Colorado Stories and Data

The Youth Employment Academy (YEA) is an operating business that will lease space from DHA Collaborative Facility (another RUGF NMTC recipient) to operate a 4,604 SF fresh food market, called Choice Market located in the ground floor of the building. The Market is located at the 10th and Osage light rail station as part of Denver Housing Authority’s Mariposa Redevelopment and is aligned with the Mariposa Community’s Healthy Living Initiative to provide fresh food in a food desert to the surrounding residents, building tenants and transit riders. The Youth Employment Academy will operate Choice Market providing affordable fresh foods for local residents, office tenants, and transit users. Annually, the YEA will provide low-income “at-risk” youth with culinary, service-oriented training in the areas of healthy food sourcing, preparation and packaging, retail sales and marketing. The project expects to create 4 full time permanent positions which will be accessible to low-income youth.