From the Executive Director I Giles Clasen is a writer and photographer driven to tell Denver’s often overlooked stories with dignity and care. He serves as executive director of Denver VOICE and has worked with the organization since 2008 as a contributor, board member, and board president. DENVERVOICE.ORG MANAGING EDITOR HAVE BEEN HAVING NIGHTMARES about Tommy Charbonneau. His story is my story with a tragic outcome. Tommy’s life was turned upside down by a traumatic brain injury that shifted his identity and pushed him toward life on the streets. That life ended one year ago on Mother’s Day 2025. He was 35. In 2008, a car hit me while I was biking to work. I sustained a traumatic brain injury similar to what Tommy experienced. For 18 years, I have lived with constant pain, insomnia, crippling anxiety, and vision problems that make reading difficult, all brought on by the TBI. For years, I managed that pain with prescribed Percocet and OxyContin. For a decade I took Ambien to sleep. Any of those medications could have led to addiction. For reasons I still don’t fully understand, they didn’t. I was lucky. Tommy wasn’t. It is easy to look at Tommy’s story and find the moments where he could have made different choices. I know better. I have felt so burdened by my own disability, so certain I was a weight on the people who loved me, that I wanted to end my life. Tommy had a family who adored him, and kept a room for him, always, even today. He chose the streets anyway, because the streets asked nothing of him. His choice resonates with me. His choice was not a moral failure. That is what untreated trauma and an injured brain can do to a person’s sense of their own worth. I wish we had created a community that encouraged Tommy to heal, in a home, without the judgement that leads to feelings of burdensomeness. It’s not too late. What happened to Tommy could happen to anyone who sustains a serious injury or lives with a disability. It could have happened to me. It could happen to you. Tommy did not die because he made bad choices. He died because we have built a community that responds to complex, expensive human needs with inadequate resources, a piecemeal safety net, and fast judgment. We underfund systems that barely scratch the surface, then blame the people those systems fail. We can do better. Tommy’s mother, Tammy, shows us how. She volunteers, she shows up, she carries food in her truck and hands it to strangers because her son taught her that people on the streets are worth caring for. The rest of us could learn the same lesson before we lose someone else. - Giles Clasen Executive Director ARTISTS/PHOTOGRAPHERS CONTRIBUTORS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ART DIRECTOR ADMIN. ASSISTANT VOLUNTEER COPY EDITORS @denverVOICE Elisabeth Monaghan Giles Clasen Andrew Fraieli Maddie Egerton Jennifer Forker Aaron Sullivan Lisa Schlictman Joshua Abeyta Rea Brown Giles Clasen Paige Miltenberger Joshua Abeyta Lando Allen Giles Clasen Raelene Johnson Halvin Jones BOARD OF DIRECTORS Paige Miltenberger Jerry Rosen Jennifer Forker, President Donald Burnes, Vice President Edwin Rapp, Treasurer Isabella Colletti, Secretary Michael Burkley Ande Sailer Linda Shapley Steve Baker Lisa Schlichtman EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT VENDOR PROGRAM ADVERTISING MAILING ADDRESS VENDOR OFFICE OFFICE HOURS editor@denvervoice.org program@denvervoice.org editor@denvervoice.org PO Box 1931, Denver CO 80201 989 Santa Fe Drive Denver CO 80204 10 a.m. -1 p.m., Wednesdays Since 1996, the Denver VOICE has served individuals experiencing housing or financial instability by providing lowbarrier income opportunities. In the time since our inception, we have put more than 4,600 vendors to work, selling the paper throughout the Denver metro area. By focusing on poverty, housing, social justice, local arts and entertainment, and the human experience behind the headlines, we tell the stories that Denver media often overlook. An award-winning publication, the Denver VOICE is a member of the International Network of Street Papers and the Colorado Press Association, and we adhere to the Society of Professional Journalists’ code of ethics. TO HELP, YOU CAN: GET THE WORD OUT: VOLUNTEER: ADVERTISE: DONATE @ denvervoice.org @denverVOICE Contact program@denvervoice.org Contact ads@denvervoice.org SUBSCRIBE @ denvervoice.org/subscriptions THE COVER: Megan Trussell at her 2024 high school graduation from Northfield High school PHOTO COURTESY OF VANESSA DÍAZ DENVER VOICE MAY 2026 3 ABOUT US
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