Mission Statement

cityWILD is a bold attempt to bring the typically exclusive world of outdoor experiential education to a broad non-traditional audience: low-income youth of color. For the past eight years, cityWILD has been providing tuition-free, comprehensive experiential education programs for at risk youth in northeast Denver. The mission of cityWILD is to provide low income and culturally diverse youth with outdoor and environmental learning opportunities, while promoting personal empowerment, leadership and community involvement. cityWILD motivates participants to reach their potential at school, at home and in their communities – and they succeed.

Brief History

cityWILD was founded in 1997 by Jere Lester, MSW, Lara Solomon, and Read McCulloch (Executive Director). The agency’s first outdoor adventure pilot trip was launched in the summer of 1998. Later that year, the organization began targeting young people in northeast Denver. Over the next nine months of all volunteered time, cityWILD founders wrote curriculum, developed community connections, and secured funding to more formally launch the cityWILD program. Since then, the organization has operated for eight successful years, slowly expanding services to meet demand. Using the outdoors as a classroom and laboratory for hands-on learning, cityWILD offers year-round, youth development programs which provide at risk students with challenging activities, opportunities for growth, healthy lifestyles, peer bonding, and supportive adults.

.: cityWILD :.

City Kids Experience The Outdoors On Platte River VIDEO >>