IN YOUR OWN WORDS CREDIT: GILES CLASEN PRETTY LIGHTS TELL SAD STORIES BY ELISABETH MONAGHAN FOR THE THIRD YEAR IN A ROW, a display of purple and white lights has returned to Sonny Lawson Park and will remain there until the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative (MDHI) conducts its annual Point in Time survey of those experiencing homelessness in Denver. Each of the purple lights represents an individual sleeping unsheltered at night, and the white ones represent individuals staying in shelters or transitional housing. The total number of lights in the display at Sonny Lawson Park is a little more than 4,000, which is up from 2019’s total of 3,445. Among those represented by these lights is Denver VOICE vendor Jerry Mullenix. Mullenix recently purchased a camper, but before that, he spent his most of his nights in encampments around Denver. On Tuesday, November 17, Mullenix was staying at the encampment located on 19th Avenue and Emerson Street when the Denver Police Department conducted a sweep of the property. Following is an account of his experience. “The camp that I was at got raided by the police on Tuesday. We were asked to pack up and go, and we had a week to do so. [Protesters from] Denver Homeless Out Loud got put in jail for trying to stop the police, who put up a fence around our campsite to make us move out of the area. I left the camp with what I could grab, which was not much, just my pillow and blankets.” As unemployment rates surge and more people are being evicted from their homes, we can expect the number of lights in next year’s display, and the individuals represented, to be even higher. ■ CREDIT: GILES CLASEN WE MOVED! 12 DENVER VOICE January 2021 Our vendor offi ce is now located at : 989 Santa Fe Drive Denver, CO 80204 We are still settling into our new Denver VOICE office at 989 Santa Fe Drive. When it is safer to gather in large groups again, we hope you will stop by and say hello!
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