LOCAL STORY We’re all walking around here so damn lonely. That’s the real pandemic: loneliness. Relationship is the basic building block for rehabilitation or any sort of progressive trajectory. To say, “Hey, I see you for who you are. You’re loved.” Sometimes that is expressed by giving someone a bottle of water. Or even saying, “Let’s find you a safe place to inject, rather than in a dark alley.” This harm-reduction idea goes right along with seeing humans for who they are: loved. Relationship is so important because we live in a world of commodification and objectification. We need to value humanity and creation. We can’t see people as objects. We need to recognize the Imago Dei, the image of good. It’s been said that the longest space to travel is from the head to the heart. When I think of people that are unhoused, can I name names of people that I’m in relationship with? That’s how it goes from theory to action. It’s a terrible thing to be given a heart, because a heart breaks. When your heart starts to break over a relationship, then it moves from theory to something very tactile. FROM HOUSING FIRST TO RELATIONSHIP FIRST I think we need to move from the Housing First model to a Relationship First model. People think, “Well, you don’t have a home, let’s get you a house. Let’s get you resources and a paycheck and a home, and then eventually you’ll find a job, and then you’ll become a productive member of society.” What the hell does that mean—a productive member of society? If loneliness is the pandemic, if detachment is an issue, then relationship is what people need. We need a Relationship First model that will work in tandem with a Housing First model. We need to not just start with those who can sustain housing, we need to start with those who can never sustain housing apart from someone holding their hand throughout the process. A good example of this type of model is something like AA, where everyone supports one another and leans on one another. The physical stuff—like a house or a job—is important, but it’s only part of the solution. We need to move from objectifying to humanizing. We get tricked into thinking there are levels of superiority and inferiority. The beauty of AA is, “Man, we’ve all hit bottom. We might do it again, and actually, it’s pretty likely.” There’s just this humanizing environment in AA that we could use a lot more of in our society. DENVER VALUES THE RICH, NOT THOSE IN NEED We have segmented our community by those who have options and those who don’t. Some of the encampments, they grow to 100 people and they take on a life of their own because there are no other options. And yet, when you drive around town. you’ll see there’s a ton of options for the wealthy developer and entrepreneur. You’ve got people flocking here to put in high-end housing, luxury condominiums. And then at the same time, there are people being kicked off of certain properties and public spaces because they’re a “nuisance.” Our priorities are whacked. The change has got to start from the top. I have been part of conversations where we’ve tried to develop these safe outdoor spaces, and it gets to a certain point in the food chain, but then it goes no further. Why is that, when there are luxury townhomes being installed all throughout the city? It isn’t a priority for our leaders. It gets me boiling a little bit because it’s entirely incongruent. Our leaders are communicating a very clear and strong message of who belongs and who doesn’t. At the end of the day, we’re going to be a weaker society if we keep giving a voice to one demographic—one income bracket—and not the others. So, yeah, that will fire me up. ■ CREDIT: ALYSSA MAGALONG A BETTER USE FOR PLASTIC BAGS BY DOUG HRDLICKA ALYSSA MAGALONG, who was crowned Miss Colorado Earth 2020, makes mats out of plastic bags and distributes them to people experiencing homelessness. She processes the bags in such a way that allows them to be knit together as one would do with gloves or a hat. “If there was any silver lining during COVID, this project was one of them,” said Magalong. “I was stuck at home, and with my current title of Miss Colorado Earth 2020, I’d been trying to think of ways in which I could educate others and how I could do that at home.” The idea began as a way to educate people on how to reuse old items that would otherwise collect dust or be thrown out. As Magalong explored new ways to educate others, she would eventually stumble upon the tutorials on how to turn plastic bags into a synthetic yarn dubbed “plarn,” which is the result if stringing together multiple bags. “I started by showing individuals how to repurpose old T-shirts. I started also with how to create personalized vases made out of bottles for Mother’s Day, and then I just continued to do more research,” said Magalong. Magalong found that plastic bags are largely produced for just one use, lasting 12 minutes, and after it has served its purpose, the likelihood of the bag being recycled is low. “The research that I found was that American’s use about 100 billion plastic bags a year. On average, American families take home 1,500 plastic shopping bags a year,” said Magalong. Finding that plastic bags have a short lifespan yet continue to be manufactured in the billions prompted Magalong to conduct additional research. In doing so, she found a community of people spanning the globe who practice knitting mats out of plastic. “The very first time that I heard mats like this existed, I was reading about a nonprofit in Australia, and from there I was curious, ‘Has this been done in Colorado?’” said Magalong. “I found out there were a couple of individuals who had done that years ago, and so I ended up finding contact information of an older woman who I had the pleasure of speaking with.” The woman offered guidance and foreshowed the community effort she would need. But Magalong wasn’t new to the world of charitable giving and environmental consciousness. Throughout her life, her family instilled those values, preparing her for the challenges to come. “This is definitely a big community effort because you have to collect the bags and find those donations, and then you have to process the bags,” said Magalong. Under the stewardship of her parents, Magalong was taught the importance of environment and community. They would take her to volunteer at church and during supper would impart the importance of conservation by making her eat all her vegetables. These lessons would shape her as an adult and compel her to help and change the community and environment. “I give a lot of credit to my parents; we’ve always been a very community-centric type of family,” said Magalong. “Even when I was very little, I was volunteering at my church,” she added. “I’ve just noticed that pattern about myself. I feel the most fulfilled when I’m reaching out to the community and I have that interaction with them.” With the help of volunteers, Magalong’s goal to educate about and practice repurposing household items gained enough traction for her to consider extending the project to other cities. “I definitely want to continue [focusing on] local, but again I have been bouncing ideas of how can I make this bigger. Even if that lasts for another few months, I think that’s what I’ll continue to do,” said Magalong. ■ September 2020 DENVER VOICE 7
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