SPECIAL SECTION CHARLEY "HUS" WILLIAMS "THIS [PROGRAM] HELPED GIVE ME SOME FOUNDATION, SOME DRIVE, SOME OPTIMISM... ALL OF THAT POSITIVE STUFF." I came to the VOICE because I met this older gentleman at King Soopers named Jerome. We ended up hitting it off and forging a friendship. I had an ankle monitor on and was isolated from my family, so Jerome said, “Come room with me.” He gave me a good price, and after I moved in, he was like, “Well, you know, there's this place called Denver VOICE. We sell newspapers, but it's more than that. We raise awareness about what's going on in the community. I'm like, "Oh, I'm from Denver. Born and raised. Ain't lived nowhere else. Ain't gonna live nowhere else." And so, with me being forced out of my home, I was on the street seeing all what's going on. I came down here [to the Denver VOICE offi ce] and was welcomed right away by Elisabeth and Connie and everybody. I was welcomed right away. No one was asking me about my background. I told them I was on the ankle monitor, but that didn't even faze them. They're like, “If you wanna come help, and we feel your vibe, we feel your energy, if you wanna come be a part of this team/family in a way, you're welcome.” And I’ve been here ever since. Before I found the VOICE, it was not only hard to fi nd a job; it was hard to fi nd an apartment. I come to the VOICE, and they hear me out, and they run it through their own logic. They could have said no very easily. I'm sure it helped that Jerome brought me in because he has been [at the VOICE] for a while. I'm sure him vouching for me helped, but he wouldn't have just vouched for me if he didn't feel some type of way. I appreciate that because that gave me motive because I was isolated. Vending the VOICE has given me the motive to raise awareness about what's going on with situations and solutions, what's going on in the community I’m from. And I get compensated for it, and also feel I was part of something because when you're alone even though you're around a lot of people it's very hard, staying motivated, staying positive, keeping optimism. It's very hard, and I lived it for a year. And so, this helped give me some foundation, some drive, some optimism… all of that positive stuff… that's what Denver VOICE gave me. The VOICE – this place needs to be here. This is basically a cornerstone in our community for local papers. You don’t have too many local papers around. [So many news outlets] want to be big, mainstream, national but this right here needs to be here, so I’d like to ask if y'all could, to please help us because this helps spread awareness and solutions, where people who are going through hard times get some money in their pocket. It also leads to other opportunities. [Denver VOICE Managing Editor] Elisabeth and I had been talking about me writing articles for the VOICE. I thought about journalism for years before I came here, and I was looking forward to that. A newspaper that talks about the issue of homelessness is important because I feel like the community gets caught up in their busy lives. A lot of times the community might see [signs of homelessness] but they just keep driving by. They don't know what’s going on. It’s important to interact with the community and let them know what people are facing, what people are going through, what resources are out here because everybody has somebody that’s going through something [The Denver VOICE] is very important because it spreads the word to the general public. If we come together, united as a people, whatever the problem we're trying to fi x, if we’re united as a people it’s more positive than just thinking, “Oh, I see it, but I don’t know what I can do.” Yeah, there IS something you can do. Support the Denver VOICE. November 2024 DENVER VOICE 9
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