DENVER YOUTH PROGRAM

What DENVER YOUTH PROGRAM does

Denver Youth Program (DYP), founded in 1968 in Denver, Colorado as Metro Denver Partners and rebranded in 2024, is a private nonprofit organization operating six community-based programs serving at-risk youth and young adults ages 9 to 45 in the Denver metropolitan area. The portfolio includes AIM, Colorado's only Hospital-based Violence Intervention Program, delivered through partnerships with Denver Health, UCHealth, and Children's Hospital Colorado; GRASP, a gang intervention and intergenerational-trauma program using the El Joven Noble/Xinachtli curricula and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; GRASP Enterprises, a youth-employing silk-screening and embroidery business; the Hummingbird Initiative, a healthcare-career-pathway program at Manual High School delivered with CU Anschutz; Metro Denver Partners, an adult-volunteer mentoring program for youth referred by schools, social workers, and government agencies; My Outdoor Colorado, a coalition delivering outdoor recreation and stewardship in the Cole and Westwood neighborhoods funded by Great Outdoors Colorado; and the R.E.A.C.H. Clinic, which provides wound care and biopsychosocial recovery for bullet-related injuries at locations on Welton Street and Colfax Ave. The organization also founded the national Culture of Care Collaborative in 2025 to convene peer clinics across the country.

All DYP services are provided free of charge to participants; the organization generates no fee-for-service revenue. Funding is sourced from a diversified base of regional and national foundations (The Denver Foundation, Caring for Denver Foundation, Colorado Health Foundation, Public Welfare Foundation, Everytown for Gun Safety), government agencies (Colorado Department of Human Services, Denver Public Safety, GOCO), individual donors, corporate partners, and a small earned-income stream from GRASP Enterprises. DYP operates with a small core staff of nine employees and an extended team of program managers, violence intervention specialists, and outreach workers who are explicitly recruited for lived experience in the populations served.

The operating model is referral-driven and partner-embedded rather than commercial: intake flows through hospital trauma centers, schools, social workers, and the Department of Human Services, while service delivery occurs at hospital bedside, in schools, at community clinics, in parks, and at the Tramway Nonprofit Center headquarters. DYP does not develop or license technology products, does not disclose a core technology stack, and does not offer APIs, mobile applications, or AI/ML capabilities; programmatic differentiation rests on trauma-informed and culturally rooted practices (La Cultura Cura / "Healed People Heal People"), a credentialed workforce, and exclusive regional positioning as Colorado's only HVIP.

Name

DENVER YOUTH PROGRAM

Legal name

Denver Youth Program

Website

https://denveryouthprogram.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1968

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Denver Youth Program is a Denver-based nonprofit operating six programs — including Colorado's only hospital-based violence intervention program (AIM) — that deliver free mentorship, violence intervention, employment training, and outdoor programs to at-risk youth ages 9–45 in the Denver metro area.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Services Nonprofit

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (624110), Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Health Services (8000), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Youth Justice, At-Risk Youth & Violence Prevention Nonprofits (BPAGADAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Youth Mentoring & Positive Youth Development Nonprofits (BPAGADAD), Youth Mental Health, Counseling & Wellbeing (Education-Linked) Nonprofits (BPAGADAK), Arts, Sports & Recreation-Based Youth Development Nonprofits (BPAGADAJ)

Keywords

• Youth violence intervention
• Community mentoring programs
• Gang intervention services
• Youth employment training
• Hospital violence intervention

Headquarters

HQ city

Denver

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Foundation Funding: Funding from foundations including The Denver Foundation, Caring for Denver Foundation, Colorado Health Foundation, and Public Welfare Foundation to support program operations and youth services.
2. Government Funding: Government grants and funding from Colorado Department of Human Services, Denver Public Safety, and Great Outdoors Colorado to support specific program initiatives.
3. Individual and Corporate Donations: Donations from individuals and corporate partners including American Family Insurance, Mountain View Bank of Commerce, and others support organizational operations.
4. GRASP Enterprises Revenue: GRASP Enterprises generates revenue through silk-screening and embroidery services, providing employment and job training for youth participants while generating income for the program.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Denver Youth Program is a nonprofit organization that operates six community-based programs supporting at-risk youth in the Denver metro area. These include hospital-based violence intervention (AIM), gang intervention and support (GRASP), youth employment through a silk-screening business (GRASP Enterprises), healthcare career pathway programs (Hummingbird Initiative), adult volunteer mentoring (Metro Denver Partners), outdoor recreation and environmental stewardship (My Outdoor Colorado), and a clinic for bullet-injury recovery (R.E.A.C.H. Clinic). All services are provided free of charge to participants and accessed through referrals from schools, hospitals, social workers, and government agencies.

Product overview

Denver Youth Program is a nonprofit organization (formerly Metro Denver Partners, founded 1968) operating six distinct community-based programs that address youth violence, provide mentorship, offer employment training, and deliver healthcare pathways. The portfolio includes: AIM (hospital-based violence intervention at Denver Health, UCHealth, and Children's Hospital Colorado); GRASP (gang intervention using culturally-rooted healing practices and CBT); GRASP Enterprises (youth employment in silk-screening/embroidery); Hummingbird Initiative (healthcare career pathway program at Manual High School); Metro Denver Partners (adult volunteer mentoring for ages 9-17); My Outdoor Colorado (environmental education and outdoor recreation in Cole/Westwood communities); and R.E.A.C.H. Clinic (bullet-injury recovery and holistic healing). The organization is not a technology company and does not offer software products, APIs, or AI/ML capabilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• AIM (At-Risk Intervention Mentoring): Colorado's only Hospital-based Violence Intervention Program (HVIP) partnering with Denver Health, University of Colorado Hospital, and Children's Hospital of Colorado.
• GRASP
• GRASP Enterprises
• The Hummingbird Initiative
• Metro Denver Partners
• My Outdoor Colorado
• R.E.A.C.H. Clinic

Products and services

• AIM (At-Risk Intervention Mentoring)

Quantifiable outcome

• 100% graduation rate for Hummingbird Initiative participants vs 69% school average
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.

• Denver HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAIM (At-Risk Intervention and Mentoring) partners with Denver Health Level I trauma center for hospital-based violence intervention services. AIM outreach workers provide bedside interventions for patients presenting with violent injuries.
• UCHealth (University of Colorado Hospital)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAIM program operates at University of Colorado Hospital providing hospital-based violence intervention services for at-risk youth and young adults ages 14-45.
• Children's Hospital of ColoradocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAIM program extends to Children's Hospital of Colorado to serve pediatric and adolescent patients affected by violence.
• CU Anschutz Medical CampuscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHummingbird Initiative is modeled after Faces for the Future national coalition and implemented at Manual High School through CU Anschutz partnership. Provides healthcare career pathways and workforce development.
• Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro DenversecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerMOC partner providing youth programming and outdoor activities for Cole and Westwood community youth and families.
• Denver Parks and RecreationsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerMOC partner providing access to parks and outdoor spaces for community programming.
• The Greenway FoundationsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerMOC partner supporting environmental education and greenway programming.
• Groundwork DenversecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerMOC partner focused on environmental improvement and community development.
• Lincoln Hills CaressecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerMOC partner providing outdoor recreation and environmental programming.
• Mile High Youth CorpssecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerMOC partner providing youth employment and corps programming.
• Volunteers for Outdoor ColoradosecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerMOC partner supporting volunteer-driven outdoor projects and stewardship.
• University of Colorado School of MedicinecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner collaborating on REACH Clinic research, community violence initiatives, and Violence Prevention Professional-led research team. Ginny McCarthy serves as assistant professor in Department of Surgery.
• Culture of Care CollaborativesecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational collaborative of clinics from cities across the country facilitating access to care post hospital discharge for individuals injured through violence. REACH Clinic hosted founding reverse site visit in February 2025.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver: Direct peer in Denver youth development; DYP actually partners with them on My Outdoor Colorado. Both serve at-risk Denver youth with community-based programming, mentorship, and recreational activities.
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of America: National youth mentoring organization with the same volunteer-adult-mentor model as DYP's Metro Denver Partners program. Both match at-risk youth ages 9-17 with adult mentors referred through schools and social services.
• Health Alliance for Violence Intervention (HAVI): National convener of Hospital-based Violence Intervention Programs; DYP staff member Alma Mireles-Monsivais serves on HAVI Training Faculty. HAVI is the umbrella peer to DYP's AIM program and the Culture of Care Collaborative.
• Communities In Schools: National dropout-prevention nonprofit placing coordinators inside schools to support at-risk students—comparable to DYP's school-based Hummingbird Initiative and GRASP partnerships with ten schools.
• Cure Violence Global: National violence-intervention nonprofit employing public-health approach to gun violence reduction. Comparable to GRASP and AIM in treating violence as a contagious, interruptible behavior with trained outreach workers.
• Faces for the Future Coalition: National healthcare-pathways coalition that the DYP Hummingbird Initiative is directly modeled after and affiliated with. Both train high school students for healthcare careers with internships and certifications.
• GRASP (National): National network of GRASP programs founded in Phoenix; DYP's GRASP is an independent Denver chapter using the same El Joven Noble/Xinachtli curricula and culturally rooted healing framework.

Broad incumbents

• National Mentoring Partnership (MENTOR): National umbrella organization advancing youth mentoring; DYP's Metro Denver Partners mentoring program operates as a member affiliate of this network. Represents the broader mentoring category DYP competes within.

Regional players

• Denver Children's Home: Denver-based nonprofit serving youth and families through mental health, early childhood, and at-risk youth services. Comparable Denver-region peer addressing overlapping trauma and behavioral-health needs.
• Alive at Twenty-Three / Denver Kids Inc. Long-running Denver nonprofit providing long-term mentoring and educational support to at-risk youth from elementary through college—comparable longitudinal case-management model to DYP's Metro Denver Partners.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/GRASPYOUTH
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/denver-youth-program

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about DENVER YOUTH PROGRAM