children.

Thank you to Jazmin Lopez Geminiano, Jill Jones, and Sara Crippen for their contributions to this article and for Celebration Community Church’s creativity and care for the kids in their neighborhood. 

Practice

1. Choose a craft that creates an invitation. Find an activity that is simple and interactive.

   
   

2. Start small. Do something as simple as hosting an art activity for kids on a front porch or driveway and provide coffee for parents.

   
   

3. Consider ways to scale. Hosting an annual arts camp is a way to build connection and collaboration with your neighborhood.

   
   

Sun Valley Youth Center is a sacred place. The center is a constant within a Denver neighborhood that has experienced consistent economic challenges and decades of conflict around urban development. At the center of this Denver neighborhood is Sun Valley Youth Center, and at the core of Sun Valley Youth Center is Kris Rollerson. Kris is a dedicated leader, community advocate, and care provider who has loved the neighbors and neighborhood of Sun Valley for nearly 30 years.

Sun Valley is a compact neighborhood, less than 1 square mile, with 1,500 residents, located in the shadow of Empower Field. Since the early 1900’s people arriving in Denver from around the world, often immigrants and refugees, have made Sun Valley their home. The area was where working-class families settled near rail lines and industrial jobs. Over the years of highway construction, industrial expansion, and the development of Mile High Stadium, most of the residential community was displaced, leaving only a handful of single-family homes. The construction of public housing in the 1950s concentrated affordable housing into the neighborhood, creating one of Denver's largest public housing communities. 

Now, Sun Valley is the site of Denver’s largest neighborhood redevelopment effort. Kris has a front-row seat as redevelopment replaces aging public housing with mixed-income development, but in the process has displaced neighborhood residents. The upheaval of the neighborhood was most deeply felt in 2023 with the closing of Fairview Elementary School. Walking by the school, Kris points out the tragic irony that the redesign of the hundreds of housing units was centered around the school—and now the school is closed. Sun Valley is a complicated mix of cranes and construction surrounding children and families where historically 80% have lived below the poverty line. In a neighborhood where it is challenging to conceive of collective solutions, Sun Valley Youth Center continually cultivates a place of belonging, creativity, and community.  

Sun Valley Youth Center is a steady place of presence where children, families, and neighbors are welcomed with consistency and care. Their mission of "Empowering youth, family, and community to reach their God given potential" reflects the heart of an organization rooted in hope and healing. Many of the staff of Sun Valley Youth Center grew up in the neighborhood and participated in the program. “It’s vital for kids to see caring adults who look like them and are from their neighborhood,” shares Kris. Rather than viewing Sun Valley through the lens of its challenges, the leadership team of Sun Valley Youth Center has consistently chosen to see their neighbors and friends through the lens of possibility.

Kris began as a volunteer in 1998 and has been the Executive Director of Sun Valley Youth Center since 1999. For decades, she has been a welcoming presence providing kids and teens with a physically safe and emotionally secure place to go after school. The perspective and practice of trauma-informed care is built around three core pillars of Connecting, Empowering, and Correcting. Kris explains, “Kids thrive when they have a safe, engaging space where they feel supported. Sun Valley is a place where kids can form lasting friendships, create positive memories, and prepare for adulthood.” Kris is convincing in her perspective that flourishing begins with belonging. They provide no-to-low cost comprehensive after-school and summer youth programs. Kids, ages 5-18, receive academic support, nutritious meals, recreation, creative opportunities, and most importantly, caring adults who know their names and hold their stories with care. 

Sun Valley Youth Center is a place where leaders love their neighbors and neighborhood through challenges and changes. It is a beautiful place of belonging in our city. Sun Valley Youth Center is a sacred place.