Sharing our 2024-2025 Annual Report
We’re thrilled to present our 2024-2025 Annual Report, Standing Together, where we share our reflections, updates, and achievements from the past program year. In a non-stop world, we are grateful for the opportunity to pause, reflect on our experiences, and take forward our learning alongside those we work with. As we reflect on the last year, we are honored by the community members, participants, staff, board members, volunteers, partners, donors, and all who have stood together with us on this journey.
Click here to read our annual report.
Strengthening Our Impact – Bringing Alma into Learning with Love
At Valley Settlement, our programs are deeply interconnected — staff work closely with families for months and sometimes years, and many families participate in more than one program, allowing us to identify patterns and opportunities for meaningful collaboration. One powerful example is the long-standing, growing connection between Learning with Love (LWL) and Alma.
In LWL, family educators work with parents/caregivers and their children ages 0 to 3 through home visits and group classes, developing deep, trusting relationships. Most adult LWL participants are mothers, and over the years, many have opened up to their family educator about their experiences of perinatal stress, anxiety, and depression. Their stories led us to collaborate with a team of researchers at CU Boulder and other pilot sites around Colorado to develop Alma, a peer-support mental health program for pregnant and postpartum women with young children.
This year, we plan to develop and pilot a new curriculum based on Alma, directly within our Learning with Love groups. Designed by experts in Behavioral Activation and trained Valley Settlement staff, this new behavioral health component will introduce Alma education and tools to moms in a group setting — reducing stigma, promoting emotional well-being, and creating a more welcoming pathway into our Alma program for one-on-one peer support.
We hope this pilot will strengthen both programs, helping more mothers to feel supported and connected, and for those who need mental health support, more confident to take the step of enrolling in Alma.
Valley Settlement’s 2025-2026 Program Year Has Begun!
Children in Valley Settlement programming color together.
With the fall season comes excitement about all the possibilities for learning, connection, and growth that a new program year brings, and this one is no exception. Our six programs kicked off in late August and are now in full swing out in the community. We are thrilled to be expanding areas of Valley Settlement programming, while building momentum and further refining newer projects.
- After a year-long pilot of offering preschool classes to families in New Castle, El Busesito Preschool is piloting a new location in Rifle. Our tried and true approach of starting small and growing slowly will allow us to continue building trusting relationships with families in New Castle while working with those in Rifle to understand the needs and opportunities within that community.
- Parent Mentor is in its second year of implementing a Lead Volunteer model in local elementary schools. In addition to supporting teachers and students in classrooms, these highly trained and experienced Parent Mentors have increased responsibility, serve more hours, and act as an in-school support system for newer Mentors just getting started.
- Our team is committed to our community, with each staff member holding a deep understanding that our stories are intertwined with the fabric of our community. We are committed to sharing information and resources with participants in our programs and supporting parents one-on-one in planning for the future safety, security, and well-being of their children. If you would like to learn more about this work, please contact Sally Boughton (sally@valleysettlement.org).
Did You Know?
Valley Settlement’s childcare team, Pasitos al Futuro (Footsteps to the Future), supports all six of our core two-generation programs! This team of dedicated professional babysitters provides free, on-site childcare, so parents can fully participate in our programs, whether they are attending a class, a one-on-one meeting, a family night, or a training session.
Valley Settlement’s mission is to listen to Latina families, and together create opportunities for early childhood and adult education, connection, and growth, so children and families can thrive.
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