There are major differences between the city and the mountains. Obvious differences aside, like elevation and weather, those raised in cities are instilled with a different perspective than those raised in high country. But an appreciation for nature and for hard work transcends these small differences.

The Lincoln Hills Cares and TEENS, Inc. TeamWorks program organizes crews of youth from a rural environment, like Nederland or Idaho Springs, and crews from an urban environment, like Denver or Aurora, and puts them together as a full team to work on various projects centered on nature conservation, like fire mitigation, weeding, planting and building new trails.

“This is my third year and I love it,” Sumehra Alexander, an 18-year-old senior from Aurora told The Mountain-Ear. “I just like meeting new people every year, and I don’t really get to experience nature all that much since I live in the city.”

Alexander mentioned how her work assisting communities and homeowners with fire mitigation has strongly affected her, detailing how some homeowners need help ensuring that their homes are certified safe, as one Boulder County resident who Alexander helped had been recently diagnosed with cancer.

“It was really hard for her to clean up around her home and get all the fire hazards away from her home, so it feels amazing that I can help people like that,” Alexander said.

The high school age members of TeamWorks not only are given the opportunity to meet new people from different walks of life and learn about environmental stewardship, as well as important life skills, their hard work is also rewarded with a $1,000 scholarship for post-secondary education for all high school graduates who have finished the TeamWorks program.

And on top of the camaraderie built from working hard in sometimes strenuous conditions, gaining a mutual respect for those with a different view and developing strong bonds, these young workers are also paid $18 an hour.

“I’ve made a lot of my best friends here,” said Allison Ohringer, TeamWorks Program Manager. “I love getting to make an impact on the environment and meeting so many cool people from so many different places. It’s so fun!”

Ohringer moved to Nederland from Iowa, having moved to Colorado to attend university at CU Boulder, and has worked for TeamWorks for three years.

“One of my favorite projects we ever did was a couple of years ago working on the trail system that they’re building on the Tolland property and Eldora; it’s going to be over 300 miles of trails.”

“I’m looking forward to more cool and different projects,” Ohringer said, already thinking about the next season. “I love seeing all the crews have such a community by the end; just getting to see all the different personalities and how they come together and what new friendships are formed.”

On Monday, August 7, 2023, TeamWorks crew members, junior crew leaders, and adult crew leaders, as well as members of TEENS, Inc., Lincoln Hills Cares, and other partners, gathered to celebrate the end of their 2023 program.

This year crews worked all over in the mountains and on the front range, learning about the impact of wildfires and the importance of fire mitigation. TeamWorks gained statewide attention, with teen workers being interviewed by 9News about teaming up with Boulder County Wildfire Partners to clear up to 10 properties of debris, managing fire mitigation.

Ariel Gustafson, Out of School Time Director for TEENS, Inc., emceed the celebration and handed out certificates to those high school juniors and seniors who completed the program, as well as introduced keynote speaker Luis Cotto, a TeamWorks alumni who spoke positively of the impact the program has had on him.

“I was really able to step into that leadership role and take the information that I learned out here with my extended family and take that back to the city, because city people don’t really know what you can gain out here,” Sotto said.

“You really take all the information that you gain through this whole process and get to use it in your everyday life.”

“I became sort of an outsider, but I learned that it’s okay to be different because at the end of the day it’s about who actually knows me.”

Jeanette Patterson, CEO of the Lincoln Hills Cares Foundation, a charitable organization aimed at providing younger generations with outdoor recreation, cultural history exploration, and workforce advancement, spoke earnestly to the crowd about her own family history, specifically her ancestor, author and abolitionist Josiah Henson, who was born into slavery and escaped to Canada.

“Some of the characteristics he had was being true to himself and being true to his own word,” Patterson said. “One of the only things said to him as he got off the boat in Canada was, ‘use your freedom well’. So I say to you all, use this time, learn these skills and participate in these activities, and use them well as you are out in your schools and your community, because when people see you, you’ll see you. Be you.”

Melone Sosa also accepted this year’s $2,500 Osprey scholarship with her inspiring essay that detailed her journey into the mountains which helped her to rekindle a love of nature she thought was lost. Sosa read to the audience about how the program has helped her to experience personal growth and in becoming eternally grateful to the nature surrounding us.

Sosa has become inspired to educate herself and become more involved in environmental stewardship, and more knowledgeable of things that harm the environment, like gentrification. She also spoke proudly about her confidence in herself and in TeamWorks, knowing that the program will continue to help her grow as a person.

During the celebration, the teens climbed all over the TEENS, Inc. gym, shimmying up the ropes and back flipping into the foam pit, conversing together and enjoying sandwiches, chips, cake, and lemonade.

They all cheered and laughed uproariously during the slideshow, which highlighted all of the adventures in the mountains that they endured together. Their joy in reveling in the memories of just one season together was proof as to why the teens keep coming back to the program year after year, and why impactful programs like TeamWorks are so important.