VOICES OF OUR COMMUNITY Vendor Profile: DAVID GORDON BY ELISABETH MONAGHAN Growing up in Denver during the 1970s, Gordon has witnessed first-hand the city’s growing pains and events that paved the way for the challenges the city and its residents face today. While the VOICE was on a printing hiatus, Gordon navigated the streets of Denver, observing the civil unrest over the killings of Black men and women throughout the country. If you ask him about his observations, he will tell you he doesn’t favor violence or the destruction of property, but he believes that for people to move past the pain, they need to have an uncomfortable conversation. For Gordon, it is active communication that will lead to healing – let people speak, even if you don’t agree with them. Listen to each other, and treat each other with respect. Gordon brings to the Denver VOICE his passion for people treating each other with dignity, no matter where they sleep or what their jobs may be. And he treats his customers or prospective buyers with that same dignity – even those who walk right past him, pretending he’s not there. When a group of sixth-graders recently visited the Denver CREDIT: ELISABETH MONOGHAN THIS IS THE DENVER VOICE’S FIRST TIME handing out a Vendor of the Year award, and even though the VOICE’s vendors are all worthy of recognition, it is David Gordon who received the award for 2020. VOICE, Gordon took time to speak to these students as his equals. When the students asked, “How can young people like us make a difference to those experiencing homelessness?” Gordon let them know that their voices mattered and reminded them that everyone deserves to be treated with compassion and dignity – regardless of a person’s age, or where they sleep at night. Based on the positive feedback we received from his customers and fellow vendors, it’s no wonder that David Gordon was recognized as the 2020 Denver VOICE Vendor of the Year! ■ OUR Streets: CHRISTINA & MICHAEL BY PAULA BARD CHRISTINA AND MICHAEL WERE LIVING IN ARIZONA UNTIL RECENTLY. WHEN THEY CAME TO DENVER, THERE WERE NO SHELTER BEDS AVAILABLE. THEY WERE TICKETED WHEN THEY TRIED TO FIND SHELTER FROM THE SNOW. CREDIT: PAULA BARD OUR Streets are stories of Denver’s unhoused residents as captured by Paula Bard, who walks the streets of Denver to photograph the faces and collect the stories of those her city has abandoned. 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. January 2021 DENVER VOICE 3
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