The idea of a "mommy and me" salsa calendar was born, and the proceeds are going to employees of La Rumba.

“La Rumba quickly became my home away from home,” said Wilson. 

Each woman explained La Rumba as more than just a club: It’s a place they feel safe, welcomed, and a part of community.

Danny Dawson has been working at La Rumba for 20 years. She was the last to put her job on hold because of the pandemic. She’s one of the employees the moms wanted to help, but Dawson had something else in mind.

“I was so touched, incredibly grateful,” said Dawson, who decided to pay the kindness forward. “I’m just divvying it up between the four employees that do not have any other work and have been completely out during the shutdown. I am not including myself in that.”

She said she’s been receiving unemployment and will be okay, but her colleagues are the ones she is worried about. “Top to bottom, throughout this whole thing I think that’s an important lesson for us as a society to learn: be a community, help each other out,” she said.

Sonia Gutierrez is a multimedia journalist at Rocky Mountain PBS. You can reach her at soniagutierrez@rmpbs.org.