How EMS became involved
In the 2004-2005 school year, a fateful relationship began. Mrs. Denise Torrez, second grade teacher at Eva R. Baca Elementary School in Pueblo, CO, welcomed a group of rambunctious second graders into her Dogpatch classroom.
Among the scholars in that group was a wide-eyed, mischievous, yet intelligent little guy named Timothy. Timothy ended up moving to Denver in the spring of that year, and the bond with Mrs. Torrez seemed broken.
Fast forward to 2023 and the two found themselves in the same social justice efforts and groups. They were elated to meet up and discuss what has transpired in each other’s lives. Tim informed Mrs.Torrez that he also found his passion in teaching. He also was being considered for a vacancy in the Colorado House of Representatives. She was beyond proud of his accomplishments. Soon after their reunion, he received the appointment and began devising his plans for the 2024 legislative session.
In June of 2023, Mrs.Torrez found out she had lung cancer. She endured three months of treatment and was able to finish her last chemo on the day of the Rita J. Martinez Youth Leadership conference in October. Although she was the President of the social justice nonprofit El Movimiento Sigue’s board, she had not been able to participate in the planning of the event except for one contribution – she booked Rep. Timothy Hernandez to come and present as well as speak to the over 400 youth. Hernandez and Torrez then continued to communicate regularly.
When the legislative session began in early 2024, Rep. Hernandez had reprised an effort to get a Chicano License Plate in the state of Colorado. The proposed legislation not only provided the specialty plate, but it also contained a fundraising element that aimed to support organizations that uplift Chicano youth in Colorado.
In order to meet that requirement of the bill, a nonprofit had to sign on as the Nonprofit Qualifying Organization. Hernandez’s experience at the Rita J. Martinez Youth conference made him think that El Movimiento Sigue (EMS) was the perfect organization to fulfill that requirement of the legislation. He called Torrez, and the work began. This was the perfect project to get Torrez back into what she loved – helping her community.
A committee of EMS members was developed. They devoted countless hours to the passing of this legislation. This work included organizing witnesses to testify before the House and Senate, obtaining 4,000 petition signatures from throughout Colorado, and organizing artists to develop a relevant design. The work paid off as HB24-1105 passed out of both the House and Senate and was signed by Governor Polis in June of 2024.
The next step was for the DMV to award a state nonprofit agency the bid to be the Nonprofit Qualifying Organization to manage the Chicano License Plate. El Movimiento Sigue applied to be the qualifying organization and was awarded the bid in August.
EMS will now be responsible for dispersing the funding that is generated through the purchase of these plates to organizations throughout the state that support Chicana/o youth leadership programs.
