COLORADO AFRICAN ORGANZIATION
THE ORGANIZATION
With current programs in Education, Health, and Social Integration, the Colorado African Organization (CAO) is a unique ethnic community-based nonprofit organization. CAO is supported by African ethnic and national partner community organizations (e.g. Congolese Community of Colorado, Senegalese Association of Colorado); and regarded by Colorado’s receiving community as the gateway to the state’s hard-to-reach, high-need and hard-to-involve African communities. Based in Denver, CAOʼs mission is to foster unity, advocate for all Africans in Colorado and provide services, with an emphasis on programming that creates self-sufficiency and sustainable success for individuals and communities. With an estimated 35,000 African immigrants and refugees in the Denver metro-area, we seek to help the African population realize their dreams.
CURRENT PROJECTS
• Multi-level ESL and Citizenship: CAO offers both flexible “open-door” and closed enrollment classes to familiarize African immigrants and refugees with English and allow them to work toward fluency. The organization furthermore offers courses that outline the importance of naturalization, strategies for approaching the citizenship process, and integration into American life as citizens.
• Computer Literacy: CAO offers beginner and intermediate computer literacy courses that range from basic operation to job searching.
• Health Education: CAOʼs health education program is three-faceted. In preventive health education sessions, Africans in Colorado learn about the diseases and ailments to which they are vulnerable as they ease into American lifestyle, including diabetes and obesity, heart disease, and cancer. Community Health Workers from 14 different African nations carry this further by conducting peer workshops that also include topics such as visiting a doctor, going to the hospital, and applying for insurance and Medicare. CAO additionally works with African communities throughout Colorado to assist in testing, treatment, and awareness of HIV/AIDS.
• Case Management: This includes housing assistance, medicaid, job opportunities, change of visa status, etc.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENT INVOLVEMENT
Internships available
CONTACT AND INFORMATION
George Brown | [email protected] | 303-953-7060
Address: 6795 E. Tennessee Ave. Suite 250, Denver, CO 80224