The Village Exchange Center (VEC) is a community center and multi-faith space established to support and empower the immigrants, refugees, and other community members of northwest Aurora as they navigate the challenges of a new country and culture. VEC's mission is to celebrate religious and cultural diversity with the overarching goal of empowering newly arrived and hosting communities by creating opportunities for social, cultural and economic exchange.
The City of Aurora presents a highly diverse and international landscape, with over 120 languages spoken, and is host to 80% of refugees resettled in Colorado. This presents major challenges, as the city, schools and support services face the task of integrating new comers, while also struggling to meet the needs of low income hosting communities. Although often isolated from each other, Aurora's arriving and hosting communities face similar challenges and have much to share with each other.
VEC was founded on the fundamental belief that when people of different backgrounds interact and engage with each other in meaningful ways, they become empowered to identify, engage with and create the change they want to see in ways that are inclusive and sustainable for the community as a whole. Through this project we will provide critical community support services and work with community partners to host cultural events that celebrate cultural and religious diversity.
The project allows for several thousand incoming and receiving community members to have encounters that will allow them to overcome fear - the root of hatred. In the process of engaging in empowering activities and religious and cultural events we will create exchange that is meaningful and life altering. Our programs and events provide confidence in individual differences and capabilities and at the same time foster resiliency and community.
