In 1972, a dozen advocates for Denver’s Latino communities came together to form Servicios de La Raza (Servicios), a bilingual human services organization, to serve Denver’s low-income Spanish-speaking populations with linguistically and culturally responsive social services. Initially, Servicios was a licensed facility for the treatment of mental health and chronic mental illnesses. Two years later, the agency applied to Colorado’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division for funding and licensure as an approved alcohol and substance abuse treatment center.
Since its founding over 51 years ago, Servicios has continued to respond to the unmet needs of the most vulnerable members of the Denver community through programs for: behavioral health, youth, victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, and general crime, individuals living with HIV, mental health, substance abuse, health access, ex-offender reintegration, workforce development and financial empowerment, statewide initiatives that target Latino youths and families throughout Colorado, and basic emergency services for people experiencing crisis situations.
Servicios continues to serve the most vulnerable members of the community who live on the margins and rarely have access to culturally responsive human services. Servicios is now the preeminently recognized comprehensive health and human services agency addressing the needs of the Latino and other underserved and marginalized communities across the Denver metropolitan area and Pueblo, Colorado, providing services to more than 90,000 people a year.