EGS & Partners (EGS&P) is a grassroots organization dedicated to fostering outreach, advocacy, and education on environmental, health, and community development issues in North Denver and other underserved areas. Our mission is to empower residents to confront environmental and income-based disparities through community organizing, arts, education, leadership development, health initiatives, and environmental activism.
As a nonprofit, we strive to champion a sustainable and thriving environment, fostering improved quality of life in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. Our commitment lies in orchestrating environmental, entrepreneurial, and educational initiatives, promoting arts and cultural enrichment, fostering leadership, and enhancing community health.
Through inclusive community gatherings, we endeavor to foster constructive dialogue among residents, law enforcement, business proprietors, and representatives from various municipal departments. Our aim is to cultivate robust collaboration and forge a future characterized by vibrancy and equity for all.
Our programs help empower the community through initiatives such as Community Flavor, a 32-week free cooking and entrepreneurship program for low-income students. The Women Leading Communities program engages women in three projects: community, personal, and professional development. Other programs include Healing Through the Arts, which supports mental, emotional, and physical health, as well as environmental initiatives like Tree Planting, initiated in 2019. Additionally, we offer EGS Walking Tours and the ECOMujeres Alliance, which collects community data through surveys.
Our impact, is that community trust our hard work.
Founder / CEO - Sandra Ruiz Parrilla, is from Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico. From an early age, she tirelessly advocated for justice, inspired by a childhood marked by abuse and neglect. Her constant struggle focuses on building a better life for others. Sandra, in addition to being an activist and community leader, immerses herself in holistic therapies and ancestral practices to stay rooted. Al
Co-Founder - Globeville resident - Isaac Aaron Cruz, a native of Denver, CO, demonstrated his talent as a gifted student from a young age. Following in the footsteps of her mother, a community advocate. He has been a volunteer delivering food boxes, he has cooked for 600 families in just one day, and he has participated in different volunteer projects. He prefers to operate discreetly, avoiding
Aracely Carrillo, born July 16, 1975 in Chihuahua, Mexico, has resided in Colorado for 24 years. Mother of two children, she has dedicated 10 years as a volunteer, focusing on supporting women and young people. His passion for a better future is reflected in his active community involvement. Now, he channels his valuable community knowledge into the organization's leadership, solidifying his commi
Judith Quintero, born February 1, 1975 in Mexico City, is a passionate advocate for community and nature. Her love of helping and sharing is reflected in her dedication to learning about the individual interests of the people she meets. He adores nature and finds excitement in every season of the year, with the mountains being his favorite refuge. Her life is marked by the constant desire to learn
Laura Araluce, a native of Mexico City, has been a Colorado resident for 24 years and mother of four daughters. Enthusiastic about the opportunity to contribute to her community, she is especially excited to work on initiatives that benefit women. Her commitment and enthusiasm promise a positive impact in her work for community well-being.
Advisor - Jorge Merida
Since 2019, EGS&P has worked collectively with neighbors and allies to create community-driven tree plantings in zip code 80216, the Elyria-Swansea and Globeville neighborhoods. Zip code 80216 has significantly lower tree canopy coverage than other areas in Denver, leading to dangerously hot temperatures during summer months and contributing to poor air quality year-round. EGS&P’s theory of change involves neighbors visioning and re-visioning how they want their community to approach environmental resilience in a historically industrial corridor. To date, EGS&P has planted hundreds of trees through the community-driven tree planting project, and was a key partner in expanding the program to more neighbors in 2021.
EGS&P is currently establishing a community council of zip code 80216 neighbors that will advise a community-based health study of North Denver starting in 2021. In this capacity, EGS&P works with community leaders, scientists and public health officials to create resident-driven participatory research goals. These activities are related to Sierra Club, et al. v. Chao, et. al, an environmental justice lawsuit that addressed the widening of the I-70 highway through North Denver. The settlement establishes a funding stream for a community-based health study and climate resilience activities in Globeville, Elyria and Swansea.
EGS&P is an RNO (registered neighborhood organization), hosting monthly resident meetings that engage neighbors and allies, provide an informative resource for residents on developments impacting 80216, reporting from district area police, and reporting from various infrastructure and CIty planning departments (i.e. Central 70, National Western Center)
We are a group of neighbors working to improve the quality of life in our neighborhoods.
Our neighborhoods have been called three of the most polluted neighborhoods in the country. But more than that, our neighborhoods are inhabited by immigrants from various parts, and that makes us have a very rich culture and traditions.
Because every neighborhood is important, and deserves a quality of life like any other neighborhood in wealthy areas.
Why am I the way I am and do what I do? When I was little I suffered abandonment from my parents and constant abuse from my grandparents, my aunt, and schoolmates. I grew up not speaking for fear that my grandfather would hit me if I said something he didn't like, since he was a really bad person. Until I decided to speak at 9 years old, since I was in this country. When I arrived in Denver, CO. from Cuernavaca, my city in Mexico. I saw the situation differently. I saw that I finally had a voice. I reached 8 years of age, from then on I began to express myself little by little, without fear of being hit. When I was 12 years old, it was the first time I defended a schoolmate from some bullies who were pushing her. I didn't believe the strength that came out of me, but it felt very good to be able to protect someone and defend her. Since then I became a protector of the defenseless and expressed the injustice.
For that reason I like what I do, I have been fighting for justice since I was 12, Since I was 20, I started advocating for neighborhoods and schools. Always behind organizations that always took all the credit, that started with a good vision and mission, but became corrupt when the thousands of dollars began to fall in the orgs. That's why, since 2014, I started doing things independently, although I still volunteered in different organizations.
I have never believed myself to be more than anyone else, since I know what it means to struggle in the world. When I was little, sometimes I only ate a lemon with sugar for several days, or I ate toothpaste, because I was so hungry. I know about constant abuse, hitting, screaming, insults, it hurts because the trauma is always there. With my two ex-partners I also suffered abuse, different, but it was constant abuse. Although I was already a "strong" woman, I still went through abuse.
That is why I am grateful to life for all the tests and challenges it has given me and continues to give me, because I know that I have a mission in this life, and I know that it is my voice. That voice that many are missing. That's why I opened my neighborhood organization, and my nonprofit organization. Because I see the constant abuse of organizations that steal from neighborhoods and forget what their mission was, and the abuse from the system, the city, corporations, developers and the wealthy.
I am not perfect, I am still learning over time how to manage two organizations, and still have time to support neighbors, people who need help, supporting other organizations and without forgetting that I have three beautiful children, who give me strength. every day. I am still in the learning process, but it is an endless learning, because that is what life is, a great school that has no end.
We offer a variety of programs to help our clients get back on their feet. From job training to mental health counseling, we provide the resources and support necessary to help individuals achieve their goals.
Volunteers are the backbone of our organization. We offer a variety of opportunities for individuals and groups to get involved and make a difference in the lives of those we serve.
Arielle Milkman
EGS and Partners supporter
Thomas Sharfenberg - Elyria Neighbor
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