Located at Morrison Road and Custer Place in Southwest Denver.
Maternal Mental Health
Expanding a Trusted Circle of Care
Pregnancy, parenthood, and the earliest years of a child’s life can bring joy, but they can also bring stress, anxiety, sadness, and isolation. Families need support that appreciates their experiences, reflects their culture, and meets them where they are. The Alma Project for Maternal Mental Health is Lifespan Local’s free, peer-delivered program for expecting families and those with children three years old or younger. Alma’s trained community companions provide evidence-based practices, home visits, practical tools, emotional support, and connections to resources. Services are available in English, Spanish, and Somali.
Families also find connection through Alma Kids, Circles of Security attachment-based classes, Cafecitos, English classes, community baby showers, and clothing and diaper distributions. Together, these services create a trusted community where parents and children can grow and thrive.
Alma’s current space can no longer accommodate the program’s growing reach. El Alma Colectiva will give Alma more room to serve families, with dedicated offices, instructional classrooms, a community kitchen, a private lactation room, and expanded space for family resources and programming.
El Alma Colectiva will preserve the trusted Alma experience while opening its doors to more families.
El Alma Colectiva
“A place where families belong, and where family, friend and neighbor caregivers can thrive.”
A Partnership Between Lifespan Local and La Cocina
Expanding a Trusted Circle of Care
La Cocina is a nonprofit mental health organization that has supported more than 1,000 Latine families across Colorado. Its work focuses on culturally grounded mental health care, community healing, and the wellbeing of young children from birth through age five and the adults who care for them. At El Alma Colectiva, La Cocina will maintain dedicated offices and work alongside Lifespan Local to support families throughout pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and the earliest years of a child’s life.
Bringing La Cocina and the Alma Project together will create a more connected continuum of care. Families will be able to access peer support, early childhood programming, community resources, and mental health services in one welcoming and culturally responsive place.
This partnership reflects a shared belief: caring for young children means caring for the parents, caregivers, and communities which surround them.
Family, Friend, and Neighbor Caregivers
Essential Caregivers Deserve Essential Support
Pregnancy, parenthood, and the Many young children in Southwest Denver are cared for by grandparents, relatives, friends, neighbors, and other trusted adults. Known as Family, Friend, and Neighbor caregivers, they are an essential part of the early childhood workforce. Families often rely on these caregivers because they offer trusted relationships, cultural and linguistic continuity, flexible schedules, and care within familiar home and community settings. For many families, they make work, school, and daily life possible.
Despite their importance, Family, Friend, and Neighbor caregivers find themselves outside the traditional early childhood systems. They do not have access to the training, coaching, educational materials, professional networks, and other supports available to center-based providers.
El Alma Colectiva will help close that gap. Family, Friend, and Neighbor caregivers will have a place to build skills, connect with peers, access resources, and receive the same level of professional support offered to other early childhood providers.
Supporting these caregivers means supporting the children, families, and neighborhoods that depend on them.
To learn more and schedule a tour, contact:
Dr. Lydia Prado | Lydia@lifespanlocal.org | 720.220.0185
Workforce Development
Strengthening the People Who Care for Our Children
Denver needs a strong and supported early childhood workforce. With 61 of Colorado’s 64 counties lacking enough licensed childcare centers to serve their communities, half of Colorado’s childcare is provided by family, friend and neighbors who receive little or no compensation.
Westwood has a rich Family, Friend & Neighbor network, yet many educators and caregivers face limited access to professional development, peer connection, and the resources they need to grow in their roles. This challenge affects the entire community. When the early childhood workforce is supported, families have more dependable care, caregivers are better equipped to respond to children’s needs, and young children benefit from safe, consistent, and nurturing environments.
El Alma Colectiva will create a dedicated place for caregiver training, professional development, coaching, peer learning, and resource sharing. It will help current caregivers strengthen their skills while creating pathways for more community members to become part of the early childhood workforce.
By investing in Family, Friend & Neighbor caregivers, El Alma Colectiva will strengthen Southwest Denver’s early childhood system for generations to come, while honoring the childcare choices families make.
To learn more and schedule a tour, contact:
Dr. Lydia Prado | Lydia@lifespanlocal.org | 720.220.0185
This will be the place
“People need a place. They want a place to belong, a place to call their own. A place where they can take risks and be cared for, be respected, be learning, a place to heal.”
Paulina Erices-Ocampo
Former Director
Alma Project for Maternal Mental Health