GET LOUD Issue 5 Jan - March 2015
BY, FOR, AND ABOUT PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS
Which Denver Ordinances Criminalize Homelessness?
I WONDER! ONE MAN’S REFLECTIONS
THE FIRST YEAR
Contents
Our Mission
Features RESOURCES Resources cont'd
LEGAL Help
I Wonder Community supports Right to rest Act
Editorial policy
Request for a meeting The Garden Formerly Known as Triangle Park Confluence of Bureaucracies The Face National Convening Which Denver Ordinances Criminalize Homelessness? My Thoughts on a Recent Tragedy
I don't walk softly
Letter to Bennie Milliner poems art Comics
Asking for a Miracle Thought for the Day
The First Year
My First Weeks of Recovery
The Ultimate Scapegoat
Tiny Homes Project Update
Hard Hearted People
Art work
Get Loud reserves the right to decide what we include in each issue. Priority will be given to publishing the work of people who have directly experienced homelessness. Get Loud seeks to represent a variety of opinions, with the hope of stimulating discussion and action. On occasion this may offend somebody. In accepting pieces which are critical of individuals or organizations, Get Loud reserves the right to obtain a response from that individual or group. Get Loud reserves the right to edit or to refuse to publish articles that promote oppressive stereotypes of human behavior. The opinions expressed in this paper are not necessarily the opinions of Get Loud. All rights return to author or artist upon publication. Material may be edited for spelling, grammar or clarity. No other changes will be made without the writer’s permission. If Get Loud is unable to contact the writer, this may result in the piece not being used.
DENVER HOMELESS OUT LOUD (DHOL) works
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with and for people who experience homelessness, to solve the issues that arise from the experience of homelessness. DHOL works to protect and advocate for dignity, rights and choices for people experiencing homelessness. To these ends, DHOL commits its efforts toward goals affirmed and raised by homeless people. DHOL strives to combine the strengths of all involved to create ways of living in which everyone has a place they can call home. DHOL welcomes everyone to join them in this work. Working groups include tiny homes, homeless bill of rights, urban rest stops and of course...Get Loud. Everyone is welcome to DHOL meetings! Wednesdays at 4:45-7pm at American Friends Service Committee office, 901 W 14th Avenue (Court House Square apartment building) We eat when we meet! www.denverhomelessoutloud.org Phone: 720-940-5291
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Get Loud TEAM : Artful Dodger Debbie Brady Jim McClanahan John Claybaugh Lysander Romero Nancy Peters Walkerasaurus
Art Direction & cover designed by Lysander Romero
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Get Loud, produced by Denver Homeless Out Loud, provides a platform through which those of us experiencing homelessness can give voice to our experiences, concerns, and recommendations. It also provides a means through which we can share information about resources, educate the broader community about homelessness, and explore ways to work together to create meaningful change. WWW.GETLOUDDHOLPRESS.WEEBLY.COM GETLOUD@DENVERHOMELESSOUTLOUD.ORG See back page for how to submit material to Get Loud.
designers : Argenis Alvarenga Lysander Romero
Meals List
Local Resources
Organization Address
Meals Served
Days Served
Times
Lunch
Saturday
11:30am-12:15pm
Lunch
Saturday
8:30am-12:30pm
Cathedral of Immaculate Conception 1530 Logan St (In Alley)
Breakfast
MTWRF
8 am
Christ’s Body Ministries 850 Lincoln St
Breakfast Lunch
TWR/Friday M/TWR
10am / 8am 12:30 - 3pm / 1-3pm
Agape Church 2501 California St
Capitol Heights Presbyterian Church 1100 Fillmore St
Church in the City 1580 Gaylord St
Dinner Breakfast / Sack Lunch
Thursday TWR
5pm 9am
Denver Rescue Mission Lawrence Shelter 1130 Park Avenue West
Breakfast Lunch Dinner
SMTWRFS SMTWRFS SMTWRFS
6 am Noon 7 pm
Father Woody’s 1101 W. 7th Ave
Breakfast Lunch
MTWRF MTWRF
8am 11am
First Baptist Church 1373 Grant St
Lunch
Monday
11:45am - 12:15pm
Food Not Bombs Sunken Gardens Park 11th and Speer
Dinner
Saturday
4pm
The Gathering Place women, trangendered 1535 High St
Breakfast Lunch/Snack
MTWRF MTWRF
8:30am 11:30am / 3:15pm
Dinner
Thursday
6:15pm
Holy Ghost Catholic Church 1900 California St
Sack Lunch
MTWRFS
10am
Jesus Christ Our Church 16th and Marion St
Breakfast Dinner
Saturday Tuesday
9am 7pm
Mother of God Church 475 Logan St
Sack Lunch
MTWRF
11am
Open Door Ministries 1530 Marion St 4:45 Worship Service Required
Dinner
Sunday
4:45pm
People’s Presbyterian Church 2780 York St
Lunch
Monday
11am
Prax(us) 1660 Sherman St (ages 13-19)
Dinner
Monday
6pm
St. Elizabeth’s (Auraria Campus) 1060 St Francis Way
Sack Lunch/ Soup
SMTWRFS
11am
St. Francis Center 2323 Curtis St
Dinner
W&F Except 3rd Wed
3pm
St. Paul’s Lutheran “Spaghetti Dinner” 1600 Grant St
Dinner
Monday
1-5pm
St. Paul’s United Methodist 1615 Ogden St
Breakfast
Sunday
7-9am
His Love Fellowship 910 Kalamath St
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GET LOUD
Meals List
CONt'D
Organization Address
Hunger Free Hotline 855.855.4626 Meals Served
St. Peter and St. Mary 126 West 2nd Ave
SAME Cafe 2023 E. Colfax
Days Served
Times
Dinner
Tuesday
6pm
Lunch
MTWRF
11am - 2pm
PAY WHAT YOU CAN OR VOLUNTEER
Senior Support Services 846 E. 18th Ave (ages 55 and up)
Breakfast Lunch Dinner
MTWRF MTWRF MTWRF
7 - 9am 11:30am - 12:30pm 5:30 - 6:30pm
Sox Place 2017 Lawrence St (ages 1- early 30’s)
Lunch
TWRF Saturday
12-4pm 11am-2pm
Trinity Methodist 1820 Broadway
Lunch
WRF
11:45am - 12:30pm
Breakfast Dinner
MTWRF Tuesday’s
8am -10am 4-5pm
Breakfast Lunch Dinner Lunch
MTWR MTWR MTWR F/ Sunday
8:30am 11:30am 3pm & 5pm 1pm
Urban Peak Drop-In Center 2100 Stout Street (ages15-24)
Volunteers of America 2877 Lawrence St
Legal
L Help
Legal
Know Your Rights!
Help
Help Legal When You Need Legal Help
Somebody done you wrong...You’re trying to get your kids back...You need to change child support payments... Someone stole your identity...You inherited money but can’t get it...You need a divorce...An employer never paid you... You need help with your immigration papers...You need a protection order...
Do you know how to protect your rights when you are detained by a police officer? At a recent Know Your Rights training in Curtis Park, Alex Landau encouraged everyone to be prepared to use the following key phrases: 1. “Have I done something wrong?” Never admit to anything. 2. If not, “Am I free to leave?” 3. “I do not consent to this search.” Say this loudly, clearly and repeatedly during any search of your person or belongings. This may not stop the search but will help protect your rights in court. It’s illegal for police officers to search you without probable cause unless you give your consent. 4. “I choose to remain silent.” 5. “I’d like to speak to an attorney.” Self preservation is critical, says Landau. Do your best to be cooperative, even while protecting your rights. In any encounter, get the officers’ names and badge numbers. They are required by law to give this information to you. Also get the names and contact information of any witnesses.
Homeless Court Need to see the judge? Miss a court date? Did you know about Homeless Court? Homeless court? Really? Well yes!!
Here are some useful phone numbers:
First Friday of every month at 1:30pm Room 3G Lindsey-Flanigan Court House, 520 W. Colfax Ave
Colorado Legal Services--303-837-1313 Colorado State Public Defender’s Office--303-764-1400
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
Where’s a good lawyer when you need one? Not just good, but free??
And here are some places you can go. (All the locations are in Denver.) Program
Services
Time and Date
Location
Phone
Legal Night at Mi Casa (Help in Spanish available)
Immigration, credit, housing, family law, landlord/tenant, employment
3rd Tuesday 5:307:30pm
360 Acoma St
303-573-1302
City/County Bldg, 1437 Bannock St, Courtroom 117
303-860-1115
3rd Tuesday 11amColorado Bar Filing your own Association-- Small small claims case/ 1pm Claims Clinics collecting your judgment Colorado Bar Association-Divorce Clinic
Info on filing for a divorce without an attorney
3rd Wednesday Noon- City/County Bldg, 1437 1:30pm Bannock St, Courtroom 311
303-860-1115
Colorado Bar Association-Family Law Legal Clinic
Info on filing for a divorce without an attorney
3rd Tuesday 5:30-7pm
303-860-1115
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1200 Federal Blvd, Room 1018
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- Currently be homeless - Have an open case, active warrant, or case must be minor in nature and generally the result of being homeless - You need a referral from an advocate (e.g. a case manager for housing) - Available 3 times in a calendar year - Ability to complete public service For more information contact Denver’s Road Home (720) 944-2508
IIWONDER! WONDER! ONE MAN’S REFLECTIONS
G By John Claybaugh
ary, Calvin, Linda, and Tina are real people. Only the names are changed to protect the innocent.
I wonder.
I wonder if I will see my homeless friend Gary tomorrow. I wonder if he’ll be housed soon. I wonder if he will die on the streets. If he does die on the streets, I wonder if it be soon or years from now. I wonder if Calvin would have taken better care of himself and received better medical care if he hadn’t been homeless all those years. Had he received housing sooner, I wonder if he would have maintained better health and lived longer. I wonder. I wonder what would have happened in Linda’s life if she had been able to get housing sooner. I wonder if she would have lost her kids if she had never found herself without a home. I wonder if she would have overdosed on heroin if she’d had a home and been able to have her kids live with her. I wonder if Tina’s kids would have been
and homelessness. I wonder how many children are beaten by their parents because of fear of tomorrow which is caused by the lack of money.
able to live with her if she had not found herself without a home. While I don’t know the circumstances of her having six children over the years, I wonder if having a home would have meant that she didn’t find herself pregnant as often. I wonder if she is one of the many women experiencing homelessness that have had sex in order to have a safe place to stay.
I wonder how much better this world would be if hunger, homelessness, and poverty didn’t exist. I wonder how many people recognize that eliminating hunger and homelessness would do more than just allow people to not be hungry or without a home.
I wonder. I wonder, when women have sex as trade for a safe place to stay, how many nights, on average, are they given a place to stay. I wonder if they have to have sex constantly to insure that they are allowed to stay there. I wonder how many times an unwanted pregnancy is the reason that they lose the ability to stay in that safe place.
I wonder. I wonder if that shop owner will ever realize that his dumpster area would not smell so much like urine if he would allow people to use his restroom even if they are not a paying customer.
I wonder how many children in America spend the afternoon wondering if there will be something at home that they can eat for supper? I wonder if these children would make better grades if they knew for sure that they would be able to eat at night.
Sometimes I wonder if there is anyone out there who still cares about their fellow human beings. I wonder what would happen if roles were reversed. I wonder if there could be more effort put into seeing that food gets into the mouths of people living in poverty rather than being thrown into the dumpsters or garbage disposals.
I wonder.
I wonder.
I wonder how many times an abusive situation is ignited by issues of poverty
I wonder if the children who grow up without their natural parents, because the
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state removed them from their parents’ care instead of working to find them a home, will blame the system or the parents. I wonder if these children will be successful as adults or if they will have such low self esteem that they will experience problems their whole lives. I wonder how many more people would be able to get jobs if they didn’t have a shoplifting record. And I wonder how many of those shoplifting incidents were attempts get food to eat for themselves or their family. How many other incidents of shoplifting happened because someone needed to pay a fine, court costs, or child support or risk going to jail? I wonder about these things every freaking day of my life. I wonder if society will change. I wonder if next year’s Point In Time survey will have better numbers than this year or will we find that the situation has become worse. I wonder. I wonder.
Supporters of the Right to Rest Act listen to speakers and enjoy each other’s company at the festival on the steps of the State Capitol.
“We are all our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers.”
A
wondrous event took place on the steps of the Denver Capitol on February 2nd. Denver Homeless Out Loud (DHOL), a volunteer organization working to amplify the voices of homeless people, organized the event to kick off a campaign for the Colorado State Legislature to pass a Right to Rest Act to protect all people’s rights to use public spaces. The event attracted several hundred homeless people who came all the way from Fort Collins, Boulder and surrounding Denver suburbs --as well as from Denver itself. This festival was one of eight actions which occurred during Martin Luther King Jr celebrations, supporting Right to Rest Acts being introduced in Colorado, California and Oregon state legislatures. Denver is working alongside the Western Regional Advocacy Project to get bills passed in these states. The event included musical performances, speeches, plays, break dancing, banner and button making, postcard-writing, and food. It involved conversation, mingling of supporters who dropped in and out, and many important interactions. Over 25 people took the microphone to describe how their lives have been impacted by the criminalization of homelessness and why legislation is needed to end this harmful trend. “I think everybody should have the right to sleep even if they are homeless,”
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said Angie, a formerly homeless young adult who volunteers with the Prax(us) organization. “I’m tired of being treated like an animal just because I may look homeless or be homeless. It gets tiring going from place to place just to find some place to sleep. I support the Right to Rest Act.” “We need to work together, the homeless and the housed,” said Charles, a homeless artist. Other speakers included bill sponsors Representative Joe Salazar and Senator John Kefalas, supporter Representative Joann Ginal, DHOL members, City Council-At-Large candidate Jeffrey Washington, and Mayoral Candidate Chairman Seku. “This issue should be near and dear to all of our hearts,” said Rep Salazar. “We are all our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, and there’s not a single person that we should leave behind. This is my moral and spiritual conviction.... I’m looking to charge forward really hard on this bill, and I hope you’re standing right alongside of me.” The gathering was passionate, peaceful, accurate, thoughtful--one which infused all who attended with a spirit of hope, solidarity and community. In short, it was a unique event in Denver -- one which should give momentum to the legislature’s consideration and passage of a Right to Rest Act for the state of Colorado.
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Members of the Romero Troupe enact a scene from Billy, about a homeless man who befriended a social worker and Troupe member.
Violet of Prax(us) break-dances for victory of the Right to Rest Act and for all people experiencing homelessness. Top left: State Representative Joe Salazar (D-Thornton), speaking out for the Right to Rest Act, which he will soon be introducing in the House.
Two festival attendees proudly model their Homeless Bill of Rights campaign t-shirts.
Lauren speaks in support of the Right to Rest Act, which will protect the rights of all people to use public space.
REQUEST FOR A MEETING
Nicole of Boulder tells others about her experiences of homelessness and why the Right to Rest Act is needed in Colorado.
By Athena Landy
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Dear State House Representative Duran, y name is Athena, and I am a part of the organization Denver Homeless Out Loud. I would like to schedule a meeting with you to talk about our organization’s efforts to get a Homeless Bill of Rights passed in the Colorado legislature. Human and constitutional rights are being violated every day, and people are being criminalized for basic acts of survival. I could list many facts or data about this from our findings in surveying nearly 500 people experiencing homelessness, but I would instead like to tell you what I witnessed a few weeks ago, while going home after a Denver Homeless Out Loud meeting. While handing out DHOL’s newspaper for the homeless: “Get Loud,” I came across a 65 year old veteran, sitting on the steps of the fountain in Civic Center Park. I asked if he wanted a paper, and he told me he could not see and would not be able to read it. I sat next to him and asked if he could maybe get a seeing-eye dog. He said he was not sure, but he could not see because of his cataracts. He was supposed to have surgery at the VA, but when he showed up they were “closed for remodeling.” They told him they could not help him at the moment but that he should stay and wait till they could, but he did not want to wait. This was the third appointment he had made with them--the
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others had been cancelled. He said he also had a lung infection, had emphysema, and was dehydrated. He was also tapering off the medication Methadone (even worse to detox from than heroin), which he said made his cataracts even worse. I asked him how he got to this spot, and he said somebody helped him--because he cannot see at all. Thankfully that person also got him some water that he was gulping vigorously down. I helped him get to the end of the park and laid his blanket out for him. He said he would be ok until the police came to tell him to move along. I asked if they ever offer him help. He said no, they just tell him to move along. I asked where he was going to go, and he said he had no idea--he couldn’t even see. This man has a unique situation, but he is not the only one. Every homeless person has a unique situation that is not taken into consideration. He is not the only one having to deal with the vicious discrimination and cycles of homelessness. We are working to end the mistreatment of people experiencing homelessness. When we meet with you we will explain how criminalizing homelessness hurts the economy and our whole society, and how enacting a Homeless Bill of Rights can benefit all of Colorado.
The Garden Formerly Known as Triangle Park Park Ave.
By Mr. Bum
R
obert Speer, the 26th Mayor of Denver, helped create a “City Beautiful” initiative in Denver back in the 1910’s. The initiative was based around the novel notion that if cities had parks and open spaces for people to congregate in, then people living in the city would feel happier and healthier, and be more engaged in the community around them. That’s why Denver has strange little pockets of land in-between diagonal and perpendicular streets, where people can congregate, see a little bit of nature and retreat. But no longer can just anyone walk into the little sliver of land between Broadway, Lawrence Street and Park Avenue. “Triangle” Park is now closed. Back in 2006, there were high hopes for this little triangular island of land, when the city decided to name it “Eddie Maestas Park” after the old business leader turned founding member of “The Larimer Square North Merchants” Association” - the precursor to the “Ballpark Neighborhood Association.” Eddie was nicknamed “The Mayor of Larimer Street” because of his legacy of “running the neighborhood.” He is remembered as being a fair and honest man who respected everyone. There are stories of him hiring homeless folks to sweep the front of his store in exchange for some food. But, he is also known as the person who “fought off skid row”--meaning he helped usher major developments into the neighborhood, like Coors Field,
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was, and still is, only roughly one shelter bed for every 14 homeless people living in Denver, and we have yet to see any substantial development of low-income housing. Where are they supposed to congregate? When city officials, police officers, business owners and a few representatives of local neighborhood associations held a meeting about their plans for the park in 2013, they assured Denver Homeless Out Loud members that “We’re not shutting the park down to kick out the homeless. We don’t want the drug deals... and we’re going to build a garden... homeless people will be welcome inside the garden... if they want to garden.” But, who wasn’t there to weigh in on the conversation? People who actually utilize the park. “But we invited them...” said the group of “concerned citizens.” The same year, two other parks often frequented by unsheltered people were shut down for “renovations.” In open forum community meetings, city officials and neighbors both mentioned “homeless issues,” but refused to say that these renovations had anything to do with kicking homeless people out. Both Sonny Lawson Park (at 23rd Street and Welton) and Benedict Fountain Park (another “triangle” park formed by 20th Avenue, Tremont, and 22nd Street) reopened earlier this year, before the Triangle. After Sonny Lawson--also known as “Jurassic Park” by those who frequent it most--reopened, I witnessed a violent
which led to the tearing down of most of the neighborhood’s low-income housing as soon as timeline obligations to HUD were fulfilled, and developers were legally allowed to do so. But the “homeless problem”--as some folks call it--didn’t go away with the designation of a “historical district” and the introduction of some new swanky bars and eateries. It only increased, because even though there were countless promises from the city to develop low income housing to replace that which had been torn down for the sake of “revitalization,” the city... lied. So, homelessness grew. And grew. And Grew. In 2012, the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative counted over 14,000 people experiencing homelessness in their point in time survey. (Then, HUD narrowed the definition of “homelessness” so as to exclude most of the population, and in 2014, even though everyone knows the city is still overflowing with people who have no safe or stable place to live, they claimed to have only counted 4,000 homeless people.) In 2011, reports swirled of how “Eddie Maestas Park” had turned into “Bum-muda Triangle”--a well-known hang-out for people waiting to get into one of the two shelters catty-corner to it, and a prime location for drug deals to go down. Eddie’s family reportedly asked the city to take the sign bearing his name down after seeing a plethora of trash lying around on the ground. But what was to be expected? Where were poor people supposed to go? There
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fight break out there, and heard a woman say “What you expect is gonna happen when they shut the f-in’ triangle down. All the problems come over here. This used to be a nice park.” And it was, respectfully. Prior to the renovation of the three parks, Jurassic Park and Benedict Fountain Park-also known as “the living room”--were considered the two calm parks. The Triangle, everyone knew, was where some less than desirable things occurred. And for a while cops, neighbors and city officials agreed that it was better to isolate that behavior on one block, than to have it happen in alleys behind people’s houses in the neighborhood. Now, issues from the Triangle have sprawled out into the neighborhood and affected everyday life in the area. When Eddie Maestas Park was first designated as such by the city, it came with a $275,000 price tag, along with some inkind donations from Brent Snyder (deputy assistant attorney general turned developer man), in the form of benches and trellis pieces. At the time, the neighborhood group and the city seemed to know how morally reprehensible it was to ban poor people from certain areas. Mark Upshaw, the architect and planner on the project said, “The park is for everybody.... We realize the homeless are going to use it, and that they have a right to be there.” A few years later, and the Ballpark Neighborhood Association picks a fight with the city over expanding the Rescue Cont on pg 16
A Confluence of Bureaucracies
The Face Of Homelessness and Hope
I am willing to un-help you at the cost of your tax $$
Trash
VOA
A
O
By Jennie Foster
By Marcus Lindsay Clark
uthor’s note: All of the first responders, doctors, nurses, social workers, and volunteers in this story behaved with professionalism in what they did, except for one.This retelling is about what was NOT done that should have been. On an unusually warm and dry Halloween in 2014, I was riding my scooter to my next errand when my scooter went out from under me in a corner, resulting in an injury to my ankle. The “good Samaritans” that witnessed the accident called the emergency number and an ambulance took me to Denver Health Medical Center. The doctor saw me and reset my broken ankle with a splint and cloth bandage, giving me instructions to elevate and ice it. I said that would be impossible with my current homeless situation. The in-house social worker came into the room and began to ask me about my drinking habits. This question always irritates me because my drinking habits have tapered off since I became homeless in 2007. Where were these people when I was gainfully employed and drinking heavily? The social worker did not mention a specific housing arrangement, so I assumed she meant Jesus Saves or Samaritan House shelters here in Denver. I have never been to either one because of the bad reputation they have on the streets. I told the social worker that I was not able to communicate effectively with her because I was heavily medicated. I declined the housing offer and said I would take my chances. The written instructions from the doctor insisted that I stay off my feet. I reiterated that that was impossible and that I was carrying a 50 lb ruck-sack as well. I left the hospital on the crutches that were provided for me and retrieved my ruck-sack, making my way to my camp-site of four years. I had been given some pain pills and was able to bear the discomfort. Larry, who is a friend of mine and my writing tutor, took me in for a few days while his in-laws were out of town, so I
was able to get some badly needed rest. When the in-laws returned I had to leave and go back to my camp-site. The next week in November, Denver had one of the coldest spells on record with snow storms and wind. I was not used to the crutches yet and fell several times. Soon the cloth bandage that the doctor put on me became soaked and smelled terrible. I googled “trench foot” and realized that I was in danger of contracting immersion foot which was a very debilitating (even permanent in some cases) condition. I returned to the hospital and requested medical attention. A different doctor than the one before entered the room and inspected my ankle, then repeated the same procedures with the same type of splint and cloth bandage and instructions as the first doctor; whereby I also repeated my inability to obey his instructions because of my circumstances, letting him know that I was homeless and carrying a heavy pack. A different social worker came into the room and said that I was eligible for Medicaid and signed me up, stating that the whole medical treatment would be covered. The social worker did not discuss housing arrangements with me. The doctor also did not discuss with me the fact that I would not be able to follow his instructions. I was released again from the hospital to make my way on my own. This scenario was repeated one more time, only this time the doctor said that she was going to recommend me to social services for respite care. This was the first time I’d heard that word “respite” used during my treatment sessions. The social worker on duty at the hospital came into the room and finally explained to me what respite is. Basically, the respite program to which I was referred is a confluence of bureaucracies of three parties: 1. Denver Health, whose doctors recommend respite to . . . 2. Denver Human Services, which places you into respite with . . . 3. Volunteers of America, which provides the housing (a hotel room in a VOA owned facility) and two meals a day in respite. Cont on pg 13
ae B
ur bed is under a bush with a dirty blanket for warmth. Our kitchen is a dumpster near our bed. The food is dirty and rotten, yet it fills our stomach. Our toilet is a wall or under a tree. When it’s cold outside, we are cold. When it’s hot, there is no relief for us. Every day we walk the streets with no place to go. We are not alone in our journey; we are many people that the mainstream doesn’t want to look upon. To them, we are a useless lot. They wonder why we don’t help ourselves. Many of them wonder what happened to us that we ended up on the the streets. They believe the problem is drugs, alcohol or mental illness. These are a few of the reasons why we are homeless. Then there are those of us who have been battered, lost our jobs, the roofs over our heads, our children, with no money left in our pockets. We are destined for the streets, the bushes and the dumpsters. Before we became street people, we had dreams. Sometimes our dreams were a family, home, jobs that could support our families. Life isn’t our dreams. We became ill, unable to work, our bills became delinquent. We are unable to pay our rent and are evicted with nowhere to go. Standing on the street for hours, a shelter takes us in for the night. One night there is no room for us. Depression looms in the darkness of our minds. We begin to walk the street again. We desire clean food, a roof over our heads, clean clothes, clean toilet facilities, an opportunity to make a living, a place where we can start a new life. In the depths of our lives on the streets, feeling hopeless, useless and forgettable, a thought creeps into our minds. The thought is God. If we aren’t able to help ourselves, maybe he would help. In the corner of a concrete wall and behind a bush we fall to our knees and cry out in prayer. Death is at our door. Our lives have been so difficult that we
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think perhaps if we surrender to spiritual power there may be hope. Sleep creeps into that teary spot under the bushes. When we awake it is a perfect morning. The sky is blue and the sun is brilliant. As we walk the streets that we walked the day before, in our hearts there is hope that today will bring a better life. If you understood our lives would you help us?
National Convening on Criminalization of Homelessness in Denver
D
enver Homeless Out Loud, in conjunction with the Buck Foundation, the Denver Foundation and Bayaud Enterprises, will soon host the first ever National Convening of Homeless Leaders to address the current tragic epidemic of criminalization of homelessness in America. On April 27-28th both housed and unhoused leaders from throughout the country will come to Denver for a discussion and planning session around this essential topic. On April 24th a Denver-focusedTown Hall meeting will be held in which elected officials and candidates for city office will be invited to speak about their commitment to priorities that will actually end homelessness--rather than just hiding it. For more information as it becomes available, visit the Denver Homeless Out Loud website, denverhomelessoutloud. org, or contact us at 720-940-5291 or info@denverhomelessoutloud.org.
Which Denver Ordinances Criminalize Homelessness?
By Nancy
T
hanks to the work of Denver Homeless Out Loud (DHOL)--in collaboration with the Western Regional Advocacy Project in four states and with local organizations across Colorado--a “Right to Rest” bill will soon be introduced into the Colorado State Legislature. If this bill passes, local governments and the state will no longer be allowed to pass laws that make it illegal for people to carry out acts of survival--like sleeping, sitting, lying down, eating, and protecting their belongings--in public. Laws already on the books that violate this bill--like Denver’s Urban Camping Ban--would no longer be enforceable. So it would end the criminalization of homelessness in Colorado. To find out how people experiencing homelessness are being treated, and how their lives are being “criminalized,” DHOL and partnering organizations surveyed nearly 500 unhoused people across Colorado. Based on what DHOL learned from the survey, they decided to include the following four “rights” in the first bill: 1. The right to move freely, rest and sleep and to protect oneself from the elements in public spaces and without time-limitation that discriminates based on housing status. 2. The right to occupy a legally parked vehicle. 3. The right to a reasonable expectation
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of privacy of your property in public space. 4. The right to eat, share, accept, or give food in any public space in which having food is not prohibited. The right to 24-hour access to “hygiene facilities,” which was also a key need brought out by the survey, will be included in a future bill. Each village, town and city in Colorado has its own set of ordinances that attempt to keep homeless people “out of sight.” In Colorado Springs the courts are banning from the downtown area anyone who has been arrested there five times in 18 months. This proposal aims to push people “away” who ask for help and donations due to poverty, who “trespass” in order to sleep or rest due to having no private home of their own, and who urinate in public due to the absence of publicly accessible bathrooms. In Fort Collins last August police issued 32 summonses--mostly for illegal camping-during a sweep of 54 outdoor public sites that unhoused people called “home.” And in Boulder last spring City Council voted unanimously to “get tough” on “social misbehavior” on its municipal campus--by once again imposing jail time for “municipal offenses” ranging from illegal “camping” to littering; making it a crime under the city code to violate a rule, such as the one banning smoking on the municipal camps; and making it a crime carrying possible jail time for panhandlers to interfere with traffic.
And nationwide, the trend toward passing laws criminalizing people’s right to exist in public space is increasing rapidly. In 2011 the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty surveyed 234 cities about their laws which criminalize acts of survival. They found that 40% of these cities prohibit camping, 33% prevent sitting and lying, 56% prevent loitering, and 53% prevent begging in “particular public places” (read “downtown areas where businesses believe the sight of people experiencing poverty will discouraging customers from spending money”). To make it clearer just what this bill would do, let’s look at the case of Denver. What currently existing Denver laws affect people’s right to exist in public spaces? And what criminalization laws--perhaps unlike some other cities--does Denver NOT YET have on the books? (After reading this, you may have a better understanding of which orders the local cops give you are lawful, and which ones they are just making up as they go along. But we all know who has the power on the street--you may need to save your argument for the judge.) The Urban Camping Ban prevents people from lying down/sleeping (unless you’re not covering yourself with anything except your clothing) in any public or private place unless you’ve been given permission to do so. 70% of those responding to DHOL’s homeless
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criminalization survey said they’d been harassed, ticketed or arrested for sleeping. This law would no longer be allowed if the Right to Rest Act passed. The Park Curfew ordinance prevents anyone from being, and therefore sleeping, in a park between 11pm and 5am. 43% of criminalization survey respondents reported being harassed, ticketed or arrested for park curfew issues. Since it prevents sleeping in public spaces and places a time limit that discriminates based on housing status (only unhoused people need to sleep in the park overnight), this law would also have to go away. The Right to Rest Act would not give people the right to use or sell drugs or alcohol, disturb the peace, litter, fight, or engage in any other illegal activity in the parks. The Sit/Lie ordinance prohibits anyone from sitting or lying down--whether directly on the ground surface or on something like a chair, sleeping bag or stool--in a public right-of-way (including sidewalks, streets, alleys, medians, traffic islands, and other passage ways for pedestrians and vehicles) in the Downtown Denver Business Improvement District, or BID (which includes the 16th Street Mall and surrounding streets as well as parts of Colfax Avenue), between 7am and 9pm. (You can sit on chairs or benches provided by the City, the BID or any other public agency.) 64% of survey respondents reported being harassed,
ticketed or arrested for sitting or lying down. This ordinance would need to go, because it prevents people from resting in a public space. (A separate ordinance which prohibits people from obstructing or blocking a road, sidewalk or other right of way would not be affected.) The Urinating in Public ordinance makes it illegal to “urinate in any public way or place which is public in nature or any place open to the public view.” 23% of DHOL survey respondents said they’d been harassed, ticketed or arrested for this offense, even though the availability of public restrooms is vastly inadequate for the need. Also, 74% of survey respondents reported being denied access to bathrooms, and 52% said they’ve been denied access to water. The Right to Rest Act will not address this problem, because the solution here is to provide public bathrooms and hygiene facilities--which the Homeless Bill of Rights campaign plans to focus on at a later date. The Trespassing ordinance, which prohibits a person from being or remaining on another’s property against the other’s expressed wishes, would not be affected by this bill, which focuses on protecting people’s rights in public spaces. If a cop or private security guard tells a person they are trespassing while on public property, such as a sidewalk or park, that’s bogus! Public property is owned by the public, including unhoused people. At the same time, if you refuse to leave a public
space after being ordered to do so by law enforcement based on violating a rule or regulation of that space, then you could be charged with trespassing. The rule itself could be in violation of the Right to Rest Act if it unfairly restricts access to public space. Sharing Food--While there is no Denver ordinance that specifically prohibits groups from serving meals to hungry people in city parks or other outdoor public spaces, 24% of survey respondents said they’d been harassed, ticketed or arrested for giving or receiving food. Also, a number of people have reported being harassed or threatened with a ticket or arrest for handing out food on the 16th St Mall. Denver Parks and Recs rules require a permit (at a cost of $51/day) for any event in a park for 25 or more people. According to a 2008 report by the National Coalition for the Homeless, Denver city officials have said that “mass feedings are not among the accepted activities for city parks.” In 2008 the City of Denver created the Public Feeding Coalition to encourage groups to serve meals to homeless people in indoor “soup kitchens” rather than in outdoor spaces. Yet for many people, who may be mobility impaired, lack transportation, have schedules that conflict with soup kitchen meals, or be mentally unable to tolerate eating in indoor spaces, free meals in parks may be their only means of being nourished. This bill, by protecting the right
to share food in public spaces, would prevent Parks and Recs from establishing rules that prohibit these public meals. Since other cities in Colorado and across the nation are increasingly enacting laws preventing the sharing of food, and since this topic keeps coming up in Denver, the Right to Rest coalition believes that, absent a Homeless Bill of Rights, it’s just a matter of time before Denver passes laws restricting this right. Loitering--Except as pertains to intoxicated people or for the purpose of getting cabaret patrons to purchase drinks, there is no loitering law in Denver which allows cops to legally “move people along.” Yet we still see it happening. 50% of DHOL’s criminalization survey respondents said they’ve been harassed, ticketed or arrested for loitering. This bill would prevent passage of loitering ordinances which criminalize people for standing around or being in public spaces, such as on the 16th Street Mall or in public parks. Even though such laws have been struck down in Denver and many other places for being unconstitutionally vague, they are still on the books all over the country. As for harassment by police and security guards for violating ordinances that DON’T EXIST, we already have protection against this--it just needs to be enforced! Encumbrance of the Right-of-Way ordinances authorize the City (through its Public Works manager) to order you to move if it deems you are encumbering
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(restricting or burdening) someone’s free action or movement in a right-of-way or on public property. The same goes for your belongings--which Denver’s finest have the DUTY to both report and remove if you leave them unattended in public spaces. Furthermore--the Public Works manager has the right to treat your personal property as trash--i.e. just throw it away--totally ignoring the fact that you as a houseless chap have NOWHERE ELSE TO PUT IT! 60% of survey respondents reported that police or city employees have taken their belongings. Let’s not forget that, for many people, these belongings are all they have left in the world, and often include IDs, birth certificates, medications, and irreplaceable photos and family mementos. This bill before the State Legislature would force municipalities like Denver to treat your personal property with respect----giving you the same expectation of privacy in public space as you’d have in your own private home--and to NOT search through your stuff without probable cause--a protection which our constitution’s search and seizure clause already grants all of us! Sleeping in legally parked vehicles-This writer’s research yielded zero Denver ordinances relating to sleeping in one’s vehicle. Yet 24% of survey respondents said they were harassed, ticketed or arrested for sleeping in a vehicle. An email to the city’s parking office produced the following reply: Cont on pg17
My Thoughts on a Recent Tragedy Bl
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I DON’T WALK SOFTLY & CARRY A BIG STICK
d ere d n e c nsg anani a r T om sp W Hi
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by Debbie Brady
eelah Alcorn, a 17 year old transgendered teen who committed suicide last month, should not be remembered as a hero for the way she died. I feel deep sympathy for the poor truck driver she jumped in front of. I can’t imagine what he is going through. I can only hope that someday, he comes to realize that he was only the instrument she used to end her torture. That truck driver did not kill that poor girl, our society, our culture killed that child. Where is the outrage? Unless you read stories slanted towards the transgender community, you will only read about the tragic death of a boy named Joshua Alcorn, who was hit by a truck on I-71 in Ohio. If you read the suicide note she left on Tumblr however, you will get the true story, it is heartbreaking. This 17 year old transgender woman was isolated from her friends for over a year and forced to undergo Christian therapy to set her on the path toward being the man she was never meant to be. Where is the outrage? We live in an intolerant society. If you do not fit the cookie cutter, white bread, “My Three Sons,” fall in line and look like me, society norm, you are ostracized. It may be blatant, it may subtle or behind your back, but it is ostracism none the less. If you are black, brown, gay, lesbian, transgender, or any number of other labels we put on people, especially if you happen to be homeless as well, for you, it’s the bottom of the 9th inning with 2 outs and 2 strikes in a losing game and somebody stole your bat. You lose! The game of life is not available for you. The American dream is not there, you are condemned to a nightmare. Many courageous people not only survive this nightmare but go on to live meaningful and sometimes great lives. Leelah thought she had run out of choices. Her nightmare ended in death. O how I wish I could have talked to this poor girl and presented her with some better
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choices. I have some idea of what she went through. I am a transgender woman, but I am an old lady on my own and able to make my own choices in life. Unlike Leelah, no one tells me how to live my life and I have learned how to deal with the ostracism. I don’t condone it and in most cases, don’t allow it but I have been around long enough to know how to deal with it. Besides that, I can be a nasty bitch when the situation calls for it. You have to pick your fights, but when you decide to fight, you need to fight to win. Well guess what folks; I just decided to pick a fight. I am going to fight for the rights of transgender teens and younger, who have no way to overcome religious and cultural intolerance. These children know who they are. I knew when I was 5 years old that I was a girl. In 1954 however, there was no way for me to know that I wasn’t alone, that I was not unique. I grew up thinking: no one else has ever felt what I felt. This ignorance that I grew up in is a thing of the past, thank the heavens. Now children who know they are in the wrong gender have information at their fingertips that was unavailable to my generation. This is why many teenagers and younger children are coming out to their parents and why more parents are accepting of their transgender children. These loving parents are a small minority unfortunately. Many if not most of the parents of transgender, gay or lesbian children are suffering under the influence of religious intolerance. They are driven by elders, peers or their own deep seated beliefs that they had been taught their whole lives into forcing their children into their own cookie cutter mold. These misguided beliefs are what killed Leelah Alcorn. These misguided beliefs on the part of parents and the communities that support them are what cause so many LGBT young people to flee or get kicked out of their homes and become homeless-making them easy targets for the human
traffickers and other creeps who prey on them. According to The Durso-Gates LGBT homeless youth survey of July 2012, 40% of homeless youth nationwide identify as LGBT. These misguided beliefs seem to rule our society and it is these misguided beliefs that I am declaring war on! Leelah Alcorn will not be remembered for the way she died. She will be remembered for the way she documented the torture that she and thousands other children like her are forced to suffer through. Everything about the suffering she lived through and even her suicide letter is out there for the world to see and weep about. Her short life and tragic death have shone a light on the greatest evil in our society. That evil is intolerance. It doesn’t matter if is based on culture or religion, in my humble opinion, intolerance of anyone who does not look like you, is the basis for most of the problems in our society. Until we learn to live together and not only tolerate but accept our differences and those of our children, we cannot consider ourselves civilized. We could take some lessons from Native American or other older civilizations, in the benefits of a tolerant society. Because she put her suffering out there for the world to see, Leelah will be the banner that we march under. Her last wish was for a better society and for this we will fight. Leelah will be remembered for shining the light on the evil that lives within us all and for that she is a hero! So I would like to urge all of you who feel as I do to join me under Leelah’s banner as we fight for the more tolerant society that was her dying wish. Please go to this website and sign the petition to President Obama to enact “Leelah’s Law.” www.change.org/p/barack-obamaenact-leelah-s-law-to-ban-transgenderconversion-therapy/u/9207981
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I
!
By Calvin Calloway AKA Mr Anti-Bullshit
don’t walk softly and carry a big stick, because to me that trend has lost value. The question is, what does one look like participating in that old way of life, when having to deal with these unethical government officials, who are the primary decision-makers for the underprivileged and underemployed American citizens? In today’s time, I must walk tall and carry a big stick and point out the harsh realities and social crimes committed by those who unethically and inequitably govern humankind. For we humans today, to participate in the preceding thought theme--to walk softly and carry a big stick-while observing at the same time those who govern society rape democracy-is the drastic act of helping these big producers nail United States citizens to the now crooked cross. I am not, and I believe no other American should be either, into that old preceding type nature and makeup of one human being that was considered in the preceding time to have had the beyond-average belief system as their general philosophy, which said, that one should walk softly and carry a big stick; because the philosophy that must be the belief system in the 21st century, is that one existing human entity should and must walk with a firm and durable faculty, coupled with carrying a stick of intelligence which fosters a voice that, when used and heard, will penetrate all listeners to where the message given will never exit their minds. I Mr Calvin C. don’t walk softly and carry a big stick because such a method and its results don’t provide man with an ultimate fix.
!!!!!!!!!!!
Cont from pg 9 My next doctor’s appointment was with a bone specialist, and surprise, it turns out that my ankle had not healed properly. Once again I found myself explaining to the doctor that I didn’t gain access to respite until three weeks after the accident and had to get about as best as I could. The specialist contacted social services and recommended surgery and respite for 30 to 45 days in writing. This extended my stay in the respite bureaucracy confluence. Each bureaucracy by itself works well enough. The problem comes when you combine the three and add the likes of a certain Mrs. Bea into the mix. It seems to me, and the other poor unsuspecting inhabitants of respite care with whom I spoke, that the only reason Mrs. Bea exists is to kick people out of respite. Allow me to explain. There are basically two ways that you can get kicked out of respite. One way is if you break any of the many strict rules of respite, which can be as egregious as using drugs or alcohol, or as pithy as simply arguing with the VOA staff. The other way is to run afoul of Mrs. Bea. In my case, I had to miss the mandatory Thursday check in with Mrs. Bea (I’m told that she herself misses it on occasion) because I had to attend class in order to take my final exam. (I am a college student.) I cleared this with the front desk VOA staff ahead of time. The next day, Friday December 5th, I received a phone call as I was leaving to return to school to write my final paper for yet another exam. It was Mrs. Bea, and she wanted to know why I missed the Thursday check in, so I reminded her that I am currently enrolled in college and that Thursday was my final exam, an exam that cannot be missed or I would fail the class. Failing a college class means that you chance losing your financial aid, which means you no longer have a college career and you are on the hook for the whole tab immediately. Mrs. Bea’s reply to me was “If you are healthy enough to go to school, then you are healthy enough to look for a place to live.” I replied that this respite was doctor recommended for upcoming surgery and recuperation, and that she needed to take it up with the specialist who gave me a copy of that respite recommendation. She replied that respite was not a shelter, which is exactly what VOA is--a system of shelters for the people that otherwise cannot get housing on their own. I then said that if she canceled my respite, I would re-apply for it with the specialist, and she said “you will be denied.” I was speechless. She then hung up on me. I handed the phone back to the front desk VOA clerk, who then just looked at me and shrugged. I had no idea what was going to happen, and if the staff did, they didn’t warn me. That afternoon when I came back from writing my final paper, all my belongings were on the curb. There I was, on crutches with a broken ankle, my school backpack on, and all my stuff laid out like trash. I realized then that I was at the mercy of the confluence of bureaucracies and I was no more to them all than the flotsam and jetsam of a disaster that I myself was a victim of. Consequently I had to cancel my appointment for surgery and my ankle remains in an unrepaired state to this day. In my conversations with VOA staff and the victims of Mrs. Bea, it has become clear to me that this seems to be her job. When she evicted me, I had not broken a single rule of the respite program. I simply went to school. Many other people in the respite program who I spoke with said they were similarly treated, and the VOA staff, although sympathetic, were useless to intervene. The main excuse was that maybe they needed the room? When I was evicted on Friday the 5th of December 2014, I was the only one in a room with three beds, and I know for certain that several other rooms were also vacant. Apparently, Mrs. Bea does her job well. But that brings up some very important questions about the use of respite, the primary function of which is to provide homeless people a place to recover after being discharged from a hospital when such recovery has been recommended by a trained physician, as well as a trained social worker. So the aching question is, when Mrs. Bea makes the diagnosis that “If you are well enough to go to school, then you are well enough to look for a place to live,” is she medically qualified to reverse the recommendation of a highly educated, experienced, and trained physician, the recommendation of a social welfare system, and the willingness of a volunteer organization whose principle reason for existence is to serve the very poor that Mrs. Bea seems bent on revictimizing? The story does not end here. I contacted a friend whose ex-wife is an attorney in Denver, and I await her response to my request for proceeding with a wrongful termination of respite lawsuit, if such a thing exists. I shall inform my readers of the fruits of my efforts. If I am successful, perhaps I can change another way in which the homeless and the poor are victimized and criminalized by the established authorities.
M
s.
a e B
Letter to Bennie Milliner By Jim Last December 2, Bennie Milliner, Executive Director of Denver’s Road Home (DRH) (tasked with implementing the city’s 10-year plan to end homelessness) presented a proposal to Denver City Council’s Finance and Services Committee that would get the ball rolling on what at that time was called a Solutions Center. This proposal followed an unsuccessful two-year effort by the City to find a location for the “24 Hour Rest and Resource Center” which, at the time the urban camping ban was passed, the mayor and others had promised would be built to provide vitally needed emergency shelter and services to homeless people. The center, modeled after a similar program in Seattle, would be a referral-only resource which would provide “short-term behavioral health, housing and other services to help stabilize homeless and other individuals” before connecting them to longer term resources. Several currently and previously homeless individuals as well as some homeless advocates were in the audience, some of whom spoke during the public comment period. After thinking for nearly two weeks about a comment Mr. Milliner made during his presentation, on December 15 I sent him an email about it, which is printed below. As of today, February 2nd, I have not received a reply from Mr. Milliner. Dear Mr. Milliner: At the City Council’s Finance and Services Committee on December 2 you expressed surprise that anybody might think that people utilizing the proposed Solutions (or Intervention) Center would not be free to leave at any time and wondered why anybody might have any doubts about that. I think that deserves an answer. This email is an attempt to do that. Apparently early on in discussions and planning about this Center, people in the neighborhood of the proposed site were extensively consulted about this project. As Billie Bramhall mentioned in her comments to the committee, this is as it should be. But as she also mentioned, the largest stakeholders for this project are the (largely homeless) people who will be using this Center. To the best of my knowledge homeless people were never consulted in this process. (While I am no longer homeless, the first I heard of this project was when it was formally announced about 5 weeks ago.) If homeless people had been involved in the early discussions, you would have heard their concerns and any misunderstanding probably would have been cleared up. There *is* interest among such people as demonstrated by the fact that there were at least two currently and two previously homeless individuals in attendance at the December 2 meeting. Yet, sadly, there appears to have been no effort to involve these stakeholders in the early discussions. Your example at the December 2 meeting of somebody wishing to leave the Center possibly having a “next destination” of the 16th Street Mall was a surprise to me based on the materials I had seen about this Center. Those materials include the packet provided at the last meeting of the Homeless Commission, including the November 6 announcement, the discussion at the November 18 meeting of the Commission, and a probably too brief look at the website for the Seattle Center. Admittedly, I am particularly sensitive to people trying to ram things down my throat, but when I read about locked doors (which is what that “time delay” on the doors, mentioned both in the packet and on Seattle’s Center’s website, is) and statements such as “there [will be] adequate staff and security resources to ensure that no one leaves the facility without staff escort or without a planned discharge and adequate transportation,” alarm bells (no pun intended) did go off. I am the person at the Commission meeting who asked the question, “If I were homeless and had police contact and the police wanted to refer me to the Center and I didn’t want to go, what would happen?” This was a follow-up to Benjamin’s question, as the answer to that concerned me, and I thought the matter needed to be probed a little more. (Sadly, I have forgotten both Benjamin’s question and your answer to it.) Of course, I used the police in my hypothetical situation because they are the agents of coercion in our society. In response to that question it sounded to me like you were dancing around the issue of how voluntary participation with this Center would really be and I let the matter drop when I thought pursuing Cont on pg 18
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poems art Disaster in an Alley
By Ken Bloss
By Marcus Clark
It was the usual type of feeling Starting in my belly First as an awareness Then a feeling like jelly Anticipation turns to panic Whilst a search commences But in downtown Denver There are no hiding fences One store after another Refuses my advances I turn down an alley To take my chances Maybe it’s just number one And not the second try I squeeze between two dumpsters And open up my fly Wishing these stores would allow A persons natural tendencies I give my innards a little pressure Being thankful of these alleys
By Ken Bloss
But a flood of uncontrolled waste
Releases with cramps I stand there humiliated Because I just shit my pants........
By Christopher Raboxie
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SOFT ENDING By Marcus Clark
Hallowed halo bright and burning turning ever
Fingers licking the azure depths Together spreading Like a ribbon, now a scarf that was flung Frozen and hung there Just for a moment, changing hues It amuses us But that it could last and not fade away Stay awhile longer Orange then pink, lavender I think Sinking into deep purple Slow as a disease yet swift as a breath It’s death awaits It’s gone now, an almost forgotten score There’ll be more tomorrow
Art work by Judy Cardwell
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Asking for a Miracle Cont from pg 8
T
oday I seem to look upon Denver, Colorado in a whole different view, a view that arises out of Denver’s rude behavior towards its homeless and lower class population. Why do I look upon Denver in such a bad light? Four years ago I moved to Denver because I wanted a way to start over in life. When I first came here everyone was on top of the situation that Denver was a good place for someone like me to start a new life. Now everything has changed, and it has actually changed for the worst. Starting with the legalization of pot in a community that already was rich, politicians have used this legalization to become even richer. Republicans have taken over as the dominant force in Denver’s up-growing community, and many worthless people have traveled into the city to destroy its cleanliness and beautiful parks and reserves. The citizens have gone from helping persons like me to start over, to ignoring the lower classes, and in some instances, whole committees have been formed with the intent of kicking out all of the lower classes. Where do the homeless go and what are they supposed to do? We are now trapped in a city that will not help, keeps locking us up for no place to sleep, and will not help
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By Larry Brown with the bus fare for those traveling through to make it back home. We are fed well just to keep us alive and miserable. In 2012 an anti-camping bill was passed in the City of Denver, making it illegal to sleep outside, but with this bill the city was supposed to build a new shelter that would actually provide the homeless and lower classes here a way to receive the help they needed to become productive members of society. Has that happened? No! Many grants later, there has been no effort to do so, and most of the money from the tickets and other citations has been used to build upper-class housing and a new bus station, that let it be noted, does not even have a pay phone installed. I openly admit to being an Occupy representative, and openly admit to representing a portion of the lower classes that exceeds more than half of the homeless. In doing so, I came to Denver as a rich man, but now within the changing community, I have become just as homeless and broke as the people I represent. I wonder if Denver will become the next Detroit, bankrupt due to the Republicans thinking they can run the lower classes out of a major city, or I wonder if it will stay a crime to be homeless in the City of Denver. No longer do I love the City of Denver like I did when I moved here in the end of 2009. No longer do I wish to be a part of its thriving community, and by all rights am I wrong for feeling that way? I would hope
that Denver changes its over-all outlook upon the lower classes. Without the lower classes, a city can not build itself. I do everything I can for the lower classes, but now it has become a crime to stand up against the City of Denver. It has become a crime to be homeless in Denver. Some of us do work when work is available, some of us do right when we have stability in our lives, so remember, the up-rising crime rate of the lower classes is coming from a city that pushes its homeless and lower classes to do things just to survive a very evilly transforming community. I believe that if something is not said against the rich of Denver, we all will be puppets to the ones that Denver hates the most, the good old federal government. This is the voice for the homeless and lower-class, a voice simply to be known as Miracle, and as my name states, I am asking for that Miracle to transform Denver back into what it was a couple years ago, a city glowing with beauty and the ability to transform oneself for the better.
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Mission, throwing every cheap shot they could, and pressuring the city to pay $1.8 million to make sure homeless people get arrested every time they pee in LODO or near the stadium. And the same “not in my backyard” group of people were the ones deciding the fate of the park. “But, we’re not excluding the homeless,” whined the representatives of Ballpark. Denver Urban Gardens (DUG) is going to take it over, we were told. Turns out, DUG didn’t want the project, but the city and the planning group just dumped it on them. So, DUG did everything it could to make the best of the situation-they reached out to homeless provider agencies in the neighborhood to try and get homeless folks to participate in the garden, and they reached out to Denver Homeless Out Loud and offered us a plot of garden space. We accepted. We have a few gardeners within our group who are working on the plot, but WE ARE STILL LOOKING FOR MORE PEOPLE WHO ARE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS TO JOIN US and make sure that homeless people aren’t excluded from the park. If interested please contact us-- info@ denverhomelessoutloud.org or 720940-5291. But, if the opening of the park is any indication of its future, here’s what’s to be expected: After months of delays from the city, DUG was finally able to open the park on October 16th. A new sign, honoring the former patriarch of the Ballpark Neighborhood Association, Eddie Maestas, stands right outside the six foot tall fence that takes a code to get through. Inside (aside from DHOL folks that showed up), we found a few DUG representatives, a few service provider employees, some business owners, some representatives of Curtis Park Neighborhood Organization, a woman who said “I’m Ballpark,” a dozen or so tiny garden plots, five police officers, and one person drinking cider who may have been assumed to be homeless. Oh, and one last side note - after millions of dollars (literally) of renovations to the parks along Park Ave over the years, there are still zero public restrooms. Councilman Brooks and Bennie Milliner of the Denver’s Road Home assured residents at a community meeting about the parks that the city couldn’t afford them.
YEA
1
Thought for THE FIRST YEAR the Day By Cindy Nielebock
By Dara Harvey
“ I FOLLOW THAT
I
ONE SIMPLE RULE -TO LEAVE NO TRACE. ”
am houseless--been now for two years. This would be my third stint, sadly enough, but working on it to change that. I LOVE to go camping, fishing, hiking, sight seeing, etc. I LOVE the wilderness and respect it--even in grizzly territory. However, being houseless gives a whole new definition to the word “camping,” whether it be urban or wilderness. The idea is “pack out what you pack in.” I have several different campsites in Denver and you would never know I had been there because I follow that one simple rule--to leave no trace. Consequently, there are other houseless people who simply don’t care and just like pigs “shit in the same place they eat and sleep.” It is abhorrently gross and I see it almost everywhere I walk. “Gee, someone’s living there.” I wonder to myself: No wonder regular people loathe the homeless because of the garbage most leave behind. Granted everyone litters on occasion, but come on! However, you know how the saying goes--”It only takes one person to ruin it for everyone.” So what I’m saying to you other sloppy houseless people is: PICK UP
YOUR F&%$#(G TRASH!
My story starts a couple years ago, in OctoberNovember 2012
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hen I first came here little did I know what to expect. I never realized I could become homeless. After my mother died and I no longer had a place to live, I came here because my adopted son lives here. But things didn’t work out as I’d hoped, and I ended up homeless. Even though having my son here helped me adjust, the first 2 1/2 weeks were the pits. Then I met the most wonderful bunch of guys who I named the Wolf Pack. Nine of them. They hung together and slept at the same shelter together. But most of all they had each other’s back. This is where I earned the title Ma or Mom. See, most of them had moms they couldn’t see. Moms that passed away. So I became Mom. Now in the meantime I met someone who I thought was perfect for me. But I will talk about that at a later date. Over time my happy little family grew. Every time I turned around someone else was calling me Ma. See, I accepted all races, creeds, colors into this family. I wasn’t prejudiced. As Mom I solved problems. Talked to them when they needed to talk. Spent time with them on a one to one basis, even if for only a few minutes. Let me explain. When I say my son or daughter I am talking about my street family, all the people who call me mom. I actually feel like I’m a great big bird and I’m in their radar and I keep getting hit. Now through all this I keep a level head about the things I’m dealing with on a daily basis. One incident that comes to mind was when I could not find my youngest street son, who was 18. When he got here he thought he could do anything and didn’t know the dangers out there. His older (street) brother was supposed to watch him but lost track of him. Talk about scared. I walked to 16th Street Mall and sat there looking up and down. Walked back to St Francis and another street son asked for his description and used his street connections to find him in less than five minutes. When I saw him relief took over and I cried like a baby. I wanted to kill him! but I was relieved. There is more to this story as you know. So for each issue I will write and tell you a little more about the first year.
1 ST
YEAR 17
Cont’d from pg 11 “There is no specific ordinance for this, however if the vehicle is in the Public Right of Way, Police can check to see why you are in the vehicle (ie, inebriated or safety issues). Depending on why you are in the vehicle, the officers might ask you to move, or let you know you cannot do that. If the vehicle is on private property (ie store parking lot), it would depend on the owner of the lot. If they do not allow that, then police can come and ask you to move. However, again, depending on the location of the vehicle, especially on a public street, if it poses any type of safety concerns, you would be asked to move.” Assuming they are not inebriated, it’s hard to imagine what “safety concerns” the sleeping occupants of a vehicle parked legally on a public street would present. The Right to Rest Act would make it clear that people have a right to sleep in their legally parked vehicles. Panhandling--Denver definitely has ordinances that flat-out prohibit aggressive panhandling--including such behavior in the course of asking them for money as using violent or threatening gestures or language, blocking them, and persisting after someone has told you to stop. Nonaggressive panhandling is also prohibited in certain places (including on public transportation, on private property if told to leave, within 20 feet of ATM machines, public toilets, public transport stops, outdoor restaurant patios, or pay phones, within 6 feet of a building entrance, after dark, and in a parking lot or structure.) Passage of the Right to Rest Act would not directly affect panhandling ordinances. But by protecting your right to sit and move freely in public space, this law would help ensure your ability to exercise your right to ask for help. So while the Right to Rest Act would not address every ordinance that tends to target homeless people, it would go a long way toward ending the unfair and unconstitutional practice of criminalizing people for conducting necessary activities such as sleeping, sitting, lying down, eating, and socializing in public spaces-the places where many people’s situations cause them to live and which they therefore rightly call “home.”
My First Weeks of Recovery
Cont from pg 13
For more information about the Ft. Lyon Supportive Residential Community, contact the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless at (303) 293-2217.
By Ryan F
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t 4:30 AM on November the 25th of this year I awoke to my alarm blasting some Korn. This was the day I was to travel to Fort Lyon, a place I knew little about. I had set my alarm at such an early hour for one reason. I need a couple of hours to finish up the buffet of substances that my so called friends had given me the day before, my last chance to use before I left for treatment. I had spent the whole day attempting to finish them up, but had failed. Being the true addict that I am I had allowed myself two hours just to try and finish them up. I was on the nod by the time I heard the knock at the door, it was my ride to Denver to catch the van to Fort Lyon. I don’t remember leaving my little city of the western slope. I can also say I don’t remember much of the white knuckle drive over the mountains, I remember it was snowing pretty bad, that’s about it. It doesn’t make much sense to get loaded before you get on a van that’s taking you to treatment, when you’re the one that asked for the opportunity to go in the first place. I knew I had to change the way I was living, but I still had to party one last time. Looking back now I can see that I wasn’t doing something morally wrong, I was sick, I truly was powerless to my addiction. Reality set in when I got into the van in Denver and started the next leg of my trip to Fort Lyon. A lot of different things started going through my mind, I went back and forth, arguing with myself in my own mind. I knew I was doing the right thing, I was sure of it. I knew I could not continue on the path I was on. I wasn’t using to handle the pain any more, I wasn’t even using for fun. I was using just to maintain, to keep myself from withdrawing, all the fun was gone, and I was living in misery. There was never enough, I always wanted more. Not even 5 minutes later my own sick mind was trying to convince me that I was wrong. I began telling myself that things were not that bad, I was managing ok. I was just in a lot of pain, I was just using these substances because I had to, due to my physical condition. It’s crazy how your own mind can convince you that you’re sane, that you’re not sick, that the things you’re doing are normal. So to say the least I was definitely confused when we arrived at Fort Lyon late that Tuesday night. Over the next few days things would only become more confusing. All I heard over and over again was just take it easy, just relax. This baffled me. I am a drug addict, and I thought I needed someone to tell me what to do. I was high strung, struggling with the simplest of tasks. Just getting
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from point A to B was a struggle, it was a huge challenge for me. Prior to coming to Fort Lyon I had only managed to walk short distances. I was still recovering from major surgery. Those first few days I was so stressed I honestly was ready to leave. I had myself convinced once again that this was not the place for me. Not only was I struggling physically, but I was mentally struggling as well. I wasn’t sure what was going on with me. Everything aggravated me, I was quick to pop off. True traits of an addict, I wanted what I wanted, and I wanted it yesterday. At the time I just didn’t know how to deal with issues that came up.It was like I was taking ten steps back and going into prison mode. I could no longer deal with issues the way I had been, The truth is I no longer had my substance, my easy button. I easily replaced it with anger. If I wasn’t able to get loaded I was going to be an asshole. My sick mind and withdrawing body justified it. A normal person would realize this wasn’t the way to be, but so many things had become unmanageable to me. If I couldn’t control the little things, how did I ever convince myself that I had any control when I was out there, using daily. It was in my second week when I finally settled in, go figure they were right. This is when I looked back and realized how confused, aggravated and stressed I had been. I still don’t have even close to all the answers, but I had figured out one thing, I had made some first impressions that I dearly regret. People that are here to help me, people that could relate to the life I’ve lived, people I might just be able to talk with, I had pushed away. It was then that I really began to think about the way I am sometimes. Why do I feel so out of place at times? Why am I having issues just simply communicating with others? Why is it that I feel like I don’t belong, and even worse, why do I go out of my way to make sure of it? That’s when I realized that I had always been this way, I have just been using substances to mask it, to open up to others. I never had problems interacting with others when I was loaded, I was the life of the party. I began writing this in the beginning to help me work the first step. Now I know for sure that I am powerless over my addiction. I was an addict before I ever took that first drug. I also hope that some will read this and relate to me. I want those who read this to know that the confusion that comes in the beginning of recovery is normal. It wouldn’t be recovery without it. I’m Ryan and I am an addict that has taken the time to look back and realize how powerless I really am over my addiction.
18
Letter to Bennie Milliner
it further would not yield anything productive. If the views and concerns of homeless people about this proposed Center had been pursued early on with the same vigor as discussions with the neighborhood, there would have been more time and space to develop such thoughts and I suspect misunderstandings would have been avoided. Instead, materials developed solely to address concerns of the neighborhood were presented as fait accompli, leaving homeless people and those of us who are wary of how they might be treated to let our fears run wild. One final note about this. While I can’t and won’t attempt to speak for others, another fact that gives me concerns about such a center, and probably helps fuel my paranoia about it, is the fact that I am at odds with what appears to be the view that drives much of official discussion about homeless people in Denver. Specifically, homeless people tend do be viewed as problems that need to be fixed. I disagree with this view, even when limited to those who are usually identified as having substance abuse and/or “mental health” issues. (And I find the terms “mental health” and, particularly, “behavioral health” highly problematic.) I am more inclined to view the homeless individual as the “identified patient” in family systems therapy, with the larger society being the family. It is not just the “identified patient” that needs to change but the whole family (i.e. society) that must change. As Arnold Mindell perceptively notes in his book City Shadows: Psychological Interventions in Psychiatry (ISBN 0-14-019162-3), “Such concepts are not always greeted enthusiastically by city officials” (p. xiii). Based on my experiences in Denver I think that is putting it mildly. But if you or anybody associated with Denver’s Road Home would be interested in a viewpoint other than what I believe to be our culture’s dominant one, I recommend that book. I will admit that it is a bit dated (1988) and perhaps there are good materials which are more recent. Still, I think City Shadows is a useful book. So this has been my attempt to explain why some of us were concerned about how voluntary this proposed Center (whatever its eventual name) would be. I hope you found it useful. And in the future I hope the Homeless Commission/DRH finds ways to bring people experiencing homelessness into discussions about things that will affect them early in the planning stages. Maybe you can keep that in mind as you and the Commission consider what changes to make to the Commission as you begin moving beyond the initial 10 year plan. (Editor’s Note: The Denver City Council on December 22nd voted unanimously to approve the $2.325 million purchase of a building at 405 S Platte River Drive, in the Athmar neighborhood, for the “Solutions” Center. The Center is expected to open at the end of 2015 after renovations are completed and service provider(s) are selected.)
The Ultimate Scapegoat. BY Debbie Brady
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ell the politicians and corporate big wigs, who are watching their 10 year plan to end homelessness go down in abject failure, now have come up with the perfect scapegoat for their own poor planning. It’s all because of that “killer weed” that the people voted to legalize. Never mind that pot wasn’t legal for the first eight years of their ten year plan and it was showing no sign of even moderate success at that point. They have their bogey man framed and hung: “It’s all them homeless people coming to Denver for the pot.” You see the politicians did not make pot legal, the people did that. Conveniently the politicians that were most responsible for the ten year plan, the Governor and the Mayor included, opposed the legalization of cannabis. So now they can sit back and say they told us so, instead of fixing a failed plan to house those who are unhoused mostly due to the way the Wall Street tycoons, and the politicians who enabled them, blew up the economy in 2008. None of those responsible for making the mess were ever held accountable--most in fact profited from the whole thing. The bulk of the current crop of poor and displaced former middle class Cont on next pg
Cont from pg 18
Tiny Homes Project Update
The Tiny Homes Working Group is excited to announce a new website for our project: littledenver.wordpress.com. Go there to read all about our work. Since the last issue of Get Loud, we’ve met with many a fine city politician and leader, many of whom are excited to move forward with a Tiny Home Village in Denver. We’ve been asked to come up with a formal concept plan to present the city, and we’ve been working with Architecture for Humanity and others to try to get one down on paper, while we continue building the first few tiny homes. We’ve also made friends with some kind folks who help run a village of 27 houses in Oregon called “Opportunity Village Eugene.” Their project has been so successful (and a cheap way to give life saving shelter to homeless folks) that they are in the midst of planning a second city-sanctioned village of Tiny Homes. All of their building plans have been approved by the Oregon Building Department and meet the International Building Code--and they’ve given us free access to them. They even wrote a book which studies dozens of Tent City and Tiny Home developments across the country called “Tent City Urbanism.” You can find it at tentcityurbanism.com But the most important thing we’re trying to do right now is this--get your input! We’ve seen tiny home communities work in other cities, but we know that services designed for homeless people are most successful when homeless people themselves are the ones running the show, because no one understands what the real needs and desires of homeless folks are better than homeless folks themselves. So we want you to tell us what you’d like to see. Where should the village be? What should it look like? How many houses should there be? Who’s gonna shovel the snow in the winter? Call 720-940-5291 to get involved, swing a hammer, weigh in on designs and concepts, and mostly to give Ray a hard time.
Now I’m going to criticize again. In Denver, in 2012, the Mayor and the City Council passed what is known as “The Urban Camping Ban.” In this one stroke they criminalized sleeping, a necessary act of survival that homeless people must often perform in public spaces. They made instant criminals of every citizen in Denver who does not have a home. The ratio of shelter beds to homeless people is too ridiculous to even cite here. There were promises made, with no intentions of them ever being kept, like the 24 Hour Rest & Resource Center which after two years has failed to happen and now I hear, may never happen. I am just going to finish this by asking all the Politicians and Denver Tycoons who shoved this law down our throats, one question. It is the question every homeless person asks the cop who is telling him or her to move along. Move along to where?
workers are the fallout from this explosion. Many of them, like me, ended up homeless when we landed. Believe me. It had nothing to do with smoking pot. I can see them all now, in some fancy conference room, patting each other on the back and congratulating themselves for coming up with the ultimate scapegoat. How convenient. Not very good for the poor who are suffering because of their failed plan, however. OK, so I have had my rant. My mother used to say, “Don’t criticize, unless you have a suggestion to improve the situation.” So here is a suggestion. What is the one thing the homeless don’t have, that forces them to live in the Street? Oh! I know, a home, somewhere they can perform simple acts of survival behind a locked door. But that’s too easy, even though, it’s a fact that housing the homeless is cheaper than throwing them in jail.
Hard Hearted People By Jim The other the day, for the first time in a long time, I went past a bridge that I had called home for three years in the ‘90s. As the bus passed underneath, I looked up and was shocked and dismayed to see that the cubby-holes where one used to be able to rest one’s weary bones had been filled in. It saddens and angers me the extent to which some people will go (at what expense?!!) to make other people’s lives more miserable.
When You Need Legal Help
Cont’d from pg 4
Colorado Bar Association--How to Collect on Child Support
Entering judgments, beginning income assignments, filing for contempt of court
3rd Wednesday 10-11:30am
City/County Bldg, 1437 Bannock St, Courtroom 368
303-860-1115
Colorado Lawyers for Colorado Veterans Legal Clinic
Vets resources, benefits, taxes, housing and family law
2nd Tuesday Noon-2pm
Auraria campus/Tivoli “Senate Chambers” 900 Auraria Parkway
clcv@cobar.org
Metro Volunteer Lawyers
Free and low-cost n/a attorneys if your income meets Federal guidelines
1905 Sherman St, 4th Floor
Call Colorado Legal Services for intake 303-837-1313
Legal Night at El Centro de San Juan Diego (Help in Spanish available)
Immigration, credit, housing, landlord/tenant, employment, family law
1st Wednesday 5:30-7pm
2830 Lawrence St
303-295-9470
Colorado Coalition for the Homeless’ Legal Assistance Clinic
Housing, consumer, small claims, family, employment, benefits, identification, etc.
3rd Wednesday 4-6pm (Arrive by 3:30pm)
2130 Stout Street 1st Floor Conference Room
303-293-2217
El Centro Humanitario’s Wage Theft Clinic (Help in Spanish available)
Help with reporting wage theft and recovering losses
Tuesdays 3:305:30pm Thursdays 5-7pm
2260 California St
303-292-4115
Obtaining a protection (restraining) order You can request a temporary restraining order if you’ve experienced harm, the threat of harm, or an act of violence. The Protection Order courtroom is in the City and County Building at 1437 Bannock St, Courtroom 170 (720-865-7275). Court is held Monday-Friday, and you must turn in your paperwork by 9am. You can get this paperwork and help with the process either from the courtroom office or from Project Safeguard (720-865-9159), in room 177 of the same building. Childcare is available while you are taking care of your protection order, at the Warm Welcome Child Care Center, at 270 14th St (at Court St). Court filing and services fees are waived if you are indigent and in cases involving domestic violence, stalking, sexual assault, and elder abuse.
19
Wanted: Your Voice!
Y, B PEOPLE FOR,
AND
ABOUT
EXPERIENCING
HOMELESSNESS
Y, B PEOPLE FOR,
AND
ABOUT
EXPERIENCING
HOMELESSNESS
I‛m using a remote drone in this game... What if i‛m actually controlling a real drone , killing REAL PEOPLE?!
Submit your articles, stories, poems, art, and more to Get Loud. Bring them to a Get Loud meeting. Email: getloud@denverhomelessoutloud.org Call (720) 940-5291 to arrange a pick-up. Send them to: DHOL/Catholic Worker, 2420 Welton St. Denver CO 80205. Or drop them into a Get Loud submission box. These boxes are located at: *Blair Caldwell Library (2401 Welton St) *Christ’s Body Ministries (850 Lincoln St) *Denver Central Library (10 W 14th Ave) (in the Level 4 TV Room) *Father Woody’s (1101 7th Ave) *St Francis Center (2323 Curtis St) *The Gathering Place (1535 High St) *The Spot (2100 Stout St) To join our team, come to a meeting: Every Tuesday and Friday 11:30am -1:30pm at the Auraria Campus library [1100 Lawrence St] next to the green Discovery Wall on the first floor--call (720) 940-5291 if you can’t find us Catch lunch first at 11am behind St Elizabeth’s Church, right across from our meeting.
... Still, I‛m good at this!
Reach out artists! The Reach Studio, located within RedLine at 2350 Arapahoe St, is a free, open and supportive arts studio space where artists in Denver’s “not exactly” homeless and in-transition community can come to express themselves creatively, be exposed to new art forms, collaborate with peers, learn new skills and challenge each other to take the next step--in their art and in their lives. RedLine currently holds drop-in hours for Reach participants from 1-4pm every Tuesday. Most basic supplies are provided free of charge. Come check it out! For more information contact Adam at 303-296-4448 ext 307.
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