LOCAL NEWS / IN YOUR OWN WORDS the same worker would need to log 100 hours per week to afford the same home. Black, Indigenous, and people of color are more likely than their white counterparts to work minimum-wage jobs, jobs Colorado has shed faster than the national average since 2016, CFI found. This decline is due to the state’s historic low unemployment and rising minimum wage, both of which contribute to the prevalence of part-time employment in lowwage jobs. CFI found 56 percent of low-wage workers work 30 hours per week. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Black people have been unemployed twice as frequently as white people since the COVID pandemic began in March. However, a report by Colorado Public Radio found they only represent 7.5 percent of unemployment claims filed during that timeframe. BLS did not report on indigenous populations. “We have yet to see the full impact of the pandemic,” Jamie Rife, director of communications and development at MDHI, said in a statement. “We’re nearing a cliff on evictions. Once the moratoriums expire at the end of the year, we’ll see the full impact of households that have fallen months behind on rent, right as the winter months are at their worst.” The report argues part of the reason the metro area struggles with responding to homelessness is that they do not operate under a consistent definition of the problem. Instead, different agencies define homelessness based on what part of the homeless experience they are meant to serve, thus leading to inconsistencies in data collection and racial reporting. Another reason is that city planners in the separate counties update their zoning codes without considering the impact of those changes on neighboring jurisdictions. So, when jurisdictions pass restrictive zoning codes that decrease housing affordability, the impacts ripple throughout the metro area. The report also mentions ways counties and cities can begin making lasting impacts on homelessness, like addressing inequalities in criminal justice, healthcare, and allowing those who are currently experiencing homelessness to help craft responses to homelessness. “As a community, we must strive for racially equitable response. This begins by outcomes in our homelessness recognizing this inequity, measuring this disproportionality at a population level, and striving to ensure an equitable response with the ultimate goal of eliminating overrepresentation of any one population,” it reads. ■ MY STORY BY JERRY MULLENIX, VOICE VENDOR MY STORY BEGINS IN IDAHO. I am homeless, and I have been moving around from state to state. Now I am here, and I have been fighting for the rights of the homeless in the nation. I am now in the great state of Colorado. I have bought three tents and have been living out on the Platte River for almost a year. Then I bought a camper, and it caught fire. I was burnt in it. As soon as it went up, I was out of it. The police took it to the pound yard, and I went to the hospital for minor burns to my skin, face, hands and arm. I went back to the hospital for blood poisoning, and they put me on antibiotics to get rid of it. ■ WHEN I SEE YOU BY JEROME COTTON, VOICE VENDOR When I see you standing and needing, I feel a pain inside, my heart is bleeding. When I see you walking until your shoes are worn, I do not judge, I can only mourn. When I see your sign that reads “Anything helps,” I want to give, but I also have no money. When I see the tent where you live, I want to tell you a better day is coming. When I lay my head to sleep, I see you there. My heart for you, it weeps. When I see you there, I am praying for you, don’t forget I care. ■ NEW ITEMS NEEDED: Socks Bottled water, non-perishable snacks Hand-warmers, toothpaste, deodorant, chapstick Paper products for the office 1” notebooks NEXT MONTH: WRAPPING PAPER ISSUE! GENTLY-USED ITEMS NEEDED: Refurbished laptops or desktop computers Heavy jackets Scarves VOICE vendors have been busy coming up with wrapping paper designs for our December issue. Keep your eye out next month for the 2020 creations, and use them to wrap your holiday gifts! Winter hats Gloves Backpacks Drop-offs are accepted Monday–Friday, 9–12 p.m.,or schedule a drop-off by emailing program@denvervoice.org. AUTUMN WISH LIST DENVERVOICE.ORG/VENDOR-NEEDS November 2020 DENVER VOICE 5 2019 ART BY VOICE VENDOR RAELENE JOHNSCE V NE JOHNSON ON VENDOR RAELENE JOHNSON 2019 ART BY VOICE VENDOR BRIAN AUGUSTINE VOIC VENDOR BRIAN AUCE V AUGUS GUS USTINE 2019 AR 019 ART BY VOICE VENDOR REA BROWNE V
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