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LOCAL NEWS ASK A VENDOR Because the pandemic has affected vendors differently, we hope to give all of our vendors a chance to tell their stories. Some are vendors we’re hearing from for the first time since we started printing again. When someone asks, “Why should I donate $2 for the paper?” what do you tell them? Q A REA BROWN Who are we kidding? Something’s missing far from social distancing and face covering. Everyone seems to sound a death knell as they spray paint on the wall. Although many try to stay calm and stand tall, the hushed whispers call, screaming, “It’s all gonna fall.” Good thing we can trust the law, or, should I say, can we trust the law? After all, we saw and see in real life and TV or PC, the police policing harshly is starting to be a recurring news theme. Protesting, grouping and burning, in the midst of campaigning, COVID, and burning. Yet, I stand under the economy, not returning, learning how to survive with low or no earnings, trying my best to evade germing. But I have a paper to vend with my sanitized hand. So, what I would say to the woman or man who asks why should they give $2? What I can say is one good deed is multiplied in three different ways, 12 times a year, and that to me, is an awfully small price to pay. RAELENE JOHNSON This paper is the best thing that ever happened for homeless people. The VOICE doesn’t care if you’re a convicted felon, or have no education, no job history or references. I became a vendor in Jan of 08. I’d been homeless and living under the Arapahoe Bridge in Boulder. The VOICE gave me a chance to be self-employed. By January of 09, I was the top female VOICE vendor, and boy, did that give me pride. [Vending] the newspaper has given me self-esteem. It gives people an opportunity, and it’s up to you what you do with that. The paper has allowed me to become who I was meant to be, and now, 13 years later, I have my own home, my own car. I’m even on the board and treated as a valued member of the organization. So, your $2 donation empowers and impacts a vendor’s life. It gives them an opportunity for a home, and maybe a vendor eventually leaves the paper, but while they’re vending, it gives them money until they find what they really want to do. Or someone like me, who can’t get a job anywhere else, can work here as long as they want to. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO ASK? We would like to engage more Denver VOICE vendors and readers. If you have a question or issue you would like vendors to discuss, please email community@denvervoice.org. 4 DENVER VOICE November 2020 EXPERTS GIVE COLORADO’S COVID-19 HOUSING POLICY HALF-STAR REVIEW BY ROBERT DAVIS A RECENT REVIEW of state COVID-19 housing policies by Eviction Lab, a team of housing and poverty researchers at Princeton University, rated Colorado’s response a half-star out of five for failing to provide basic protections and assistance programs for those facing eviction because of the pandemic. Colorado’s half-star rating was good enough for an 18thplace finish in Eviction Lab’s 50-state COVID-19 Housing Policy Scorecard report. Massachusetts earned first-place honors with a score of 4.15. The report was compiled in consultation with state housing and homelessness lawyers and advocates, along with tenant groups and public health experts from around the country. The data is current as of September 12. Each state was scored after researchers analyzed state governor emergency declarations, state legislation, and court orders. They focused on state prohibitions on initiating evictions, suspension of court procedures, enforcement of eviction orders, short-term assistance, and tenancy preservation measures. According to Eviction Lab’s website, the two categories that were most influential in a state’s review were “initiation” (40 percent) and “tenancy preservation measures” (20 percent). As for initiation protections, Governor Polis signed an order on June 13 allowing landlords to begin evictions proceedings against tenants who are behind on their rent. On the other side, Colorado law offers its nearly two million renters scant protections. Landlords are allowed to initiate evictions for nonpayment after providing the tenant a 30day notice, can evict tenants who have experienced financial hardship caused by the pandemic, and can evict tenants for non-emergency reasons. Colorado has just as few tenant preservation measures, according to Eviction Lab. State law allows landlords to raise rents during the pandemic and does not guarantee legal representation for tenants who face eviction. Instead, courts rely on eviction defense fund grants from the General Assembly to fund legal defenses. In 2020, the lawmakers appropriated $350,000 to the Eviction Legal Defense Fund. In September, the CDC published a rule in the Federal Register placing a nationwide moratorium on evictions through the end of the year. However, the rule didn’t reach all renters and only covered renters in federal housing. Absent local protections, as many as 40 million people could have been at risk for eviction, according to CDC estimates. The moratorium had three goals: keep people in their homes and out of congregate housing, stop the increase of people experiencing homelessness, and inspire states to pass their own eviction protections. Had eviction been allowed to proceed, it could contribute to an increase in homelessness, a class of people the CDC says are a high-risk population. “It may be more difficult for these persons to consistently access the necessary resources in order to adhere to public health recommendations to prevent COVID-19. For instance, it may not be possible to avoid certain congregate settings such as homeless shelters, or easily access facilities to engage in handwashing with soap and water,” the moratorium says. While housing advocates are hopeful Colorado lawmakers will step in and pass a moratorium similar to the CDC’s, they are also preparing for the alternative. Colorado Village Collaborative (CVC) recently debuted its model temporary safe outdoor space, a sanctioned campsite that would provide homeless residents basic services and connect them with employment options and treatment programs. Some of the services offered would include food, clean drinking water, handwashing stations, laundry, and shower units. CVC plans to provide residents with tents, self-care baskets with hygienic products, and weather-proof storage containers that they can take with them upon departure. ABOUT EVICTION LAB Eviction Lab was founded by Matthew Desmond, who began studying poverty, housing, and eviction in 2008. Through his research, Desmond discovered that eviction is often the cause, not a symptom, of poverty. His work was summarized in the book Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City (2016). He currently serves as the Maurice P. During Professor of Sociology at Princeton University. According to its website, Eviction Lab receives funding from the Gates, JPB, and Ford Foundations, as well as the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Eviction Lab hosts nationwide eviction data on its website to provide educators, policymakers, nonprofit organizers, and communities statistically-driven understanding of eviction at a local level. If you want to know more, visit Eviction Lab’s website: https://evictionlab.org/ ■ NEW REPORT FINDS METRO DENVER’S HOMELESS DISPROPORTIONATELY BLACK, INDIGENOUS, AND PEOPLE OF COLOR BY ROBERT DAVIS BLACK, INDIGENOUS, and people of color experience homelessness at significantly higher rates than their white counterparts in the Denver metro area, a new report by the Metro Denver Housing Initiative (MDHI) concluded. The report synthesized information from the sevencounty body and federal data from the Point in Time Count, the Homelessness Management Information System, The Vulnerability Index, and the number of students identified by schools as homeless under the McKinney-Vento Act. “For the first time, we have real-time data on how many people are seeking support as a result of homelessness,” Matt Meyer, executive director of MDHI, said in a statement. “While there are variances between data sets, one thing is consistent – racial inequity.” The report argues against the stereotypical narrative that homelessness is often caused by drug abuse and mental health issues. Instead, the report posits high housing costs, loss of work, and strained relationships with family are the primary causes. At $471,084, average home values in Denver are more than twice the national average of $231,000, according to data from Zillow. Since last year, home values have grown 3.3 percent and are predicted to grow another 4.4 percent by 2022. Even though the secretary of state’s office reported Colorado’s wage growth outpaced national wage growth in 2019, the Colorado Fiscal Institute (CFI) found this growth was due largely to the detriment of Colorado’s Black, Indigenous, and people of color because it raised the cost of living and helped usher low-wage jobs out of the state. Currently, a minimum-wage worker in Colorado would need to work 88 hours per week to afford a market-rate twobedroom apartment, the report found. In Denver specifically,

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