The Sheridan Youth Health Clinic is more than a place to get healthcare. It has become a place of comfort, trust, and support during some of life’s most challenging times.
“They’ve saved my life so many times,” one patient said.
Another patient said how providers helped her children feel safe and heard. “My children can see a doctor without hesitation. They let my teens know providers will be there when needed.”
Starting Wednesday, June 17, the clinic’s address is changing, but not the care or sense of community it provides.
The clinic is moving to the main Sheridan Health Services building at 3525 W. Oxford Avenue, less than a mile from its current location. The move is designed to improve convenience and expand access to comprehensive care. Patients will be able to receive medical, dental, mental health, and pharmacy services in a single location, reducing the need to travel between facilities.
"We really wanted families to have comprehensive and integrated services in one location,” says Alexis Barrere, CPNP, medical provider for over 10 years.
For almost three decades, the Sheridan Youth Health Clinic has been a trusted source of healthcare and support for families in Sheridan and south Denver, filling a critical gap by offering accessible medical services and building lasting relationships with patients.
“I’ve had several families where the parents went to the clinic, then they brought their children, and now those children are bringing their babies to see us,” Barrere says. “These patients trusted themselves with us, and they feel comfortable enough to bring their children here or recommend us to another young person.”
The Sheridan Youth Clinic's new home at the main Sheridan Health Services Building will start on June 17. |
Originally founded by nurses from Children's Hospital Colorado, the clinic became part of the University of Colorado Anschutz College of Nursing in 2005. Today, it operates under Sheridan Health Services. This nurse-led, federally qualified health center provides primary care, mental health services, dental care, women's health services, and an on-site pharmacy. As the clinic prepares to move to a new location, one thing remains unchanged: its commitment to providing compassionate, community-centered care.
Generations of Patients
According to Barrere, the clinic's clinical lead, the clinic's impact can be seen across generations. Many former patients now bring their own children—and even grandchildren—to receive care from the same providers they have trusted for years. These long-term relationships have created a strong sense of loyalty and community among patients.
One example is Benese Thomas, who first visited the clinic at age 15 as a student at SOAR Academy, while experiencing a mental health crisis. The clinic staff provided support, treatment, and guidance that helped her through a difficult period in her life.
Today, she continues to receive care there and now brings her young daughter to the same pediatrician she saw growing up. For Thomas, the familiarity and trust she has built with the clinic offer reassurance that her daughter is receiving excellent care.
“They sat with me and let me cry and scream about all the pain I was feeling,” she says. “They got me help, mental health treatment, and medication. And I’ve been doing better since.”
Now Thomas brings her daughter, who’s almost four, there as well.
“My pediatrician is now my daughter’s pediatrician,” Thomas says. “It makes me so happy and comfortable going to the youth clinic because I know that if anything happens, my daughter will be okay and she’s in the right hands.”
Another longtime patient, Lesly Valenzuela, began visiting the clinic in 2007 for prenatal care. Although she now lives in north Denver, she continues to make the trip so her three teenage children can be seen by the providers she knows and trusts. Beyond medical care, she appreciates the clinic's willingness to help families navigate challenges such as understanding medical bills and accessing resources.
“It’s important for my children to receive care at the Youth Health Clinic because I’ve already developed a relationship with the providers and I don’t trust going anywhere else,” she says. “My teens know the providers like Alexis and Mia [Roberts], and everyone has made my kids feel welcomed and like family.”
“Yes, our clinic is about medicine and getting care, but it’s really about forming those relationships so people know this clinic is a space where they can come during their most vulnerable or hardest times and be respected. They’re getting the care they deserve,” Barrere says.
More than Just Healthcare
The Youth Health Clinic role extends far beyond healthcare: it’s a place where you truly feel like a member of the community. Through partnerships with local organizations, the clinic helps patients access transportation, housing assistance, and other essential services. These efforts reflect the clinic's belief that overall well-being depends on more than medical treatment alone.
“We want to support our patients not only from a medical perspective, but from a well-being perspective,” Barrere says.
Another big part of Sheridan’s clinics is the food pantry, which was started a couple of years ago through the Youth Health Clinic's becoming Hunger Relief Partners of the Food Bank of the Rockies, to meet the needs the Youth Health Clinic staff were seeing among patients and families.
“As a clinic that discusses healthy eating as a treatment for many common complaints, it makes sense to make sure we are also providing access to the nutrition we are recommending. Some patients may not have time to stop by a food bank because they need to come in for an appointment or bring in their child for care, so instead of missing out on food, we want those resources in a central space for them,” Barrere says.
A New Location, Same Compassionate Care
The relocation also creates an opportunity for the clinic to establish a second site at Sheridan High School and SOAR Academy, where providers can offer services directly to students. By bringing healthcare closer to the student population, the clinic hopes to continue meeting the needs of young people in the community.
“We’ll be able to be on-site at the school and serve Sheridan’s students in a better fashion,” Barrere says. “It’s important we’re where the student body is, and we can serve the students who need care the most.”
It’s a sentiment Thomas agrees with, and she doesn’t take her or her daughter’s care for granted.
“They’re so trustworthy and very dependable,” she says. ”You could depend on them for anything. Trust them with your kid’s life because they put your children before themselves. They’re the greatest.”
While the address may be changing, the clinic's mission remains the same. As Barrere explains, the strength of the Sheridan Youth Clinic has never been its building but the relationships it has built with patients over the years. The trust, compassion, and sense of community that have defined the clinic for generations will continue long after the move.
Barrere found this to be true after telling a long-time patient, whose family has been served by the clinic for generations, about the clinic’s move.
“The patient wasn’t concerned or worried about the move. She said, “I’ll find you where you are,” Barrere says. “And it just reminds me that our care is not about the bricks that hold the space together or a physical location, it’s about our patients, the people in this community, and the relationships we’ve built. Our building may be moving, but the care we provide won’t change.”
Ultimately, the story of the Sheridan Youth Clinic is one of enduring commitment. Its providers and staff have earned the confidence of families who return year after year, generation after generation. Although the clinic is moving to a new home, the care, support, and connections that patients value most will remain exactly where they have always been, with the people who provide them.
