Sun Valley Youth Center
“Sun Valley Youth Center is a place where kids can form lasting friendships, create positive memories, and prepare for adulthood.”
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.
Thank you to Kris Rollerson for her conversation and contributions to this article; we are inspired by her love and longevity in and for her neighborhood.
