VOICES OF OUR COMMUNITY AN OPEN LETTER TO MIKE JOHNSTON BY DAVID GORDON, DENVER VOICE VENDOR Dear Mr. Mayor: Congratulations on your election. You may be able to fill the shoes of the previous administration, but you have a tough job. You have inherited a stain left by your predecessor, that I hope you will be able to remove, because no matter how hard you scrub, it’s not going to come out easily. It’s an emotional stain. You said you wanted to get homeless people off the streets and get them the help they need. You have declared a state of emergency to address homelessness. What is your plan? Should we expect sweeps? When we are told to move our tents, where are we supposed to go? We are unhoused. That means we can’t just pick up our belongings and move to another street, only to have you come there and sweep us to somewhere else. When we asked your predecessor where we were supposed to go between sweeps, he didn’t have an answer. If we have a job, we can’t take our belongings with us, so who’s going to take care of our stuff if you sweep? These sweeps are emotional. They are demoralizing. They kill your spirit and murder your hope for a better life or situation. When you go through many of them, it creates a resentment for city government. It tears apart the relationships and families that you’ve developed within the unhoused community. It denies us the pursuit of happiness. TAKEN IN DENVER, 2016. CREDIT: CRAIG ELEVITCH If you don’t want to see us sleeping on the streets, can you tell us where to go or how to remain hidden so we remain safe and aren’t in the way? The last administration was not willing to talk to the people whose lives were affected by the former mayor’s decisions. I don’t recall your predecessor ever reaching out directly to any of the unhoused. Will you? How will you communicate with people like me? Will YOU talk to us? Will you include more than one unhoused person on your advisory board? Will you try to correct the negative perceptions people have of us, or will you double down, referring to us “those homeless people,” and treating us like outsiders who don’t belong? You have just started a very challenging job. Working to resolve homelessness is going to be a difficult task for you. I hope you will ask for help from unhoused people like me, because you can’t do it alone. I also hope you will include us in the conversation. We are more than bodies occupying public spaces. There are some really bright and talented people in the unhoused community. If given a chance, we will contribute to the betterment of society. Communicate with us. Talking to us and letting us talk to you is not going to end homelessness, but it will make it easier for us to understand each other and figure out where we go from here. Sincerely, David Gordon Denver VOICE Vendor 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 1931 | 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. August 2023 DENVER VOICE 3
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