$ 2 SUGGESTED DONATION @DenverVOICE The RIPPLE EFFECT UNDERSTANDING HISTORICAL CRIMINALIZATION OF PEOPLE BASED ON THEIR ECONOMIC STTUS HELPS EXPLAIN – BUT NOT JUSTIFY – MODERNDA TMENT OF U.S. HOMELESS. PAGE 6 HAND NEWLY-FORMED HOUSEKEYS ACTION NETWORK DENVER (HAND) MAY BE A MODEL FOR OTHER ADVOCACY ORGANIZATIONS TO FOLLOW. PAGE 7 BRAZIL’S LITTLE UKRAINE PRAYS FOR ANCESTRAL HOMELAND WRACKED BY FEELINGS OF DESPAIR AND POWERLESSNESS, LOCALS PRAY FOR FRIENDS AND FAMILIES BACK IN UKRAINE. PAGE 8 DISCRIMINATION ADDS TRAUMA FOR ROMA FLEEING UKRAINE INCIDENTS OF BRUTAL DISCRIMINATION OF ROMA HAVE BEEN REPORTED AT THE BORDERS OF COUNTRIES TAKING IN REFUGEES. PAGE 9 VOICES OF OUR COMMUNITY PAGES 3, 5, 11, 12 EVENTS / PUZZLES PAGE 13 RESOURCES PAGE 15 APRIL 2022 | Vol.27 Issue 4 SINCE 1997, WE HAVE PROVIDED AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE TO WORK. DONATE TODAY TO ENSURE OUR VENDORS CONTINUE TO HAVE JOBS. (DENVERVOICE.ORG) FROM YOUR VENDOR: PHOTO BY AVE CALVAR ON UNSPLASH
EDITOR’S NOTE ON MARCH 9, temperatures in ELISABETH MONAGHAN MANAGING EDITOR Denver ranged from a low of 7 degrees to a high of only 23. When the City of Denver conducted a sweep of a homeless encampment that morning, one Denver VOICE contributor commented on Twitter about the cruelty of conducting sweeps without offering shelter to those who were displaced or telling folks where (or if) they could find their belongings. In response, several people commented that they agreed, but there also were comments that took exception to our contributor’s tweet. One person wrote, “Good.” Another accused the contributor of being “fake news,” while another said the number of individuals experiencing homelessness in Denver was actually 6,000, not the12,000 total our contributor mentioned. Regardless of whether there are 12,000, 6,000, or 600 people in Denver experiencing homelessness, these are people sleeping on the streets. Maybe some of them are junkies or drunks who “have chosen to be homeless.” That certainly makes it OK for the City to clear out these encampments, right? According to the National Institute of Mental Health, about 26% of Americans ages 18 and older suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. Granted, not all of those with mental health issues are addicts or end up on the streets, but what if one out of every four individuals experiencing homelessness suffers from a mental disorder? How helpful is it to those individuals to be swept — especially when many of them will simply relocate to a different camp down the road? I’ve said before that homelessness is ugly. But no matter how much pushback we get from others, and regardless of whether anyone considers it “fake news,” those of us who make up the Denver VOICE will continue to point it out when we or members of our broader community forget that regardless of where people sleep, they are our fellow human beings, and they deserve to be treated with dignity. ■ DENVERVOICE.ORG CE.ORG @deeOCE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Jennifer Seybold MANAGING EDITOR Elisabeth Monaghan PROGRAM COORDINATOR Anthony Cornejo GRAPHIC DESIGNER Hannah Bragg APRIL CONTRIBUTOR ROBERT DAVIS is an award-winning freelance reporter for the Denver VOICE. His work has appeared in Invisible People, The Progressive, Yellow Scene Magazine, Motley Fool, and Medium.com WHAT WE DO The Denver VOICE empowers homeless, impoverished, and transient individuals by creating job opportunities through our vendor program. We give our vendors a job and help them tell their stories; this creates a space for them to be part of a community again. Vendors purchase copies of the VOICE for 50 cents each at our distribution center. This money pays for a portion of our production costs. Vendors can buy as many papers as they want; they then sell those papers to the public for a suggested $2 donation. The difference in cost ($1.50) is theirs to keep. WHO WE ARE The Denver VOICE is a nonprofit that publishes a monthly street newspaper. Our vendors are men and women in the Denver metro area experiencing homelessness and poverty. Since 2007, we have put more than 4,600 vendors to work. Our mission is to facilitate a dialogue addressing the roots of homelessness by telling stories of people whose lives are impacted by poverty and homelessness and to offer economic, educational, and empowerment opportunities for the impoverished community. We are an award-winning publication, a member of the International Network of Street Papers and the Colorado Press Association, and we abide by the Society of Professional Journalists code of ethics. With the money they make selling the VOICE, vendors are able to pay for their basic needs. Our program provides vendors with an immediate income and a support group of dedicated staff members and volunteers. Vendors are independent contractors who receive no base pay. EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT editor@denvervoice.org VENDOR PROGRAM program@denvervoice.org • (720) 320-2155 ADVERTISING ads@denvervoice.org MAILING ADDRESS PO Box 1931, Denver CO 80201 VENDOR OFFICE 989 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, CO 80204 OFFICE HOURS: Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. until 12 p.m. Orientation is held every day we are open, but prospective vendors must arrive by 10:00 a.m. VOLUNTEER COPY EDITORS Ashton Brown Kersten Jaeger Aaron Sullivan Laura Wing PHOTOGRAPHERS/ILLUSTRATORS Gigi Galen WRITERS Lando Allen Zakkayah Brooks Rea Brown Frances Ford Raelene Johnson Queene Jerry Rosen BOARD OF DIRECTORS Nikki Lawson, President Chris Boulanger, Vice President Jeff Cuneo, Treasurer Zephyr Wilkins, Secretary Donovan Cordova Raelene Johnson Julia Watson Cabal Yarne 2 DENVER VOICE April 2022 STAFF CONTRIBUTORS BOARD CONTACT US
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S NOTE JENNIFER SEYBOLD EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR I HEAR A SENSE OF FRUSTRATION AND DESPAIR from many in our community over Denver’s growing poverty and homelessness crisis. The majority of us stay informed, vote, volunteer, and provide support through mutual aid efforts, but there is much confusion about governmental policy, and, for many, an overwhelming feeling that the problem is just too big. It’s true, these issues are big! They’re complex and cannot be solved through a single approach. The root causes of poverty and homelessness are as varied and unique as the individuals who experience it. Solutions, then, must be varied, too. They must address not just housing, but housing that tackles the issue at every stage. These solutions must include strategies that address equal employment, resource access, and systems of structural marginalization. I’m happy that our community is talking about the need for permanent housing alongside more immediate-need temporary solutions like Safe Outdoor Spaces. It’s great to see organizations breaking apart systems of structural marginalization by building new pathways. Still, there is a lot of work to be done. In a time when jobs are less structured than ever before, ILLUSTRATION BY GIGI GALEN our societal norms and expectations still dictate a pretty limited view of gainful employment – especially when it comes to those experiencing homelessness and poverty. Unfortunately, these shifts toward a less traditional workday, and the changes affecting where and how we work, seem to be reserved only for the privileged. Some supportive employment programs take a rescue approach, trying to fit individuals into a 9-to-5 work box, or a structure where they’ll never achieve financial independence. I’m proud to say that the Denver VOICE has always operated from a perspective of rights not rescue, by offering employment and economic opportunity that doesn’t put those we serve into a series of boxes. We believe that a holistic approach to community wealthbuilding must include opportunities that fall into an important middle-ground; a place where individuals can hold meaningful work that isn’t limited by challenges that prevent them from more traditional work. Beyond providing the opportunity we view as right for the individual, the VOICE provides a space for individuals to decide what opportunities are right for them. Our work is constituent-led, equity-focused, and we value the lived experience of individuals to better their own lives and significantly improve our communities! Today, when we are seeing a more open-minded response to varied and unique housing and access approaches to poverty, I am grateful to our supporters for recognizing the Denver VOICE as a critical and cutting-edge approach to employment! I thank our sponsors and readers for supporting meaningful work and for making it possible for those we employ to take the reins of their own lives in whatever direction they choose regardless of age, race, criminal and personal history, or mental/physical disability. Thank you for your ongoing support as we keep forging into the future! ■ 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. 1 4 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 DONATE Donations to the Denver VOICE are tax-deductible. Go to denvervoice.org to give a one-time or recurring donation. You can also mail a check to: Denver VOICE | P.O. Box 193 | Denver, CO 80201 3 VOLUNTEER We need volunteers to help with everything from newspaper distribution to event planning and management. Contact program@denvervoice.org for volunteering information. 5 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. @denverVOICE 2 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. April 2022 DENVER VOICE 3
INTERNATIONAL STORY RISE IN DESTITUTION More than 31% of children in Britain were living in poverty in 2019/2020, up from 27% in 2013/14. But the latest data predates COVID-19 and the jump in costs, which charities say have tipped yet more families into hardship. Even before the pandemic, the numbers in extreme poverty had soared. More than a million households, including 550,000 children, experienced destitution in 2019, up 35% since 2017, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Child poverty rates are particularly high in single-parent homes, larger families, and those from ethnic backgrounds. Single mother Jo Barker-Marsh, 49, who lives with 12-yearold son Harry in the northern city of Manchester, said child poverty remained hidden in Britain with many families sliding into hardship after relationship breakdowns and job losses. Ten years ago, she was a filmmaker earning a good salary. But as a single mother raising a son with special educational needs, she could not resume a full-time career. She took a part-time cleaning job but lost it as the pandemic struck. “There’s shame and humiliation that comes with poverty,” Barker-Marsh said. “People think they’re better than us. They accuse you of scrounging.” Poverty is not only exhausting but physically painful, said Barker-Marsh, who like Kim has reduced what she eats. “The cold radiates from the center of your being. Because A WOMAN AND CHILDREN CAST THEIR SHADOWS AS THEY STROLL IN THE SUNSHINE ON THE SOUTHBANK IN LONDON, BRITAIN SEPTEMBER 19, 2015. REUTERS/NEIL HALL U.K. COST-OF-LIVING CRISIS REVEALS ‘HIDDEN’ CHILD POVERTY Families forced to choose between heating and eating as soaring energy bills and food prices spotlight extent of poverty in Britain. BY EMMA BATHA KIM DREADS HER CHILDREN’S BIRTHDAYS. When her son recently turned 11, she gave him a chocolate bar and a card - with food and fuel costs sky-rocketing, it was all she could afford. The family’s north Wales home gets bitterly cold in winter, but heating remains a luxury. Kim’s four sons - among 4.3 million British children living in poverty - walk round the house bundled in layers of clothing, dressing gowns, and blankets, clutching hot water bottles. “I try and make it out to be an adventure to them. But it’s not an adventure for anybody. They’re cold,” said Kim, whose husband lost his job as a builder six months into the pandemic. Poorer families, already squeezed by years of austerity, are struggling more than ever as food prices surge - and things are set to get even tougher in April when energy bills soar by 54%. Anti-poverty charities have called for urgent fixes to the country’s welfare system, saying growing numbers of families are being forced to choose between eating and heating, while parents like Kim skip meals so their children get enough. “It’s shocking. We’re in 2022, living in an advanced country - apparently, but we’ve got families where people are starving,” said Kim. Inflation hit 5.4% in December, a 30-year-high, and could top 7% in coming months - welfare benefits will only rise 3.1% in April in what is the world’s fifth-richest economy. A likely increase in housing costs and a looming tax hike to help fund the country’s struggling health and social care systems will only add to the pressure. The boss of budget supermarket of Iceland, Richard Walker, made headlines recently when he said his stores were losing customers to food banks and hunger, amid rising food prices. Kim, 37, used to cook everything from scratch, but is now reduced to feeding her children “cheap, processed crap”. “That’s the only way I can describe it because it’s not food,” said Kim, who asked not to use her full name. For two pounds ($2.70) she can put chicken nuggets, noodles, and tinned beans on the table. Cooking a roast chicken with vegetables would cost more than four times that - money she does not have. Kim and her husband miss most meals, surviving on toast. It pains her to see the children missing out. “Birthdays are heart-breaking,” she said. “What kid wants to open nothing on their birthday?” you can’t eat enough food, your body doesn’t operate properly. You go to bed freezing and wake up in pain.” ‘UNFIT FOR PURPOSE’ Kim and Barker-Marsh are part of a project called Covid Realities, spearheaded by the universities of York and Birmingham and the Child Poverty Action Group charity, which has charted the lives of low-income families during the pandemic. A report published last month called for major reforms to the social security system, branding it “unfit for purpose”. The government was praised at the start of the pandemic for temporarily boosting Britain’s Universal Credit welfare payment by 20 pounds a week, but it withdrew the top-up in October. Anti-poverty campaigners want it restored urgently. Dan Paskins of Save the Children UK said some European countries, including Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and the Netherlands, had much lower child poverty rates. This was largely due to better childcare support, so more parents were able to work, and higher welfare payments. Britain, however, has seen significant cuts to social security in the last decade and is one of the world’s most expensive countries for childcare, Paskins said. The conservative government has rejected accusations of doing too little, pointing to measures worth 12 billion pounds to help struggling households and a 9-billion-pound package to counter rising energy costs. But the massive hike in fuel prices, which will add hundreds of pounds to household bills, triggered further outrage this month after energy giants unveiled multi-billion-pound profits. Some politicians have called for a windfall tax on their gains to help families facing fuel poverty. Barker-Marsh said the higher bills meant she would have to sell her home and accused energy suppliers of “dancing on the bodies of the poor”. “My son is sick of being cold,” she said, her voice breaking. “I’m really, really angry right now. There are so many of us. But no one is listening.” ■ Courtesy of Reuters / Thomson Reuters Foundation / International Network of Street Papers 4 DENVER VOICE April 2022
SPRING WISH LIST With the weather beginning to change, we have updated our list, but we can always use coats and jackets. NEW ITEMS NEEDED: Socks Sunscreen, toiletries Toothpaste, deodorant, chapstick Paper products for the office GENTLY-USED ITEMS NEEDED: Men’s shoes or boots (sizes 8-12) Men’s jackets (sizes L, XL, XXL) Women’s jackets (sizes M, L, XL) Ball caps, hats Fold-up umbrellas, backpacks ASK A VENDOR THIS COLUMN IS A PLACE FOR DENVER VOICE VENDORS TO RESPOND TO QUESTIONS FROM OUR READERS AND STAFF. THIS MONTH’S QUESTION WAS SUGGESTED BY VOICE VENDOR JACOB MARSH. Q Do you think Safe Outdoor Spaces are a better or worse option than unsanctioned camping spots? A LANDO ALLEN I’m not sure if they’re better or worse, but I can tell you this: There are a couple of shelters, and if you get kicked out of them, you will have to find somewhere to stay. To me that would suck. A good thing about the Safe Outdoor Spaces is that you won’t get messed with by the cops. I hope that the security at SOS are making sure people don’t get robbed or that anyone doesn’t become a target of anyone else staying there. But if I’m sleeping outside, I would want to be away from people. JERRY ROSEN I think Safe Outdoor Spaces are better because they’re protected by security that patrols the area to make sure it is safe. You have to go by the rules at the SOS and do your part to keep it clean and safe. REA BROWN As I rush to the bus another day, as I go through the same routine to pay, and as I walk to a seat, I think of what I should say about the fate of the homeless and where their head should lay, I feel disgusted. Some trust outdoor living is okay Trust me, even those that love it don’t like when the skies are gray huddled up at the station with faces of disarray. Some looking distant like they’re wishing they were in a different place DENVERVOICE.ORG/VENDOR-NEEDS Drop-offs are accepted Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. or schedule a drop-off by emailing program@denvervoice.org. What do YOU want to ask? If you have a question or issue you would like vendors to discuss, please email community@denvervoice.org. April 2022 DENVER VOICE 5 their prescription is an addiction a pen can’t erase. The only real fix is for it to be replaced And yes, there’s no one right answer for every case. Unless we’re talking a miracle that’s involving faith I know I’m way off the subject, but it’s adjace. Do I think Safe Outdoor Spaces are better or worse than unsanctioned camping spaces? Neither! There must be a better way.
NATIONAL FEATURE JIM CROW LAWS After the American Civil War (1861–1965), most Southern states passed laws denying Black people basic human rights. Later, many Border States followed suit. These laws became known as Jim Crow laws after the name of a popular blackface character that would sing songs like “Jump Jim Crow.” In California, Jim Crow played out against Chinese immigrants more than Black people. From 1866 to 1947, Chinese residents of San Francisco were forced to live in one area of the city. The same segregation laws prohibited interracial marriage between Chinese and non-Chinese persons, and educational and employment laws were also enforced in the city. African and Native American children had to attend separate schools from those of white children. In 1879, the California constitution read that no Chinese people could vote. The law was not repealed until 1926. Oregon and Idaho had similar provisions in their constitutions. In 1891, a referendum required all Chinese people to carry a “certification of residence” card or face arrest and jail. In 1909, the Japanese were added to the list of people who were prohibited by law from marrying white people. In 1913, “Alien Land Laws” were passed that prohibited any Asian people from owning or leasing property. The law was not struck down by the California Supreme Court until 1952. SUNDOWN TOWNS Sundown Towns did not allow people who were considered PHOTO BY PAWEL CZERWINSKI ON UNSPLASH THE RIPPLE EFFECT: Historical criminalization in the U.S. and contemporary treatment of the homeless BY THE WESTERN REGIONAL ADVOCACY PROJECT The United States has a long history of using mean-spirited and often brutal laws to keep certain people out of public spaces and consciousness. Jim Crow, Sundown Towns, Anti-Okie laws, Operation Wetback, and Ugly Laws targeted various populations based on their racial, economic, social, immigration, or disability status. Understanding this history will provide context for the modern exclusionary and discriminatory laws that specifically target homeless people for what are referred to as “Quality of Life” or “Nuisance” crimes. These criminalize sleeping, sitting, loitering, panhandling, and even food sharing. Just like the laws from our past, they deny people their right to exist in local communities. These laws have their roots in the broken windows theory, which holds that one poor person in a neighborhood is like a first unrepaired broken window; if such a “window” is not immediately fixed or removed, it is a signal that no one cares. As a result, disorder will flourish, and the community will go to hell in a handbasket. UGLY LAWS From the 1860s to the 1970s, several American cities had laws that made it illegal for people with “unsightly or disgusting” disabilities to appear in public. Some of these laws were called “unsightly beggar ordinances.” The first ordinance was in San Francisco in 1867, but the most commonly cited law was from Chicago. Chicago Municipal Code section 36034 stated: “No person who is diseased, maimed, mutilated or in any way deformed so as to be an unsightly or disgusting object or improper person to be allowed in or on the public ways or other public places in this city, or shall therein or thereon expose himself to public view, under a penalty of not less than one dollar nor more than fifty dollars for each offense.” ANTI-OKIE LAWS The agricultural workers who migrated to California for work in the 1900s were generally referred to as “Okies.” They were assumed to be from Oklahoma, but they moved to California from other states as well. The term became derogatory in the 1930s when massive numbers of people migrated west to find work. In 1937, California passed an “anti-Okie” law which made it a misdemeanor to “bring or assist in bringing” extremely poor people into the state. The law was later considered unconstitutional. OPERATION WETBACK Operation Wetback began in 1954 in California and Arizona as an effort to remove all undocumented Mexican immigrants from the Southwestern states. The operation was created by the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and coordinated 1,075 border control agents along with state and local police agencies. The agents went house to house looking for Mexicans and performed citizenship checks during traffic stops. They would stop any “Mexican-looking” person on the street and insist on seeing identification. Operation Wetback was only abandoned after a large outcry from opponents in both the United States and Mexico. “minorities” to remain in the town after the sun set. Some towns posted signs at their borders specifically telling people of color to not let the sun set on them while in the town. There were town policies and real estate covenants in place to support this racism, which was enforced by local police officers. Sundown Towns existed throughout the United States: there were thousands of them in existence before the Civil Rights Act of 1968 prohibited racial discrimination in housing practices. Sundown Towns simply did not want certain ethnic groups to stay in their towns at night. If undesired people were to wander into a Sundown Town after the sun had set, they would be subject to any form of punishment from harassment to lynching. While the state of Illinois had the highest number of Sundown Towns, they were a national phenomenon that mostly targeted anyone of African, Chinese, and Jewish heritage. TODAY: BROKEN WINDOW LAWS Today’s laws have their roots in the broken windows theory, which holds that one poor person in a neighborhood is like a first unrepaired broken window. If such a “window” is not immediately fixed or removed, it is a signal that no one cares, which will lead to disorder and the disintegration of the community. A direct outcome of this theory is the introduction of legislation to criminalize the presence of homeless people in public. Current “Quality of Life” laws also take a certain population into account: homeless persons. Using these laws, people are criminalized for simply walking, standing, sleeping, and other regular human behaviors. In other words, they are penalized and harassed simply because of who they are. Just as with Jim Crow, Ugly Laws, Anti-Okie Laws, and Operation Wetback, how people look and their very existence is the basis for charging them with criminal behaviors. ■ Courtesy of Street Spirit / International Network of Street Papers 6 DENVER VOICE April 2022
COMMUNITY PROFILE HOUSEKEYS, NOT SWEEPS BY ROBERT DAVIS A NEWLY FORMED ORGANIZATION seeks to address housing instability in Denver by getting more people involved in advocating for affordable housing. Housekeys Action Network Denver (HAND), a nonprofit, officially launched March 7, and its members describe it as a model that other advocacy organizations should follow. HAND will conduct surveys of people experiencing homelessness to learn about their preferred housing options and any roadblocks they experienced while trying to access services. This information will then be used to advocate for specific solutions to the identified problems. The group says this dynamic is currently missing from many of the organizations that claim to advocate on behalf of homeless people. “We have not even come close to regaining housing for people that need it,” Terese Howard, HAND’s lead organizer, told Denver VOICE in an interview. “And, by and large, people on the streets want housing, but there isn’t enough housing being built and there won’t be enough any time soon.” Howard, who has been advocating for Denver’s unhoused for more than nine years, said Denver will be the initial launching site for HAND. According to Howard, the program has already generated interest from cities across the country. One of the key issues that HAND is focused on solving is getting people experiencing housing instability into the housing options that work for them. Howard said the debate about housing in Denver has become too focused on the number of units available rather than the housing types that promote stable living conditions. For example, Howard points to Denver’s declining homebuilding rate as a key driver of HAND’s work. Data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis shows that the number of building permits issued for new residential construction projects is still well below levels measured in 1997. This is despite the significant increase in permits issued over the last decade. Government bureaucracy has also helped to To being to unravel the mismatch between available housing stock and demand, HAND developed a 25-question survey in partnership with the Western Regional Advocacy Project to gather data about what housing types can be most beneficial to reducing housing instability. The survey asks respondents questions that range from their opinions about the meaning of affordable housing to more detailed questions about their past housing experiences and knowledge of available services. “This work is about the people experiencing homelessness in our community,” an individual identified as ‘V,’ HAND’s survey coordinator, told Denver VOICE. “There is no reason to spend time trying to come up with solutions that are not based on the current situation.” V said they have personally experienced housing instability in their life, and it was those experiences that drew them to HAND. They added that the pandemic really exposed the need to re-establish a personal connection with our neighbors, both housed and unhoused. Even though HAND has only conducted “a few” test runs of its survey, V said the responses have been eye-opening. They have had experiences where respondents became emotional after they were asked for their opinion, which V said is an example of how detached people experiencing housing instability are often ignored in our communities. Outside of its surveys, HAND also plans to hold a biweekly community meeting for people experiencing housing instability to build a community and help advocate for solutions that will benefit them. Meetings will be held on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month at the Emerson School Building, 1420 Ogden St., which is at the intersection of Colfax Avenue and Ogden Street. There will be free food at each meeting, and people who need to bring shopping carts or other containers for their personal items are welcome to do so. People who are interested in learning more about HAND or donating to the group can call 701-484-2634 or contact them by email at info@housekeysactionnetwork.com. ■ slow Denver’s homebuilding activity as the time it takes to review the permits is increasing. Just 2% of major or intermediate residential construction permits in Denver make it through the initial review process within six weeks, according to data from Community Planning and Development. These projects include new builds and major renovations or additions of at least 400 sq. ft. For comparison, CPD reviews 31% of small residential building permits are reviewed on time. These projects include minor home renovations such as adding a fence and ground-level patio or shed additions. But even if Denver can increase its available housing stock, Howard said the city is not building the right kinds of housing for the people who need it most. For example, Howard points to Denver’s lack of housing units for people making up to 30% of the city’s area median income. Denver has just over 2,000 units available at this income level despite there being more than 38,000 households that need this housing type, according to data from the Department of Housing Stability. ILLUSTRATION CREDIT: DAVID SOLNIT April 2022 DENVER VOICE 7
INTERNATIONAL NEWS HELENA MARCINEK, 48, A CHURCH KEEPER OF UKRAINIAN DESCENT, STANDS IN FRONT OF THE SAO MIGUEL ARCANJO CHURCH IN LINHA NOVA GALICIA, PRUDENTOPOLIS, PARANA STATE, BRAZIL, FEBRUARY 26, 2022. REUTERS/PILAR OLIVARES BRAZIL’S ‘LITTLE UKRAINE’ PRAYS FOR ANCESTRAL HOMELAND BY PILAR OLIVARES OVER 100 CHURCHES STAND in the southern Brazilian town of Prudentopolis, many built in ornate Byzantine style by Ukrainian immigrants who arrived in such large numbers from the late 19th century that it became known as ‘Little Ukraine’. In recent days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, dubbed a “special operation” by Moscow, the town’s churches have been packed with locals wracked by feelings of despair and powerlessness, praying for friends and families back in Ukraine. Civil servant Oksana Jadvizak, 35, first visited Ukraine in 2008 on a scholarship. She was still there in 2014, during the Maidan uprising that toppled President Viktor Yanukovich, now exiled in Russia. One of her professors died in those clashes, and Jadvizak said she was horrified by the recent escalation with Russia that has left Ukraine a smoldering pile of rubble. “It’s so impactful to see the tanks of war and planes flying over, and hearing my friends saying they are going to battle,” she said in front of a Byzantine church, wearing the Ukrainian soccer jersey, and a yellow-and-blue flag draped around her shoulders. With the sound of a choir rising behind her, Jadvizak had come out to show solidarity with those in Ukraine. “We’re going to pray so that everything ends well,” said Jadvizak, who is of fourth-generation Ukrainian descent, and counts Portuguese as her second language. 8 DENVER VOICE April 2022 Some in the town drew parallels between their own families’ exit from Ukraine, and that of the millions of refugees fleeing in the wake of Russia’s invasion. Nadia Rurak Techy, 66, a shopkeeper whose parents came to Brazil after living through the “terror” of World War Two, said she feared Ukrainian culture would be erased. “I’m distraught,” she said, breaking into tears at her clothes shop. “Ukraine doesn’t deserve this ... Our homeland has to be free. It needs to remain beautiful, as it always was.” ECONOMIC MIGRANTS Ukrainian migrants, many from the western Galicia region that includes the city of Lviv, began arriving in Prudentopolis in 1896, according to Anderson Prado, a historian from the Federal University of Parana who has studied the town’s roots. He said Ukrainians were fleeing extreme poverty, just a few decades after Tsarist Russia outlawed serfdom. They found a welcome home in the vast, fertile south of Brazil. The country, which had recently abolished slavery, was desperate for workers to develop its farmland, and actively recruited Europeans through publicity campaigns. The first roughly 1,500 Ukrainian families that arrived worked in agriculture and sawmills, industries that remain major employers to this day, Prado said. The people of Prudentopolis, named after former Brazilian President Prudente de Morais, have retained surprisingly close ties with Ukraine, Prado said. Over threequarters of the town’s 52,000 people speak some Ukrainian, its official second language. “The descendants who live in Prudentopolis have a fundamental connection with Ukraine,” he said. “They are very close to their relatives who stayed there, and the vast majority dream of returning or visiting the land of their origins.” Dental surgeon Rodrigo Michalovski, 31, agreed. He is part of a decades-old group in the town known as the “Cossack Brotherhood.” The club seeks to maintain ties with Ukrainian culture through dances and historical presentations. Almost all members are Catholic and dress up in traditional clothes, keeping their hair and beards in the classic Cossack style. “We learn to love Ukraine from childhood ... and we carry that love for our entire lives,” Michalovski said. “Every bit of sad news about the war is a stab in my chest, in my heart. We will only have peace again when the fire in Ukraine stops, when I know that our people are safe.” With few means to help those in Ukraine, Jadvizak, the civil servant, said she was offering whatever support she could. “Today I sent a message to my friends saying that if they needed, my house is open,” she said. “I think everyone here in Prudentopolis, where 70% of the population is of Ukrainian descent, is willing to shelter people.” Thiago Zakalugne, 36, a mechanic and fellow member of the ‘Cossack Brotherhood’, echoed the views of many in Prudentopolis, who were at a loss for ways to help. Like them, he was also putting his faith in the divine. “Each bomb that falls over there, each drop of Ukrainian blood spilled is a piece of our heart that breaks,” he said. “If I could, I would certainly go, to try to help somehow ... but our way of helping from here right now is with prayer.” ■ Additional reporting by Gabriel Stargardter. Courtesy of Reuters / International Network of Street Papers
INTERNATIONAL NEWS BRUTAL DISCRIMINATION ADDS TRAUMA TO ROMA AS THEY FLEE WAR-TORN UKRAINE BY ED HOLT ROMA REFUGEES FLEEING WAR-TORN UKRAINE are facing discrimination on both sides of the country’s borders at the end of often harrowing journeys across the country, rights groups have claimed. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sparked what the UN has described as the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since WWII, and as of 9 March, an estimated 2 million people had left the country. These include Roma who, like other refugees, abandoned their homes and communities as fighting broke out across the country. But having reached borders of neighboring states, they have found themselves subject to what some groups helping them have described as “brutal” discrimination. “Groups working on the ground at borders in Slovakia, Romania, and Hungary have confirmed discrimination to us, and also media reports have backed this up. Roma are facing discrimination both by border guards and then local people, once they get out of Ukraine. It’s very sad and disappointing, but not surprising,” said Zeljko Jovanovic, director of the Roma Initiatives Office at the Open Society Foundation (OSF). Roma living in Europe are among the most discriminated and disadvantaged groups on the continent. In many countries, including Ukraine where it is thought there are as many as 400,000 Roma, significant numbers live in segregated settlements where living conditions are often poor and extreme poverty widespread. Health in many such places is also bad with research showing very high burdens of both infectious and non-communicable diseases and significantly shorter lifespans than the general population. Incidents of discrimination of Roma have been reported at the borders of all countries that are taking in refugees, according to the OSF and the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC). These have included being made to wait much longer in lines, sometimes tens of kilometers long, in freezing weather, than ethnic Ukrainian refugees, before they are processed. “They are always the last people to be let out of the country,” said Jovanovic. Media reports have quoted refugees describing discrimination and, in some cases, physical attacks. One Roma woman who had made her way to Moldova said she and her family had spent four days waiting at the border with no food and water, and having found shelter were then chased out of it by Ukrainian guards. Groups working with the refugees said Roma who crossed into their countries told them similar stories. Viktor Teru of the Roma Education Fund in Slovakia said: “Roma refugees tell us that on the Ukrainian side there is ‘brutal’ discrimination.” But once they finally make it over the border, their problems often do not end there. Bela Racz, of the 1Hungary organization, which is helping Roma refugees in Hungary, said he had witnessed PEOPLE FLEEING RUSSIA’S INVASION OF UKRAINE REST IN A TEMPORARY REFUGEE CENTRE LOCATED AT A LOCAL TRACK-ANDFIELD ATHLETICS STADIUM IN CHISINAU, MOLDOVA MARCH 4, 2022. REUTERS/VLADISLAV CULIOMZA April 2022 DENVER VOICE 9 discrimination during the three days his organization spent in the eastern Hungarian border town of Zahony at the beginning of March. “Roma arrived in separate coaches – the Ukrainian border guards organized it this way – and when they did arrive, Roma mothers were checked by Hungarian police many times, but non-Roma mothers were not. “Local mayors and Hungarians are not providing direct help, such as accommodation, and information, [for Roma] in their towns – that only comes if we ask for it and organize it. Roma did not get proper help, information, or support,” he said. There have been numerous media reports of similar discrimination at border crossings in other countries, including incidents of Roma being refused transport by volunteers, and being refused accommodation. Jaroslav Miko, founder of the Cesi Pomahaji (Czechs Help) NGO, who has transported more than 100 Roma refugees from the Slovak-Ukrainian border to the Czech Republic, said he had seen “discrimination of Roma among the volunteers who were picking people up at the border”. He said volunteers were picking up some refugees in vehicles and taking them to other places, but that Roma families were being turned away if they asked for help. In another incident, the head of a firefighting station in Humenne, in eastern Slovakia, where many Roma refugees have been sent to a holding camp, told a reporter that the refugees had “abused the situation”. “They are not people who are directly threatened by the war. They are people from near the border, they have abused the opportunity for us to cook them hot food here and to receive humanitarian aid,” the firefighter allegedly said, adding that Ukrainian Roma should not be allowed across the border. Slovakia’s Interior Minister Roman Mikulec and national fire brigade officials have refused to comment on the claims. But despite these incidents of discrimination, Roma refugees are getting local help from other Roma. “Many Hungarian Roma living in nearby villages are providing accommodation for Roma. Due to the presence of groups like ours, and state representatives, the situation with discrimination is getting better,” said Racz. “There is a good network of Roma activist groups coordinating work to help refugees and also there are Roma mayors in many towns near the borders in Romania and Slovakia who are prepared to take Roma refugees and arrange shelter for them,” added Jovanovic. However, all those who commented said the discrimination against Roma refugees was a reminder of the systemic prejudice the minority faces. Meanwhile, Jovanovic said he hoped that the problems Roma refugees were facing now would not be forgotten, as they had been in the past. ■ Courtesy of Inter Press Service / International Network of Street Papers
INTERNATIONAL PROFILE POET MAXINE BENEBA CLARKE ON WHAT MAKES A GOOD HUMAN BY SISTA ZAI ZANDA “IT’S ALWAYS HARD – DIFFICULT – CHOOSING A TITLE. And you feel like you don’t know until you’ve got it,” says award-winning writer, poet, and illustrator Maxine Beneba Clarke over a cuppa on Zoom. It’s the publication day of her latest poetry collection How Decent Folk Behave, and we’re chatting about how it got its name. It’s taken from one of her poems, ‘something sure,’ a conversation between a mother and a son about the murder of Hannah Clarke and her three children, and what this act of domestic violence means for both the little boy and his mother’s social responsibility to raise him well. “You know, the mother in the poem says, ‘I taught you well how decent folk behave’ – and I thought to myself Well this is what this collection is about: it is about what is it to be a good human, what does it really mean?” The author of over nine books for adults and children, including the short fiction collection Foreign Soil (2014), her memoir The Hate Race (2016), and the Victorian Premier’s Award-winning poetry collection Carrying the World (2016), Beneba Clarke identifies her poetic lineage as beginning with the oral storytelling of the West African griots and unfolding into the Caribbean and Black British dub and reggae grassroots poetry traditions popularised by Benjamin Zephaniah, Jean “Binta” Breeze, and Linton Kwesi Johnson. She also named the soulful protest folk songs of Tracy Chapman as another major influence on her writing and performance style that, as a child of Black British settlers in Australia, she now brings to bear on her poetic observations about the world today. “[How Decent Folk Behave] was written in the last two years, during which Melbourne was locked down, on and off, for so long,” says Beneba Clarke. “It really made me think more about what is it we miss. And, when we get back out there, what is it that we need to do to look at things like violence against women, climate change, racial justice, and things like that… Instead of having those conversations with friends – because I wasn’t able to sit around and have those musings – it happened on the page.” There’s an emerging trend, particularly among Black women and non-binary writers, to publish work that encourages readers to imagine what the future could possibly hold. Because we already know the world’s problems, the questions now have to be where are we going? What are we creating? And how are we getting there? Would Beneba Clarke situate How Decent Folk Behave within this genre of Black futurist writing? She laughs and nods, “Yeah, I think that. And during the coronavirus, Black Lives Matter galvanizing after the death of George Floyd, and more interest in talking about Aboriginal deaths in custody in Australia and,” she pauses to reflect, FREE HOT MEALS Capitol Hill Community Services at Trinity Church 1820 Broadway HOURS Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday 11:45 – 12:30 11:45 – 12:30 closed 11:45 – 12:30 11:45 – 12:30 Closed on National Holidays YOU ARE WELCOME HERE MAXINE BENEBA CLARKE. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE BIG ISSUE AUSTRALIA / INTERNATIONAL NETWORK OF STREET PAPERS 10 DENVER VOICE April 2022
PAGE TITLE “because it’s a situation where if you go out on the street, you’re not only exposing yourself to police violence, you are exposing yourself to a deadly pandemic and a virus, and with all of these intersecting issues, it’s suddenly the stakes become that much higher. “It’s like this is so important that we are going to go out there even though it means that we are exposed to this risk. I think that was powerful to me and I’m not – I don’t think of myself as – an activist; I am a writer. So, I don’t think it’s up to me to set the agenda…but I try to ask those questions and to highlight some of the powerful things that did come out of the last few years.” Beneba Clarke first earned her status as a popular slam poet in venues around Naarm/Melbourne. This contemporary street poetry scene owes its Blak grounding to creatives like Shelton Lea, Lisa Bellear and Bruce McGuinness, and Beneba Clarke alludes to the power of observational grassroots poetry in the prologue to the collection: “i said/get the fuck back/i am warning you:/i’ve got poetry/their hands were trembling/their eyes were wild/and I could smell/their fear”. Beneba Clarke and I have known each other for a little over a decade now, back to a time before Australian literature embraced diversity in the canon. She remarks how much the landscape has shifted since then but also how much more work still needs to be done. “There are a lot of uncomfortable conversations to come, and that is part of our job if we want to continue to engage with the fact that this is stolen Blak land and what is our responsibility on this land – as people who have been severely affected by colonization ourselves but are now essentially the beneficiaries of the colonization of another country,” she says. “I think part of our task is to amplify the work of Indigenous writers and engage in those conversations which might be hard and which might require us to do some learning and unlearning, but that is where we are. That is what art is for: art creates this space to have these conversations.” Full of poems that speak to the times we collectively inhabit, in How Decent Folk Behave Beneba Clarke writes with nuance and emotion. Each poem leaves the reader keen to dig a little deeper and learn more about the real-life events that inspired them. In this sense, Beneba Clarke is a people’s poet, an archivist for posterity, like the griots who inspire her. ■ Courtesy of The Big Issue Australia / International Network of Street Papers FRANCES FORD LOOKING IN THE HORSE’S MOUTH My friend, safe in a psych ward, doesn’t watch the news unfolding, that we are unbecoming as a hollow monster, so monstrously mythic is our straw horse at the gate, our unraveling. So, envious of her escape, I phone and tell her. I hear background chirps, a little crack in our connection, then soft buzzing oversounds her silence, as if electronic ghosts whisper spite, deserved disdain, through fateful decades of our narrow view, the covered bridge. Our drivers whipped us to longer days and lessened fodder and burned barns. That’s how we got here from there: from a placid riverbank of blue-haired crones checking voter registrations and vaccinated children safely learning science and history to a quicksand shore of ignorant, unbridled ambition and the whip and the spur, forever. WRITING THROUGH HARD TIMES COURTESY OF DENVER PUBLIC LIBRARY AND LIGHTHOUSE WRITERS WORKSHOP QUEENE INDISPUTABLE REALISM A twin’s fame, Propelled, and spurred on by an exceptional Twin Flame. A flame of which, THAT duck, and her quack, So officially proclaim. In God we trust, and history tends to repeatedly Unravel life’s clusterfucks. Stunning, and awestruck, Within an undeniable majestic creation. It is just a life-sized masterpiece painting.. A painting, By: Monet, Picasso, or say: Mr. Vincent Van Gough.. Perspective is everything. I’d much, much, much rather look @ life THIS way. I’d much rather brighten the sad realities of my homeless days, by, far! Brighten my “hand-to-mouth” moments in time. I’d much rather implement THIS perspective, and wade through this situation, And to, Be blessed enough, To have these rhymes. The Hard Times Writing Workshop is a collaboration between Denver Public Library and Lighthouse Writers Workshop. It’s open to all members of the public, especially those experiencing homelessness. Each month, the Denver VOICE publishes a selection of writing from these workshops. Virtual workshops: lighthousewriters.org/workshop/denver-public-library-hard-times More writing by these featured poets: writedenver.org MAXINE BENEBA CLARKE. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE BIG ISSUE AUSTRALIA / INTERNATIONAL NETWORK OF STREET PAPERS April 2022 DENVER VOICE 11
IN YOUR OWN WORDS ZAKKAYAH BROOKS. CREDIT: ELISABETH MONAGHAN RAELENE JOHNSON. CREDIT: CORTNEY TABERNA TIME FOR A NEW ENDING BY ZAKKAYAH BROOKS, VOICE VENDOR I NEVER THOUGHT at this particular time in my life I’d feel so much heartache and pain, dealing with the death of a loved one so dear to me. Especially during a pandemic, with family needing family and a shoulder to cry on, someone just to talk to or get a hug from. Two people very close to me – the guy I had three kids with, and my stepsister, my mother’s daughter – took my happiness and dignity, my patience and trust – the only things I had left in me. I always thought love and family came together. I guess that belief and trust was wrong. I need a new ending. ■ HOW DO YOU HANDLE WHAT YOU’VE BEEN THROUGH, SELF BY RAELENE JOHNSON, VOICE VENDOR WHEN THE WORLD GOES CRAZY, how can we take it all in, Self? Do you just say, “I’ll be ok,” even when you know you won’t? Do you just pretend nothing really happened? Do you shut down? Do you act like you have to be strong, even if you’re not? Do you think you will be able to just get over it? Do you get really mad and just keep it in? Do you just want to end it all? Do you just not think about it? Self, do you not know it is okay to get help? You can’t keep it bottled up because, at some point, you will lose it. And when you do lose it, can you overcome the repercussions of your actions? If you feel anything but happy, you need to find out why! Self, it is ok to reach out and get help from people who can help you truly overcome All that pain and misery. Self, if you have to, you MUST get help so you don’t suffer any longer. Self, this world is falling apart. Don’t take the madness train or life of anger! You only kill yourself with all that madness. Get help if you need it. You can have a blessed life with help! ■ FREE ADDICTION SUPPORT FOR DENVER RESIDENTS EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS OR FINANCIAL HARDSHIP (855) 539-9375 WeFaceItTogether.org 12 DENVER VOICE April 2022
EVENTS WOMEN+FILM FESTIVAL Women+Film showcases documentaries, narratives, and short films celebrating the best in women-centric programming; both by and about women. These thoughtprovoking stories from around the world are sure to inspire all audiences. WHEN: Apr 5 – Apr 10, times vary. COST: Individual tickets start at $12; festival passes also available. WHERE: Sie FilmCenter, 2510 E. Colfax INFO: denverfilm.org COURTESY OF DEBORAH LASTOWKA PUZZLES 1 13 17 20 24 27 28 29 31 37 41 INTRO TO IMPROV: DROP-IN CLASS Want to see if improv comedy is right for you? This drop-in class will let you take RISE Comedy’s improv classes for a test drive, in a safe, supportive, and fun environment! WHEN: Apr 7, 14, 21, and 28, 6 p.m. – 7:45 p.m. WHERE: RISE Comedy, 1260 22nd St. COST: $10 INFO: risecomedy.com WHAT WE’RE WATCHING WITH JOHN ANZALONE The Train (1964), directed by John Frankenheimer and starring Burt Lancaster, is loosely based on the true story of French resistance fi ghters trying to stop the Nazis from stealing a trainload of priceless art pieces during World War II. Get a fresh perspective on this oftenoverlooked classic with fi lm professor John Anzalone. WHEN: Apr 10, 1:30 p.m. – 3 p.m. WHERE: Online COST: Free but online registration is required. INFO: denverlibrary.org/events/upcoming 47 48 49 50 52 58 62 65 59 60 63 66 53 54 61 64 67 44 38 42 45 46 51 55 56 57 32 39 40 43 21 25 26 30 33 34 35 36 2 3 4 14 5 15 18 22 23 6 7 COURTESY OF STREETROOTS ANSWERS ARE ON PAGE 15 8 9 16 19 10 11 12 ACROSS DOWN 1. Muslim holy man 5. Eyebrow shape 9. “Th e Sun ___ Rises” 13. Star in Orion 15. Pacifi c palm 16. Shakespearean king 17. Insect stage 18. Ski lift 19. Aft er-bath powder 20. Sultan’s palace 22. Concept in Hinduism and Buddhism 24. Cobbler cousin WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW: STAND-UP COMEDY What the World Needs Now is a new bi-weekly comedy showcase featuring some of the city’s best comedians, as well as its rising stars. This FREE event occurs every 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month. WHEN: Apr 13 and 27, 7 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. WHERE: First Draft Kitchen & Taproom, 1309 26th St. BEEKEEPING 101 Curious about beekeeping? Learn everything you need to know to care for your own hive. This event is in-person and no registration is required. WHEN: Apr 16, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. WHERE: The Table Public House, 2190 S. Platte River Dr. COST: Free INFO: denverlibrary.org/events COST: Free INFO: firstdraftdenver.com 2 8 9 5 4 3 9 2 3 7 1 7 6 3 9 2 5 9 2 1 5 7 8 2 7 9 8 7 2 4 9 3 5 April 2022 DENVER VOICE 13 3 8 6 3 4 25. Flightless bird of New Zealand also known as a takahe 27. Writing a computer program 30. “Once ___ a time...” 31. Tiptop 32. Fall guy 37. Entangle or disentangle 39. Down with the fl u 40. Expresses exhaustion or boredom 41. Bones of the hand and foot 43. Actress Catherine ___-Jones 44. 18-wheeler 45. German songs 47. One with memory loss 51. Behave (like) 52. “I’m a little ___...” 53. Try out 58. Director Preminger 59. Bumpkin 61. Shelf 62. Must-have 63. Canal of song 64. Shouts 65. Gaelic 66. Cincinnati nine 67. Bakery selections 1. Colored eye part 2. Gesturer 3. Gelatin substitute 4. Unit of graphic resolution 5. Dead against 6. Genetic messenger usually abbreviated in crosswords (but not this time!) 7. Tax preparer, for short 8. Car roof style 9. Place to exchange vows 10. Discover 11. Game ragout 12. Killer whales 14. Use a username and password 21. Pants part 23. Snookums 26. Milky gems 27. Food fi sh 28. Brightly colored fi sh 29. Hindu deity 32. Greek letter 33. Geographical index 34. Was in debt 35. Add to the pot 36. Ivan the Terrible, e.g. 38. Cow catcher 42. Nor’s partner 45. Boy 46. With frostiness 47. Do penance 48. Poet’s concern 49. Hoopster Archibald and statistician Silver 50. Lyric poem 54. Hawaiian strings 55. One way to stand by 56. Lecher’s look 57. Bitter end? 60. Anger PUZZLE COURTESY OF STREET ROOTS, DENVER VOICE’S SISTER PAPER IN PORTLAND, OR PUZZLE COURTESY OF STREET ROOTS, DENVER VOICE’S SISTER PAPER IN PORTLAND, OR
DONOR LIST WE LOVE OUR DONORS! WHEN YOU SUPPORT THE DENVER VOICE, YOU ARE HELPING SUPPORT HUNDREDS OF HOMELESS AND IMPOVERISHED INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE WORKING TO REALIZE SELF-SUFFICIENCY THROUGH EARNING A DIGNIFIED INCOME. YOUR GIFT MAKES A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE FOR THESE INDIVIDUALS. HERE, WE LIST THOSE WHO HAVE GIVEN $500 AND MORE IN THE LAST YEAR. DENVERVOICE.ORG/DONATE $25,000+ The NextFifty Initiative John & Laurie Mcwethy Charitable Fund $10,000+ Denver Foundation Max & Elaine Appel The Christian Foundation Rose Community Foundation - CMP $5,000 - $9,999 CHFA Direct Effect Anschutz Family Foundation $1,000-$4,999 Cranaleith Foundation, Inc BNSF Railway Foundation Jerry Conover Bright Funds Jill Haug Key Renter Property Management Meek-Cuneo Family Fund Matthew Seashore & Nikki Lawson Russell Peterson Phoenix Capital, Inc. Sustainable Housing and Development Foundation Mary Walker Walker Family Foundation Pivotal Energy Partners Whole Foods Foundation Signs by Tomorrow Michael Dino Energy Outreach Colorado SEI Giving Fund Colorado Credit Union Foundation Mr. Paul Manoogian Donald Weaver Josh Kauer Creating Healthier Communities Kroger Matthew Rezek Network for Good Charities Aid Foundation of America Gaspar Terrana Patrick Hagan Jim Ashe The Sidney B. & Caleb F. Gates Jr. Fund Patrick & Jan Rutty Megan Arellano Audrey Chumley Christopher Boulanger George Litcher Family Fund $500-$999 Betty & Warren Kuehner Lighthouse Writer’s Workshop, Inc. Community Health Charities Dave and Julia Watson Michelle Stapleton & James Thompson Fire on Mountain Paul Hoffman Michael J. Fehn & Jan Monnier Lori Holland Jill Haug Travis & Meggie Ramp Alistair Davidson Jim and Nancy Thomas Jennifer Seybold Sheryl and John H Parker Susan B. Jones Maggie Holben Elsbeth Williams Michael Vitco Catherine Hegedus Christine Muldoon and Pete Iannuzzi James Stegman 3M Foundation Laura Wing Eileen Di Benedetto Katherine Standiford Ridley Mcgreevey and Winocur Charles and Jennifer Thornton-Kolbe Jennifer Stedron Stephen Saul Matthew Deller Erin Bowers Laura Saunders Dana Rinderknecht Alexander Seavall Courage and Community Foundation ABOVE THE FOLD: $5,000 • One complimentary full page ad in the newspaper ($1,000 value) • Table of 10 and Sponsor recognition at annual Rise and Thrive Breakfast (200 attendees) • Sponsorship recognition at our annual Pints Fighting Poverty event (200 attendees) • Business logo highlighted on website homepage, and in the Above the Fold Sponsorship list • Logo highlighted in our annual report, along with logo in quarterly support feature of the paper SPONSORSHIP LEVELS THE DENVER VOICE’S ANNUAL SPONSORSHIP SUPPORT LEVELS PROVIDE BUSINESSES LIKE YOURS THE OPPORTUNITY TO INVEST IN WORK EMPOWERMENT, HOMELESS PREVENTION, THE CHALLENGING OF COMMUNITY PERCEPTIONS, AND TO BE A PART OF PROVIDING OUR COMMUNITY WITH QUALITY AWARD-WINNING JOURNALISM THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE THROUGH OUR WRITERS AND VENDORS – AN INVALUABLE PART OF DENVER’S COMMUNITY. YOUR INVOLVEMENT WILL HELP HIGHLIGHT THE IMPORTANCE OF TAKING POSITIVE ACTION TO COMBAT HOMELESSNESS AND IMPOVERISHMENT. AS A SPONSOR, YOU HAVE A WAY TO REACH OUT TO THE COMMUNITY AND GIVE SOMETHING BACK AT THE SAME TIME. ANNUAL SPONSORSHIPS BENEFITS INCLUDE YOUR LOGO LISTED ON OUR WEBSITE HOMEPAGE, MONTHLY AD SPACE IN OUR PAPER, AND SPECIAL EVENT PERKS FOR YOU AND YOUR EMPLOYEES ALL YEAR LONG. IT’S A GOOD DEAL FOR A GOOD CAUSE, AND YOUR GIFT IS 100% TAX-DEDUCTIBLE! GALLEY: $2,500 • One complimentary half page ad in the newspaper ($600 value) • Table of 10 and Sponsor recognition at annual Rise and Thrive Breakfast (200 attendees) • Sponsorship recognition at our annual Pints Fighting Poverty event (200 attendees) • Business logo highlighted on website homepage, and in the Galley Sponsorship list • Logo highlighted in our annual report, along with logo in quarterly support feature of the paper HONOR BOX: $1,000 • Table of 10 and Sponsor recognition at annual Rise and Thrive Breakfast (200 attendees) • Sponsorship recognition at our annual Pints Fighting Poverty event (200 attendees) • Business logo highlighted on website homepage, and in the Honor Box Sponsorship list • Logo highlighted in our annual report, along with logo in quarterly support feature of the paper FLY SHEET: $500 • Two complimentary tickets to our annual Pints Fighting Poverty event ($50 value) • Business logo highlighted on website homepage, and in the Fly Sheet Sponsorship list • Logo highlighted in our annual report, along with logo in quarterly support feature of the paper 14 DENVER VOICE April 2022
RESOURCE LIST FOR HOMELESS INDIVIDUALS IN DENVER DENVERVOICE.ORG/RESOURCE-LIST DIAL 211 FOR A MORE COMPLETE LIST OF RESOURCES IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH. PROVIDES INFORMATION FOR FOOD, MEDICAL CARE, SENIOR SERVICES, YOUTH PROGRAMS, COUNSELING, EDUCATION, SHELTERS, SUBSTANCE ABUSE, HOLIDAY ASSISTANCE, AND MORE. EMAIL EDITOR@DENVERVOICE.ORG WITH CORRECTIONS OR ADDITIONS. FREE MEALS AGAPE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 2501 California St., Sat., 11am CAPITOL HEIGHTS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 1100 Fillmore St., Sat. lunch at 11:30am capitolheightspresbyterian.org CAPITOL HILL COMMUNITY SERVICES Go to mealsforpoor.org for meal locations CATHEDRAL OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION 1530 Logan St.; sandwiches & coffee Mon.-Fri. 8:30am denvercathedral.org CHRIST’S BODY MINISTRIES 850 Lincoln; Mon. closed, Tues.-Thurs. 10am-3pm, Fri. 8am-11pm; groceries & hot meal on Sat. at 2pm (at 16th & York); Sun. church service at 6pm, dinner at 7pm. christsbody.org CHRIST IN THE CITY Home-cooked meal; Civic Center Park at Colfax & Lincoln at 1pm every Wed. & 2nd Sat. christinthecity.org CITYSQUARE DENVER 303-783-3777, 2575 S. Broadway; Food pantry Tues. 10am-6pm citysquare.org CAPITOL HILL COMMUNITY SERVICES Hot meals served at 1820 Broadway (in front of Trinity United Methodist Church), Mon., Tues., Thurs., Fri. 11:45-12:15 mealsforpoor.org DENVER INNER CITY PARISH 303-322-5733, 1212 Mariposa St., VOA Dining Center for Seniors, free 60 yrs and older, Wed.-Sat. 9am-12pm. Food Bank, Wed.-Fri., tickets at 9am, food bank open 10am-12pm. dicp.org DENVER RESCUE MISSION 1130 Park Avenue West, 3 meals 7 days/week: 5:30am, 12pm, 6pm 303-294-0157 denverrescuemission.org FATHER WOODY’S HAVEN OF HOPE 1101 W. 7th Ave. 303-607-0855. Mon.-Fri. 7am-1pm. Not open weekends. Breakfast is at 8am, and lunch is served at 11am frwoodyshavenofhope.org FEEDING DENVER’S HUNGRY Food service on the second and fourth Thurs. of each month; locations found at feedingdenvershungry.org/events.html FOOD NOT BOMBS Wed. 4pm/Civic Center Park facebook.com/ThePeoplesPicnic HARE KRISHNA TEMPLE 1400 Cherry St., free vegetarian feast on Sun., 6:45-7:30pm krishnadenver.com HIS LOVE FELLOWSHIP CHURCH 910 Kalamath, community dinner on Thurs., 6-6:45pm, men’s breakfast 1st Sat. of the Month, 8-10am, women’s breakfast 2nd Sat., 9-11am. hislovefellowship.org HOLY GHOST CATHOLIC CHURCH 1900 California St., sandwiches, Mon.-Sat., 10-10:30am holyghostchurch.org JORDAN AME CHURCH 29th and Milwaukee St., Tues. lunch 11:30am-1:00pm jordanamedenver.churchfoyer.com OPEN DOOR MINISTRIES 1567 Marion St., Sat. morning breakfast: 8am, Sun. dinner (required church attendance at 4:30pm) meal served at 6pm. 303-830-2201 odmdenver.org/home ST. CLARE’S MINISTRY AT ST. PETER AND ST. MARY 126 W. 2nd Ave., dinner at 4pm on Tues. Also offer a change of clothes, toiletries and sleeping bags when available. 303-722-8781 stpeterandmary.org ST. ELIZABETH’S Speer Blvd. & Arapahoe St. on Auraria campus, 7 days/week, 11:00am; food, coffee. stelizabethdenver.org ST. FRANCIS CENTER 2323 Curtis St., Wed. & Fri. 3-4:30pm (except third Wed. of each month). sfcdenver.org ST. PAUL’S LUTHERAN 1600 Grant St., Street Reach meal Mon. 1-4:30pm. Grocery room open at 11:30am every Mon. saintpauldenver.com SAME CAFÉ 2023 E. Colfax Ave. Restaurant serving mostly organic food—not free, but pay what you can or work off your meal in the kitchen: Open Mon.-Sat., 11am to 2pm, Closed Sun. & holidays, 720-530-6853 soallmayeat.org SENIOR SUPPORT SERVICES 846 E. 18th Ave. 3 meals, Mon.a-Fri. 7am-7pm; Sun. 11am-4pm. 55+ seniorsupportservices.org/programs URBAN OUTREACH DENVER 608 26th St., Thurs. dinners, 6pm-7pm lovedenver.org VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA 2877 Lawrence St., breakfast (8am), lunch (11:30am), dinner (5pm) Mon.-Thurs., 12pm on Fri., 1pm on Sun. Food & clothing bank 9:30am-4pm Mon.-Thurs. voacolorado.org/gethelp-denvermetro-foodnutrition-themission CAREER SERVICES COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY CENTER Level 4, Denver Central Library, 14th Ave. & Broadway. 720-865-1706. Hours: Mon. & Tues. 10am-8pm; Wed., Thurs., Fri. 10am-6pm; Sat. 9am-5pm & Sun. 1-5pm; FREE services include computer/internet use, wifi, computer classes, job search/resume classes and one-on-one tech help appointments. denverlibrary.org/ctc THE WESTSIDE ONE-STOP CAREER CENTER Denver Department of Human Services, 1200 Federal Blvd., Mon.Fri., 7:30am-4:30pm; Services include: employment counseling, assisted job search, résumé preparation, job/applicant matching, phone bank for calling employers, access to computers, copiers, fax, etc. careercenteroffices.com/center/231/denver-westside-workforce-center MEDICAL & DENTAL SERVICES ACS COMMUNITY L.I.F.T. CareVan at Open Door Ministries, 1567 Marion St., Tues. 9am-12:30pm DENVER HEALTH MEDICAL CENTER 303-436-6000, 777 Bannock St. denverhealth.org HARM REDUCTION ACTION CENTER 303-572-7800; 112 E. 8th Ave.; Mon.-Fri., 9am-12pm. HIV/Hep C/ Gonorrhea/ Chlamydia testing available. Our services are restricted to active IV Drug Users. Offers clean syringes to active users, as well as safety training on how to properly dispose of dirty syringes. harmreductionactioncenter.org LIVER HEALTH CONNECTION 1325 S. Colorado Blvd., Suite B302. Resources and support for those affected by Hep C. Free Hep C testing offered. 800-522-4372, info@hepc-connection.org, liverhealthconnection.org INNER CITY HEALTH CENTER 303-296-1767, 3800 York St. Mon., Wed.-Fri. 8am-5pm; Tues. 9am-5pm; Sat. 8am-2pm. Emergency walk-ins. SALUD CLINIC 6075 Parkway Drive, Ste. 160, Commerce City; Dental 303-286-6755. Medical 303-286-8900. Medical Hours: Mon.-Wed. 8am-9pm, Thurs.-Fri. 8am-5pm; Sat. (Urgent Care only) 8am-5pm; Dental Hours: Mon.-Fri. 8am-5pm; Pharmacy Hours: Mon.-Fri. 1-5pm; After Office Hours: 1-800-283-3221 saludclinic.org/commerce-city STOUT STREET CLINIC 303-293-2220, 2130 Stout St. Clinic hours for new and established patients: 7am-4pm Mon., Tues., Thurs., & Fri. The clinic is open Wed. 11am-7pm. coloradocoalition.org/healthcare SUNSHINE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH (YOUTH SERVICES) Services for youth facing substance abuse, addiction, mental health disorders, or a combination of these conditions. 833-931-2484 sunshinebehavioralhealth.com VA MEDICAL CENTER 303-399-8020, 1700 N Wheeling St., Aurora va.gov/find-locations/facility/vha_554A5 WORKNOW 720-389-0999; job recruitment, skills training, and job placement work-now.org DROP-IN & DAYTIME CENTERS ATTENTION HOMES 303-447-1207; 3080 Broadway, Boulder; contactah@attentionhomes.org. Offers safe shelter, supportive programming, and other services to youth up to age 24 attentionhomes.org CITYSQUARE DENVER 303-783-3777; 2575 S. Broadway; Mon.-Thurs. 10am-2pm, Denver Works helps with employment, IDs, birth certs; mail services and lockers citysquare.org FATHER WOODY’S HAVEN OF HOPE 303-607-0855; 1101 W. 7th Ave.; Mon.-Fri. 7am-1pm. Six private showers & bathrooms, laundry, lunch & more thoh.org THE GATHERING PLACE 303-321-4198; 1535 High St.; Mon., Wed.-Fri. 8:30am-5pm, Tues. 8:30am-1:30pm. Daytime drop-in center for women, their children, and transgender individuals. Meals, computer lab, phones, food bank, clothing, art programs, GED tutoring, referrals to other services, and more. tgpdenver.org HARM REDUCTION ACTION CENTER 303-572-7800, 231 East Colfax; Mon.-Fri. 9am-12pm. Provides clean syringes, syringe disposal, harm-reduction counseling, safe materials, Hep C/HIV education, and health education classes. harmreductionactioncenter.org HOLY GHOST CATHOLIC CHURCH 1900 California St., help with lost IDs and birth certificates holyghostchurch.org HOPE PROGRAM 303-832-3354, 1555 Race St.; Mon.-Fri. 8am-4pm. For men and women with HIV. LAWRENCE STREET COMMUNITY CENTER 2222 Lawrence St.; 303-294-0157; day facility, laundry, showers, restrooms, access to services homelessassistance.us/li/lawrence-street-community-center OPEN DOOR MINISTRIES 1567 Marion St.; Mon.-Fri. 7am-5:30pm. Drop-in center: bathrooms, coffee/tea, snacks, resources, WIFI odmdenver.org ST. FRANCIS CENTER 303-297-1576; 2323 Curtis St. 6am-6pm daily. Storage for one bag (when space is available). Satellite Clinic hours- Mon., Tues., Thurs, Fri. 7:30am-3:30pm; Wed. 12:30-4:30pm sfcdenver.org SENIOR SUPPORT SERVICES 846 E. 18th Ave. For those 55 and older. TV room, bus tokens, mental/physical health outreach, and more. seniorsupportservices.org SOX PLACE (YOUTH SERVICES) 2017 Larimer St. Daytime drop-in shelter for youth 12-30 years old. Meals, socks, clothing bank, personal hygiene supplies, internet access, intentional mentoring and guidance, crisis intervention, referrals to other services. Tues.-Fri. 12-4pm & Sat. 11-2pm. soxplace.com THE SPOT AT URBAN PEAK (YOUTH SERVICES) 2100 Stout St. 303-291-0442. Drop-in hours Mon.-Fri. 8-11am. If you are a youth aged 15-20 in need of immediate overnight shelter services, please contact 303-974-2928 urbanpeak.org/denver/programs-and-services/drop-in-center URBAN PEAK (YOUTH SERVICES) Youth 14-24 in Denver and Colorado Springs. Overnight shelter, food, clothing, showers, case workers, job skills and training, ID and birth certificate assistance, GED assistance, counseling and housing. 730 21st St. 303-974-2900 urbanpeak.org April 2022 DENVER VOICE 15 1 6 2 4 3 7 9 8 5 8 9 7 2 5 6 3 4 1 5 4 3 8 1 9 2 6 7 9 8 4 7 6 3 1 5 2 2 3 5 1 4 8 6 7 9 7 1 6 9 2 5 4 3 8 3 5 8 6 9 1 7 2 4 6 2 1 5 7 4 8 9 3 4 7 9 3 8 2 5 1 6 DON’T LOOK NOW! PUZZLES ARE ON PAGE 13 I M A M R I G E L N I P A A R C H A L S O L E A R I M A G O T B A R T A L C S E R A G L I O D H A R M A P I E N O T O R N I S C O D I N G U P O N A P E X R A V E L I L L P H A L A N G E S S E M I O T T O H I C K N E E D E R I E E R S E R E D S S C A P E G O A T Y A W N S Z E T A L I E D E R A M N E S I A C A C T T E A P O T A U D I T I O N L E D G E Y E L L S R Y E S
D E N V E R T V S O I A C F E 2 A F 2 E U 0 B M N 2 D G R A , METLO ROOFTOP 1111 N Broadway Denver, CO 80203 SUNDAY, MAY 22 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. A 2 N I Y JOIN THE DENVER VOICE FOR OUR ANNUAL RISE & THRIVE BREAKFAST! This complimentary event, put together by some of Denver’s best breakfast and brunch locations, helps raise awareness and funds for our programs and services. Together, we can give those experiencing homelessness and poverty the opportunity to earn a dignifi ed income. I S 2 RSVP BY MAY 1 denvervoice.org/rise-and-thrive R K
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