Every spring, monarch butterflies begin a journey that stretches thousands of miles, from the forests of Michoacán, Mexico, to neighborhoods across the United States. It is a story of movement, survival, and return. At El Valor, that story feels personal.
For more than 20 years, our Monarch Conservation Program has been one of the most beloved parts of life at El Valor. What started as a partnership with the U.S. Forest Service to teach families how to raise monarchs has grown into something much deeper: a living thread that connects our children, adults, families, and community.
The program began with a simple idea. A partner from the U.S. Forest Service wanted to teach parents how to care for milkweed and raise monarch butterflies. It started in the classroom with children, then grew through take-home activities that brought parents into the work. Before long, families were planting milkweed at home, searching for eggs on leaves, and raising monarchs in their own kitchens.
Today, milkweed grows across every El Valor site. Adults in our programs tend the gardens alongside children. Staff from different departments work together in ways they never did before. The monarchs gave us the opportunity to grow even stronger as a team.
The monarch butterfly holds a special place in Mexican and Latin American culture. Monarchs migrate to Michoacán each year, blanketing the trees in waves of orange and black. Traditional songs celebrate them. Families tell stories about them. For many of the people El Valor serves, the monarch is more than just an insect. It is a symbol of home, movement, and belonging.
That cultural connection grounds the program to its community. When a child watches a butterfly emerge from its chrysalis, they are not just learning science, they are also holding a piece of their family’s story.
El Valor serves children from birth through age five, and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities starting at age 21. For years, those programs ran side by side but rarely crossed paths. The Monarch Conservation Program changed that.
Now, adults and children work in the same gardens, share the same milkweed, and celebrate the seasons together. Each spring, families join a parade through the Pilsen neighborhood to mark the start of monarch season. Adults meet the children halfway, and they walk together. It is a small moment that makes a big statement about being one community.
Through our partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, El Valor hosts international guests from more than 20 countries each year. These visitors come to learn about conservation, and our adults are the ones who teach them.
Adults in our programs showcase the importance of monarch conservation, explain how they raise butterflies, and share what the work means to them. It is a powerful moment: people who are too often overlooked become the experts in the room. They grow in confidence, build new skills, and change the way visitors see what is possible.
Every fall, all of El Valor comes together for the annual Monarch Celebration. Each children’s center holds its own event, and the adult participants join at the Little Village location for the flagship celebration. Board members, community leaders, and elected officials gather alongside families. Through music, art, and the release of butterflies, we honor the power of transformation and the resilience of the immigrant community.
The Monarch Conservation Program is part of daily life at El Valor. In spring, children and adults plant milkweed and begin watching for eggs. Through summer, they care for the gardens and raise monarchs. In fall, the butterflies are released. And throughout the year, the monarch shows up in classroom activities, in art, in the annual Gala where adults perform a dance inspired by the butterfly’s migration.
