City to host Rural Welcoming Week

Starting on Sept. 9, the City of Gunnison will launch its first Rural Welcoming Week — a celebration of the community’s diversity and a push to make sure every resident feels like they belong. 

In January, Welcoming America, a national nonprofit aimed at leading a movement to create more inclusive communities across the U.S., selected the City of Gunnison to participate in its Rural Welcoming Initiative program. Gunnison was one of 10 communities around the U.S. chosen to participate in the year-long program. 

Over the past eight months, local leaders developed a Rural Welcoming Initiative site team — composed of members from the city, the county, the Hispanic Affairs Project, Inmigrantes Unidos and the Community Foundation of the Gunnison Valley — with the goal of building more inclusive practices and equitable services into the fibers of the community. 

Rural Welcoming Week will run Sept. 9-17 and highlight programs, businesses and spaces that have already begun to implement inclusive practices, create more connections between residents and encourage others to make positive changes within their own organizations. 

Welcoming Week is about more than just celebrating, but also giving recognition to “invisible” community members, said Mayte Arzuza, who works in the County’s Multicultural Resource Office. The department has worked tirelessly to connect undocumented and Spanish-speaking residents to the services they need to be successful within the community. Anyone who “comes to visit, work and stays in this town is well received, bien recibido, no matter what country you are from, language you speak, social status or profession,” she said. 

Each day of the week will feature a topic that falls under the overall theme: “Where we belong.” Friday, Sept. 9 kicks off the festivities with a launch video on Facebook that will include details on how residents can get involved and learn more about what it means to create equitable access. 

Events over the weekend include an opportunity for residents to register to vote with the League of Women Voters, who will provide interpreters to help attendees learn about what’s coming up on the November ballot. Sunday will center on building a connected community through a potluck at Legion Park with local nonprofit groups and religious congregations. Mountain Roots Food Project will present a video that highlights its public garden — a new partnership this year that broke down language barriers through sharing veggies with the community. 

As the event moves into next week, the site team will also spotlight the adult education opportunities and classes available within the community, as well as create a culture where residents feel like they can  engage with government officials and law enforcement.

Welcoming Week will come to a close with a celebration in partnership with the Crested Butte Music Festival on Sunday, Sept. 17. The festivities include performances from Las Dahlias, an all-women Mariachi band, Fuerza Cora Brasil Musical and Los de Jesus Maria, as well as a parade down Main Street to IOOF Park where residents can enjoy food, drinks and local crafts. 

“It's really a day for our community to celebrate and be together,” said Ricardo Esqueda, outreach liaison for the City of Gunnison, who has been an essential part of bringing the initiative to life and planning the event. “That's really where the theme, ‘Where we belong,’ where we all belong, is highlighted the most.”

While the event is a cause for celebration, it should also be a time for reflection on the hard work that has already been done and the long way yet to go, Esqueda said. Through his role at the city, he has formed bridges to the immigrant community and helped build a foundation for “welcoming work.” 

“I’m excited to continue working with the site team to move this work along,” Esqueda said. “More than anything, make it be something that's not an exception, but the norm that everyone feels included.” 

(Bella Biondini can be contacted at 970.641.1414 or bella@gunnisontimes.com.)