Our Community
Angelica Village is home, family, and community to over 158 individuals ages 4mos.-76 years. Beyond this inner group we also have many of our young adults who have transitioned into adulthood and their own households and maintain relationships with Angelica Village as one might in an extended family. This outer circle also contains our wider community members who support and are a part of the work and community through volunteer work, giving financially, serving on our board, etc. We are blessed to have global representation within our community with youth, adults, and families coming from Honduras, Colombia, Guatemala, Venezuela, Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, Tanzania, Eritrea, and the United States. Many in the community have found us as they resettle as refugees, while others have connected through local services providing support to families and youth experiencing homelessness. Others still have completed internships with us, or found themselves drawn to the initiative and wanting to participate in the life that community provides.
Why Intentional Community?
An Intentional Community is a planned/organized community in which persons with similar goals or interests reside. While the structure of each community differs, as well as the interests they are based on, the idea remains that belonging, engagement, and inclusion within a supportive social network bring positive outcomes for those involved. Community, regardless of how we come by it, is a source of strength and a soft place to land. Community care is essential to supporting one another to reach our potential. No one person can do that alone, nor should they have to.
Some intentional communities are called communes (sharing almost everything including living spaces), while others are considered co-housing arrangements (independent homes in shared properties or settings) or eco-villages (arranged around sustainability). There are also spiritual communities which are social networks that come together to practice a shared faith or have a mission like the Catholic Worker House movement. These are just a few examples.
Angelica Village is a unique type of intentional community, partly because we are also a non-profit that provides services, though we seek to flatten the power imbalances in traditional service providers. We encourage everyone to give what you can and receive what you need. Each person has inherent value and worth, and can contribute to community living in unique and varied ways. As a community, we intentionally bring a diverse group of people together as a means of building social networks and social capital, sharing experiences, working for change, building leadership and promoting hospitality and care for the earth. We see community as the means for reaching our goals, be that healing from displacement and violence, or as a remedy for the isolating effects of individualism.
Angelica Village currently has two homes for youth and young adults on the same block and supports additional families who live in individual homes within a two mile radius in Lakewood/Westwood, Denver.
Our Values
Individuals & Families
We believe that individual and families who have experienced the trauma of war, poverty, racism and displacement are best restored through a mutual aid community that provides sustained support, without restrictions of time limits.
Healing
We acknowledge that our traumas mirror the traumas of the earth, and we affirm that our individual and collective healing is dependent on the healing of the earth.
Community
We believe that a community of diverse individuals across race, class, gender/ gender identity, ability, and experiences promotes a model for healing in the world. We support equity and inclusion as practices of the community.
Resiliency
We believe that social/emotional/mental health is only possible with an intentional community of support that uses a trauma informed approach to encourage resiliency.
Our Planet
We recognize that our planet is in the midst of multiple environmental crises, caused by humankind. We have an urgent responsibility to address these crises on the land that we steward and address inequities in access to basic resources such as housing, food, and education.
Time & Resources
We believe that community partners, persons who give substantial time and resources to the community through attention to the daily life and work of the community are more than volunteers; they sustain the reciprocity of community life and healing needed in the world.
Leadership Team
Founder & Executive Director
Renata Heberton
Renata’s first experience with a healing intentional community was with the House of Peace outside of Boston, MA. Renata spent the summer of 2005 learning about the profound therapeutic and healing possibilities that can come from an intentional and welcoming community. Her experience with the House of Peace helped form the basis of her passion and commitment to creating a community in her hometown of Denver.
Co-Founder & Director of Operations
J Van Der Kamp
J has been part of Angelica Village before it had a name. She has been fully immersed in the community from the beginning. J has a professional background in finances, construction, business management, HR, and operations management. She believes all of her experiences in life have led her to finding her purpose and passion with Angelica Village.
Co-Founder
Jean F. East
As a retired social worker and social work professor from the University of Denver, Graduate School of Social Work, Jean is pleased to continue her community work with an organization like Angelica Village. She was privileged to be part of the dream of Renata Heberton, Director for Angelica Village when she was a student in her classes.
Our Board Members
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Annie Zean Dunbar
Zean is a researcher and artist whose practice centers Black feminist theory traditions to examine interstitial experiences of displaced peoples.
Suleiman Kayita
Suleiman is an HVAC service technician and empiricist focused on emerging research. He currently works in Denver, Colorado, originally from Tanzania.
Jennifer Wilson
Jennifer currently works in Denver, CO, as a researcher on dignified shelter and housing design.
Lindsey Earl
Lindsey was born and raised in West Denver close to hiking trails and camping sites. Lindsey has always been passionate about socioeconomic justice and serving marginalized communities. Lindsey currently works in homelessness reduction for Adams County, Colorado and is bringing her knowledge of grant writing and supportive housing to Angelica Village.
Trish Becker
Trish Becker is the Executive Director of the Cohousing Association of the United States, a national nonprofit dedicated to building a more connected future. Through her consulting group, StorySpring, Trish helps nonprofits, changemakers, and intentional communities foster connection through facilitation, coaching, and the design of meaningful gatherings.
Not Pictured: Ethna Fernandez, Francis Leighton, Fatima Yacubi, Whitney Leeds
Our Organizational Partners
