2 women looking at black and white photos by Fazal Sheikh

Common Ground: How are Coloradans Helping Refugees?

Wondering what people in Colorado are doing to help refugees and displaced people? Here are some of the charities and organizations the Denver Art Museum worked with while developing Common Ground: Photographs by Fazal Sheikh, 1989-2013. Thank you to all of the organizations that helped us to create this exhibition.

Common Ground is on view through November 12, 2017. If the exhibition inspires you to get involved, please contact any of the following organizations to learn more.

Colorado Refugee Services Program

The Colorado Refugee Services Program is a division of the Colorado Department of Human Services and funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement. Their main goals include facilitating resettlement and promoting refugee self-sufficiency.

Denver Public Library

The Denver Public Library is dedicated to helping immigrants and refugees find community within Denver. They offer programs, events, and talks that provide safe spaces for opening up conversation about difficult topics.
Find out more about their immigrant and refugee programming.

Downtown Aurora Visual Arts Center

Downtown Aurora Visual Arts Center focuses on providing out-of-school arts education to youth. Their programs focus on not only cultivating creativity, but also character and leadership. They also created The Alliance for Creative Youth Development, a community of Colorado youth arts organizations who share evaluation methods and their practices.

Emily Griffith Technical College


Emily Griffith Technical College stands by its motto "For all who wish to learn" by offering free English classes for refugees in their Career Readiness English as a Second Language program.

Picture Me Here

Picture Me Here puts cameras in the hands of immigrants, refugees, and others who have been displaced from their home, and allows them to tell their story through their own lens. Picture Me Here offers classes and programs for people of all age—from children and teens to adults.

Place Bridge Academy

Place Bridge Academy offers education from early childhood education through eighth grade, and serves as a magnet school for elementary age refugee children. In addition they serve as a school for English language learners, and are dedicated to ensuring that children at their school graduate with the proficiency in English necessary to have access to high-school education. In their student body there are 60 different languages spoken and 40 countries represented.

Project Worthmore

Some of Project Worthmore’s programs includes: a community garden in Aurora, dental clinic, English-language classes, and welcome care: you can become a family partner and befriend a family and help them adjust to American culture. Read our Q&A with Project Worthmore.