PUEBLO, Colo. — Just weeks after Shiloh House of Pueblo launched a new alternative education program for elementary school students in southern Colorado, local teens are helping make the space feel like home.
Members of Roots and Rise, a youth enrichment program, are painting a mural inside the facility to welcome the students who will use it.
WATCH: Pueblo teens paint mural to welcome students at Shiloh House's new alternative education program
"We are a youth enrichment program, and our main mission and goal is just to encourage empathy and community," said Tlalli Ordaz, a Roots and Rise leader helping with the mural.
Shiloh House of Pueblo opened its day treatment center last month, providing a safe space for students who cannot always participate in a traditional classroom setting.
Danity Vasquez, a student artist, said the mural is meant to give those students a sense of belonging from the moment they arrive.
"They're gonna find a new community here, and I feel like I'm really happy that that's gonna be able to help them," Vasquez said.
"I feel like this, specifically, is really gonna help them," she said.
The mural is being painted in what will serve as a multipurpose room inside the facility.
"This room will be the multimedia purpose room, so it could be a game room, it could be where they come to have lunch, it could be a classroom from time to time," Ordaz said.
The design process was guided by local artist Matte Refic, who helped the youth contributors shape their vision.
"They gave their feedback based on what ideas they would present as options for a mural design," Refic said.
The mural reflects themes of Pueblo and community, with students contributing their own perspectives to the work.
"Teaming up as a team to put things about Pueblo and what it feels like to you, what it looks like to you," said Devon Duran, another student artist.
"I'm really excited to see how it turns out. I really like the people that I'm working with," Vasquez added.
