Centro de Los Trabajadores offers WorkReady participants the opportunity to choose hands-on skills learning for careers in hospitality, construction, and child care.
DENVER, CO — Launched in April, the Denver Asylum Seeker Program is now in its first phase of teaching practical skills to immigrants selected to participate in the program through the WorkReady program, operated in partnership with the city and Centro. It’s in stage 2. De los trabajadores.
After completing basic skills such as English classes, computer skills, resume writing, and labor exploitation awareness courses, participants can choose the path they want to take. After completing the first stage, participants can choose between hospitality, construction and childcare to learn more specialized skills.
Those who choose hospitality are currently taking a 10-week culinary course taught by Chef Lee at Metropolitan State University. MSU designs courses to be skills-based rather than theory-based, so participants can develop entry-level skills to work in a commercial kitchen. Lee will teach the class in English with the support of an interpreter from Centro de los Trabajadores.
“My passion was to study cooking, but I could never do it. There was a lack of resources, a lack of opportunities,” said Andres Goenaga, who was accepted into the program after arriving in March 2023. he said.
In Colombia, Goenaga worked as a security guard. Now that he’s in the United States, he can pursue interests he didn’t have before. He hopes that someday it will lead to him opening his own restaurant.
“My dream is to take advantage of the opportunities I have here in America and become, as Professor Lee says, one of America’s greatest chefs,” Goenaga said.
Goenaga is choosing a career path she never had the chance to pursue before, while the other participants are continuing on the same path they took while working in South America. Ruth Duque worked at her sister’s restaurant for a time in Venezuela. She and her husband were also pastors who helped people in need. She hopes to one day combine both passions here in the United States.
“My biggest dream is to start a foundation that can help drug addicts, people living on the streets and the homeless go to the areas where the most needy people live,” Duque said.
She and her husband eventually hope to maintain a restaurant or bakery that can serve those in need while running the church.
“Honestly, this was a huge blessing. I’m working hard here,” Duque said.
To develop this program, Centro de los Trabajadores researched which industries in Colorado needed workers. Based on that research, we offered three industry tracks after assessing participants’ interests and previous work experience.
“It wasn’t a coincidence. We actually talked to them. We saw the skills they had,” said Mayra, executive director of Centro de los Trabajadores.・Juarez Dennis said.
Juarez-Deniz said what’s important is that immigrants have the opportunity to choose what they want to pursue. For her, it gives dignity to the workers they serve.
“So they consciously chose that path. I think that’s another avenue for us to provide. That’s very unusual in our immigrant communities. Usually when they arrive, we… say they will accept anything to survive,” Juarez-Deniz said.
