VOICES OF OUR COMMUNITY OUR Streets: MONICA BY PAULA BARD “GOTTA HAVE SUPPORT.” “Yeah, I wanna work, having a hard time getting them to hire me anywhere. Walmart greeters, I’m overqualified, I’m like, really? Come on, I just want to work, that’s all. I’ve worked all my life! I’m on housing lists all over town, a bunch of different ones for four years. I raised five kids, mostly by myself. I single-parented a lot. I had two husbands, but they were not there a lot. One was an over-the-road truck driver, so gone a lot, and the other was in a working band, traveling, rehearsing. I had to grow up tough. I mean, moving every three and-a-half years is really tough on a kid. New people, new schools. That was really tough for me. I’m an Air Force brat. My dad had a bar here in Denver, I worked as a bartender and waitress. I’m an alcoholic, I’m trying really hard to quit drinking. It’s just slow, ya know. I’m doing really well. I’ve cut down so much it’s amazing. I still have the DTs, it hurts, it hurts your body, it hurts really bad sometimes. I had quite a few CREDIT: PAULA BARD Author’s Note: In the fall of 2015, just ahead of Colorado’s winter, Denver sent the full force of its police department and SWAT team to destroy five tiny homes that people “living without homes” had built north of downtown. Something in me snapped: Denver is behaving like a bully! Denver has more than 6,000 people without homes, and more than 3,000 trying to survive on its streets. It is an ugly business. In 2012, Denver passed an urban-camping ban making it illegal for the homeless to protect themselves with “any form of cover or protection from the elements other than clothing.” Violations can bring a $999 fine or a year in jail. I began walking those streets where the homeless are trying to survive, photographing the faces and collecting the stories of those my city has abandoned. So began OUR Streets – stories of Denver’s unhoused residents. sober years under my belt. It just, I don’t know, some reason or another, I fall back. I have friends that I can stay with now, friends that keep me safe. [My rape last year] was pretty traumatic. I don’t like to talk about it too much cuz it just makes my anxiety go way high. Gotta have support. My friends, we can talk about how we feel. We help each other out in this aspect. We’re empathetic, and we know what each of us is going through, so we help in whatever way we can. Make it easier on each other.” ■ HOW TO HELP The money we take in from vendors helps us cover a portion of our printing costs, but we depend largely on donations from individuals, businesses, and foundations to help us pay our rent and keep the lights on. DONATE Donations to the Denver VOICE are tax-deductable. Go to denvervoice.org to give a one-time or recurring donation. You can also mail a check to: Denver VOICE | P.O. Box 1931 | Denver, CO 80201 GET THE WORD OUT We rely on grassroots marketing to get the word out about what we do. Talk to people about our organization and share us with your network. Support us on @denverVOICE ADVERTISE Our readership is loyal, well-educated, and socially concerned. Readers view purchasing the paper as a way to immediately help a person who is poor or homeless while supporting long-term solutions to end poverty. If you are interested in placing an ad or sponsoring a section of the paper, please contact us about rates at ads@denvervoice.org. VOLUNTEER We need volunteers to help with everything from newspaper distribution to event planning and management. Contact program@denvervoice.org for volunteering information. SUBSCRIBE If you are unable to regularly purchase a newspaper from our vendors, please consider a subscription. We ask subscribers to support our program with a 12-month pledge to give $10 a month, or a one-time donation of $120. Subscriptions help us cover our costs AND provide an amazing opportunity to those who need it most. Go to denvervoice.org/subscriptions for more information. August 2020 DENVER VOICE 3
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