$16,258 raised by 52 donors
100% complete
$10,000 Goal
The Village Exchange Center is a community center and multi-faith space established to support and empower the immigrants, refugees, and other community members of northwest Aurora as they navigate the challenges of a new country and culture. The Village Exchange Center began in 2017 when Aurora’s shrinking faith community of St. Matthew Evangelical Lutheran Church donated four parcels of land and their 17,000 square-foot building, hoping to leave a legacy that would serve the neighborhood’s changing population.
The Village Exchange Center has brought some activities for learning like an after school program for kids. This after school program helped me with my kids and I also learned about citizenship and how to help my community as a Natural Helper. The Village Exchange Center has done a lot (a big favor) to help us grow as a community.
Jacqueline Hawazii - The Way Pentecostal Congolese Church Member
It overwhelms my heart," says Alex, a 26-year old Venezuelan immigrant, who worked on our Village Farms this summer and now helps with our after-school youth program. "It was a remarkable experience. It felt like home, and like a cultural exchange." Alex worked with other Venezuelans as well as individuals from El Salvador and Mexico in this new initiative at Stanley Marketplace that promotes food security in a food desert. "It was powerful. We are here and able to create this green spot for food justice."
Alex- Village Farms
Village Exchange Center’s mission is to celebrate religious and cultural diversity with the overarching goal of empowering newly arrived and hosting communities by creating opportunities for social, cultural and economic exchange. Village Exchange Center provides a hub for programs, organizations and services that support inclusion, engagement, and empowerment while respecting and honoring these communities’ unique traditions and values.
The Village Exchange Center ("VEC") was co-founded by Marcel Narucki, Pastor of St Matthew Lutheran Church and former Comaldolese monk of Mexican and Polish origin, and Amanda Blaurock, an attorney and entrepreneur of Jewish faith. Compelled to action by the changing political climate and rhetoric surrounding immigration issues in 2016, they envisioned a welcoming and inclusive space in which arriving and receiving communities could interact, access resources and collectively shape their community.
Organization name
Village Exchange Center
other names
VEC
2017
Tax id (EIN)
81-5174986
Category
Human Services
Organization Size
Large Organization
Colorado State Tax Credits
Colorado Enterprise Zone Credit
Address
1609 Havana StHeadquarters
1609 Havana StArapahoe County, CO, US