At the end of next month, the Denver VOICE will lose its home. After almost six years at our distribution office at Park Avenue and Champa, we’ve got to move on. The building has been sold. The neighborhood is changing.
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By Matthew Van Deventer | Photo by Giles Clasen
Initially, Denver’s public toilet talk was a part of a greater look into mitigating conflict between the homeless and a growing city. Demands for these facilities, however, are now being voiced not only by the homeless but the community at large.
By Sarah Ford | Photo by Kristin Pazulski
The gym of the Union Baptist Church, just off of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, hasn’t seen a lot of activity in the past few years. But tonight, the walls echo with repeated shouts of “knuckleheads” and the squeaking of gym shoes over worn wood.
By Gina Tron | Photo by Giles Clasen
Marcus Weaver’s work with organizations like Denver’s New Genesis helped him heal after surviving the 2012 shooting at Aurora’s Fox Theater.
It seemed like everything was on the right track for Marcus Weaver after he graduated radiology school. He was the top student in his class and even won a national award. Despite that, he admits, “you can always find ways to self destruct.” He was going on crime sprees, stealing mp3 players and computer products and trading them in for thousands, and dealing and taking drugs. At his lowest point, he engaged in a high-speed chase with the police, which resulted in him being briefly hospitalized.
By Matthew Van Deventer | Photos by Mike Bohner and Giles Clasen
Denver-based hip-hop group the Flobots want to change the outcome of the sometimes-unorganized nature of protests. Their experiential art piece, No Enemies, takes their music off the stage and back to the streets.
Once a month the Flobots hold a call and response, inviting people to share movement songs and get involved.
By Dwayne Pride, VOICE vendor
Dwayne Pride visited South by Southwest in Austin, TX, this year. Below is his firsthand account of the experience.
Austin City Limits. Not to be confused with the longest running live music television show in American history. A place where thousands of people from around the country meet up to schmooze and network to the backdrop of some of the best music that is out there today.
This issue of the Denver VOICE includes a special section on volunteer opportunities throughout Metro Denver. This is the third year the VOICE has partnered with Metro Volunteers to publish their Volunteer Guide, an excellent resource on volunteer opportunities in the area. National Volunteer Week is April 12-18. Make sure you check out the guide for ideas on how you can give back to your community that week—and all year long!
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Spend any time with Meg Stearns and her service dog Elly and two things are likely to happen: you’ll get caught up in Meg’s bright outlook on life, and Elly—part beagle, part husky, and all sweetness—will nudge her nose under your hand. I had the pleasure of meeting this matched pair on a sunny day in February. Meg was picking up papers to sell and Elly was showing off a new red knitted sweater.
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Simone Groene-Nieto remembers a man who came into the library after finding out he was being evicted. The man had a matter of days to find another option. “He had never used a computer before, he’s frantically trying to find work and connect with a program that can help him,” said Groene-Nieto, a librarian in the Denver Public Library’s Community Technology Center. Though the CTC offers a wide array of computer skills classes and training, it wasn’t best equipped to deal with the man’s urgent needs. “It’s really frustrating to not be able to help people as much as they need,” said Groene-Nieto.
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The City of Denver is revitalizing its composting program in order to accommodate residents’ desire to go green.
In 2008 Denver Solid Waste Management (DSWM), a division of the Department of Public Works, performed a waste composition sampling funded by a state grant. Before the analysis, the assumption was that Colorado’s garbage was 25–30 percent organic material that could be compostable, which would have been in line with the national average.