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IN YOUR OWN WORDS CORONAVIRUS AND THE HOMELESS BY LANDO ALLEN, VOICE VENDOR A LETTER FROM COVID-19 BY KENDALL CLARKE, VOICE VENDOR TODAY, I’M GOING TO TALK ABOUT the coronavirus and how it has affected the homeless people in Denver. First, the VOICE closed its office, which took me out of a job. I tried to go to the labor pool to make things work, but it was slow there. Some of the people who sell LANDO ALLEN CREDIT: JESSE BORRELL the VOICE kept working to try to make it. I bought a camper and tried to stay safe, but the bills kept coming. The VOICE did me give us some relief by giving us some cash to pay some bills, but I still needed more to fix my camper and keep food on the table. After the Denver VOICE office closed the office, KENDALL CLARKE CREDIT: JUSTIN CANELAS they called me about a part-time job opportunity. The news of work made me happy, and I decided to write a story about it. So, what was cool about this job is I started interviewing homeless people about how they felt about the coronavirus. They told me that the government forgot about them; they felt misplaced, and some people couldn’t even work to support themselves. We started to talk about how rents were jacked up when we voted in favor of marijuana. After that, the government took away the project apartments, along with the option for the apartment owners to let those with low incomes stay there. I wrote an article for the VOICE at that time, and I told people we could do better – build project apartments tiny houses, and trailers – that’s what I meant when I said we could do better. Now, the coronavirus has us at a disadvantage. Meanwhile, I witnessed two bodies being wheeled out of a shelter on the same day. Later that day, there was a guy on a building ready to jump off. Firefighters and cops had to come to get him down. As all of this was happening, the temporary job I had ended because the organization I was working for ran out of funds. The VOICE gave me cash that helped me. I knew I couldn’t get by for the month, so I turned back to vending papers. I talked to another vendor, who was still selling, and he said everything was cool, so I started selling papers part-time. Then, I ran into a friend who works in healthcare, and we started talking about what was going on in the hospital where he works. He told me the hospital has three floors dedicated to patients with the coronavirus. He said he was scared to work on those floors. He also told me that the doctors had to take a pay cut, while the “suits” all received bonuses. That day, after an hour of vending, I got on the bus and started talking to homeless people. They told me that some people went to different shelters, like the National Western Complex, Crossroads, and Jesus Saves [the Denver Rescue Mission]. The people who were sick were put up in motels, where they got to eat better food than what the shelters provide. I wish the services and shelters we have now had been as good when I needed them and before I bought my camper. And about my camper, I got it to run, but I still have to get a tune-up for it. I also bought tires, so I need to have them put on, and then I need to build a bathroom and shower. ■ BRIAN AUGUSTINE CREDIT: JESSE BORRELL DEAR FELLAS, WOMEN, everybody listening, this just may be a letter for the children I’m coming through With something real sickening Coughing and sneezing, breathing then you’re wheezing You think you’re HOT, huh? Now you’re freezing! You sleep then you woke ya folks in western slopes like the snow Sippin on ice-cold coke when they smoke ■ I COULD BECOME A HERMIT BY BRIAN AUGUSTINE, VOICE VENDOR I COULD BECOME A HERMIT, as this stay at home order goes on. I figured out one thing. I’m okay being by myself. I’m not lonely. Don’t get me wrong. I do miss people. Working on my corners. Seeing people smile. Talking with my friends. But, I’m not lonely. I don’t feel any pressure to get away from myself. Because when you’re with other people, you don’t rely on who you are. You have someone else to share time with. In public, people can give you a sense of who you are. but I don’t rely on other people to do that for me. I’m a good person with good moral values. Why? I like me. I can live every day with me. Of course, with my belief system, I never consider myself to be truly alone. He’s always in my heart. Guiding me through my decisions. Without Him, I would still be a bad guy. Not caring what He thought of me. I do really miss all my friends that I saw regularly on my corners. I will go back there to greet them as they go to work. Trying to make their day a little bit better. Seeing them smile. I’m okay being by myself, but that doesn’t mean that I want it that way. Yes, I could be a hermit, but, why, with all the beautiful people out there? I’m going to start back on my corners soon. I know I won’t see the smiles because of the protective masks. (I’ll be wearing one, too) But I know those smiles will be there. Mine will be there, also. See you then. Love always. Brian ■ RAELENE JOHNSON CREDIT: CORTNEY TABERNA BEFORE YOU PASS ON PAIN BY RAELENE JOHNSON, VOICE VENDOR IF BAD THINGS HAPPENED TO YOU when you were young, get help. Don’t run away from the pain because you will run and stay lost and stay broken. Don’t do drugs or alcohol, thinking you will be able to escape the pain of your past; it will not happen! You will become a victim of other people’s abuse, and over time, you will believe that you deserve it when you don’t! Don’t run from people who are really reaching out to you and trying to help you because you may lose your opportunity to get the help that you need! Don’t have children just to have someone to love you because it doesn’t work that way! You will be bringing a child into this world that you’re not ready for, and the pain of your past and what you’re going through will end up being put onto your child! You need to have yourself together before you pass on pain that you can’t change in your child’s life that they will have to deal with in the future because of your lack of help for yourself! Don’t pass onto your children the pains of your past because then your children will have to deal with a lot of pain that they shouldn’t otherwise have to go through! When you don’t get help for your problems, all you’re doing is passing on your problems to your family, your kids, and everyone that loves you! Think about the damage you will do to your child if you’re having it just to be loved! I know you want to be loved, but if you don’t love yourself, you don’t have to love to give others, and that’s being selfish to a newborn! I now have to deal with the pain that my children went through when they were young because of how broken I was when I had them! We do not want to keep this cycle going from child to mother, mother to child because passing the pain from one generation to the other means nobody gets help with anything! It is not a sign of weakness to admit that you need help! Seeking help shows that you want to get healthy and that you want to deal with whatever happened to you in the past because it’s keeping you stuck now in the future. As long as you keep thinking about the past and keep going over it, you’re missing the future, which is now! A lot of us lost our children to the system years ago! And when you get your children back in your life once they’re adults, you then have to deal with all the crap they went through because you thought that you wanted a baby to be loved by! Love yourself first before you pass pain to an innocent child who ends up having to deal with all of your crap. just because you had them for that reason! If your life is a mess, get help, if you reach out to someone and they’re not there for you, keep trying until you find the right person or organization that’s willing to help you! Learn to love yourself before you get into a relationship with someone you end up destroying! Do not pass your troubles or pain onto your children or family. It’s not fair! So, if you’re in pain from your past or even going through something bad now, please get help You are Worth it Today! My prayer is that this will reach someone who needs to hear it! God bless you, if this message reaches you! I had to learn the hard way about how the pain in my past affected my children’s future! ■ 12 DENVER VOICE June 2020

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