By Sarah Ford | Art by Book Williams, Jr.
The lights of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless are long dark when the two men meet outside its doors, silhouetted by the dim streetlights of Broadway. They wear light coats against the brisk night, each carrying a bulging backpack and a clipboard under his arm. Although it’s 8 p.m. on a late January night, their breath does not mist as they laugh, standing close together in a companionship built by ten years of partnership.
Marcus Hyde and Kristen Brunelli began building their tiny home last March. What started out as a personal project for Hyde and Brunelli is gaining momentum and turning into a movement. Over the past year, a diverse group of organizations and individuals ranging from Mesa Middle School in Castle Rock to Architecture for Humanity have taken an interest in the idea of tiny homes as a solution to the shortage of affordable housing in the Denver area.
Panhandlers and sign flyers are everywhere, standing between buildings and standing on street corners here in Denver. Circumstances in life such as divorce, the loss of a job, and the loss of your home can cause people to go to drastic measures to survive.
I did not know him, but I didn’t have to know him. One would think that suicide is incomprehensible, and most people would state that that goes without saying. Then there are the untold numbers of people who seriously ponder the very act of taking their lives…which raises the question of what would compel one to act in such a morbid, deleterious manner?
This month street papers around the world are celebrating our vendors. Many are holding Big Sell events, during which they’ll ask local politicians and celebrities to sell their publications for an hour. Follow along with the international action on Twitter (#VendorWeek).
The Denver VOICE will hold our own version of the Big Sell on Feb. 4. During the event, VOICE staff, board members, and community supporters will team up with vendors for an hour on the 16th Street Mall, learning more about the hard work they do every day.
It’s not an easy job, selling the VOICE. For every sale that vendors make they also get plenty of rejections, yet they take these in stride with grace and dignity. The vendors are a continuous source of inspiration to those of us working behind the scenes to put the paper together.
By Lynn Farquhar | Photo by Jesse Borrell
The first time I met Rodney Woolfolk was at the Rise & Thrive fundraising breakfast for the Denver VOICE last fall.
I met up with him for an interview while he was selling the paper. It was evident that his easy smile and respectful approach were winning people over quickly, and very quickly he was out of papers. Once we had a chance to really talk, he attributed his stick-to-it-ivity to the guidance of his parents who raised a large family while holding down jobs. He grew up with seven brothers and two sisters, and sorely misses his oldest brother who passed away recently. A Denver native, Rodney was born in 1964, attended Park Hill Elementary School, and graduated from George Washington High School in 1982.
Peer specialist Terri Veliz.After launching last year, Colorado’s first ever statewide mental health crisis hotline is fully operational and entering the last phase of its program rollout.
The Colorado Crisis Support Line, 844-493-TALK (8255), is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with both peer specialists and professional clinicians standing by, ready to talk, coach, follow-up, and provide referrals to all in need and for whatever they need.
The hotline is a big part of the commitment made in 2013 when Senate Bill 266 was passed outlining how $20 million dollars would be spent to improve Colorado’s mental health crisis response system.
The Denver Urban Arts Fund seeks to minimize graffiti by funding large murals.
I first became aware of the artistic value of street art when I was working with homeless teens 10 years ago. I wasn’t naturally skilled at working with kids, but I was curious and wanted to find a way to relate to them.
Several of my young friends carried markers and “tagged” street signs, light posts, and buildings. Some parents thought of this as vandalism, and they wanted me to help them address it. I began doing a lot of research and started seeing the artistic value of the work street artists accomplished around the world.
I went to the kids I served and showed them what some street artists were making. The kids were inspired, and wanted to move from writing their initials in a stylized manner to broader urban art.
When my copy of Madison Smartt Bell’s haunting short story collection, Zig Zag Wanderer, arrived in the mail, it was marked FREE just as I was told it would be. At the time, Zig Zag was the latest of nine books published by Concord Free Press in West Concord, Mass. I’d gone to the CFP website, curious to see how this publishing phenomenon dreamed up by author Stona Fitch actually worked.
It’s like this: writers donate a book for a print run of between 2,500–3,000 copies. Readers can request whatever book is on offer at the time on the press’s website, concordfreepress.com, up until that print run’s copies have run out. Readers agree to pass along the book rather than keep it, and to “pay it forward” in some manner.
Houston-native Michael Burkley began this interview with a performance of his impressive dance and tai chi skills. Even after hours in an empty vendor office, Michael brought with him a contagious joy that could not be ignored. The joy he displays is that of a fighter. Despite his battle with drug addiction, incarceration, and homelessness, his is a happiness that cannot be defeated.
“I love life, I really do,” Michael said.