It is very common that I hear or see, specifically on social media, how doomed the Millennial generation is. “These young people have their heads in their phones, are lazy, and most of all stupid.” I see this all of the time and for a while, I agreed. I was embarrassed by these people, I was forced to call my peers, until I started spending my time in the heart of Denver.

My time was mostly spent at a coffee shop near downtown Denver, called RoosterCat Coffee House. I was invited into a community of young people that were doing things, BIG things! They were writers, film makers, artists, musicians, and most importantly young people making a difference or at the very least, willing to.

It was truly amazing being in an environment where people asked you what you did, and responded with enthusiasm and eagerness to help. It was a community in which people put their skills together to benefit each other, and it was beautiful. It opened up a whole new marketing and networking world, and the animal rescue began getting the help that it really needed.

I will admit it, I used it to flirt too… It is how I started talking to my amazing boyfriend. I don’t regret it either. He was a barista at the coffee shop and I pulled the ol’, “I heard that you know about graphic design, can you help me with our logo, so that we can get ready to print out t-shirts?” He jumped on it and we got our shirts printed! Although I took advantage of using him for help, because I thought he was attractive and charming, I started to realize that all of the people in this community were also willing to help! It was truly beautiful to see the community that was created, by this so called, “doomed generation.”

My point is that I truly believe that the Millennial generation has amazing things to offer. Most importantly they are innovative and open-minded. They may not be following the “classic path” of going to college, getting married and having kids, but I can tell you that they are doing things… BIG things. They are who we should be targeting, when recruiting help for nonprofit work, because they are willing to help!

A lot of this generation doesn’t have a whole lot of money at this age, so I took the opportunity to recruit them as foster homes. These people wanted pets, but either didn’t want to make a 15-20 year commitment, couldn’t afford it, or both! I thought to myself, fostering is temporary and free! I began telling everyone I was meeting at the coffee shop about the option and how they would be saving lives! It wasn’t long before our foster base started to grow and I had a whole community of young foster parents right in the same neighborhood!

I believe that this generation is going to offer great things and I can’t wait to see the changes they bring to our community and to our world.