11 16 PROJECT HOMELESS CONNECT ON HORIZON AS STRUGGLES WITH HOMELESS INTENSIFY By Caroline Schomp “I have a homeless man … who has made his home … next to my garage. I ‘kicked him’ out last year but he’s been back and totally moved in this year.” This post on Nextdoor.com, the neighborhood social networking site, cited complaints with the trash, drug use and the increasing aggressiveness of an unwanted “guest.” It ended with a plaintive, “What can I do?” This post generated more than 50 replies, some with similar stories, ranging from anger, “Spray them with a garden hose,” to sympathetic, “People may be homeless, transient, addicted, mean, aggressive or annoying. But they are never ‘scum.’” Several lamented the inability of the police to curb the problem. A few asked how they themselves could have an impact on homelessness in Denver. A point-in-time survey of homelessness in the seven-county metro area, conducted last January, counted 5,467 homeless people; 66 percent are found in the City and County of Denver. Most experts believe the number is much higher. According to the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, the top causes of homelessness among families are lack of affordable housing, unemployment, poverty and low wages. Among individuals, the causes are lack of affordable housing, unemployment, poverty, mental illness/lack of needed services and substance abuse/lack of needed services. 11 years out, it’s clear former Mayor John Hickenlooper’s “10 Year Plan to End Homelessness” didn’t succeed. “By virtue that it didn’t come close to ending homelessness in 10 years, it points out the depth of the problem,” said District Six City Councilman Paul Kashmann, vice chairman of the City Council committee that deals
Archer and an unnamed friend outside of Hutch & Spoon Cafe at 3090 Larimer St. Archer is a @DenverLifeNews rescue dog from the Dumb Friends #NeighborhoodLens League and is the best friend of Zerosun Creative head James Joliat. Joliat is a four-time Emmy Award-winning producer, director, and editor. Check him and his team out at zerosun.com. Photo courtesy James Joliat (Instagram: @jjarchersdad)
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Archer and an unnamed friend outside Hutch & Spoon Cafe at 3090 Larimer St. Archer is the best friend of Zerosun Creative head James Joliat. Joliat is a four-time Emmy Award-winning producer, director, and editor. Check him and his team out at zerosun.com. Photo courtesy James Joliat (Instagram: @jjarchersdad) with homelessness. A 2015 report from the Denver Auditor’s Office blasted Denver’s Road Home for coming up short in its homelessness efforts. The City acknowledged the ongoing homelessness crisis in May of 2012, when City Council passed the Unauthorized Camping Ordinance, banning people from camping on public or private property, partly based on the administration’s promises of more resources for the homeless. Property owners and businesses demanded the camping ban, arguing that homeless people frightened customers and tourists and trashed areas of downtown where they congregated. Homeless agencies and
civil rights advocates contended the ordinance would simply force Denver’s homeless into neighborhoods and they cast doubt on the city’s promises to step up with resources. Both were correct. Clearly neighborhoods—especially those closer to downtown, including Capitol Hill, Uptown and Washington Park—are encountering more homeless people, even while city resources have continued to increase. “The City continues to be between a rock and a hard place. It’s not our intent to have people sleeping outdoors, but we have them,” said Angie Nelson, program continued on page 10
NONPROFIT FRANK’S FOOD MART EXPANDS, OFFERS HOLIDAY ORDERS, FARM-DIRECT PRODUCE By Haines Eason The holidays are upon us, but for some North Denver residents, the staples needed for a robust Thanksgiving dinner cannot be obtained without a long trip to the farthest edge of their zip code. “You can be in and out of our store by the time you get to Quebec Street,” says Gerald Hamel, Executive Director of Frank’s Food Mart, located at 2800 Madison St. Frank’s is one of the nation’s very few nonprofit food stores. Such food stores are cropping up in a handful of cities
Nonprofit hub brings do-gooders together to save the world PAGE 3
across the country as innovative solutions to combatting the food-desert status of these cities’ blighted neighborhoods. Specifically, Frank’s is a store working against the food-desert status of the 80205 zip code. The market has in fact been around a long time—since 1952—but was purchased by Hamel’s nonprofit Love UpRising in February of this year with funding from the Colorado Fresh Food Financing Fund, the City and County of Denver’s Office of Economic Development and the Colorado Enterprise Fund. With the newness of the nonprofit model and all the parties involved, no one would blame Hamel if things were not going great, but they are. Frank’s is doing well enough that this November they will be taking holiday orders. “We will be offering heritage organic turkeys from High Plains Co-op,” Hamel says. “We will also feature fresh country
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field peas: purple hull peas, crowder peas, white acre lady peas as well as all the Southern foods … all the natural foods we can find for the holidays.” Hamel adds Frank’s is expanding and he hopes to soon add more meats from High Plains Co-op. Also under consideration is a whole-animal purchase program. Frank’s combines the convenience of a local market with the robust offerings of an old-fashioned neighborhood grocery. It is far larger than a corner store and is the size of markets once common before the advent of the supermarket. Frank’s offers nearby residents everything from fresh produce to meats to canned goods and staples, and the atmosphere is homey, friendly. Prices for some items might be a little higher than at the supermarket across town, but most continued on page 11
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