WeeCycle was honored to be invited to the Denver Indian Family Resource Center
(DIFRC) Annual meeting to witness first hand the great strides they have made in
2012 to continue to assist the needs of Colorado Indian families. DIFRC provides
support and programs for Indian family preservation, reunification, child welfare,
advocacy, healthy living programs and behavioral health programs. DIFRC has
provided intensive child welfare services to thousands of children and reunited
hundreds of children in the foster care system, with their families again since its
beginning.
Over an amazing dinner of posole made by their healthy living class, we were
entertained by the youth group dancers. These children meet weekly to learn the
dances of their elders at DIFRC and slowly make their own costumes over several
years due to the great expense of their beauty and detail.
DIFRC programs meet the needs of Indian families to create strong family bonds,
live healthy lives by eating nutritionally and exercising. They also help in crisis;
helping families gain the parenting skills and receive the mental health services
they need to become strong parenting role models which can result in the families
being reunited with their children. The reality is that many children have never had
a positive parent role model in their life due to drug or alcohol abuse. DIFRC teaches
the much needed parenting skills that many Indian parents need.
