Recent efforts have been made citywide to combat Denver’s growing youth homeless population

The Urban Peak Center, located at 730 21^st, Denver CO. (Photo by Urban Peak)

Over 4.2 million youth and young adults experience homelessness or some sort of home insecurity each year in the United States.

There are countless factors that can contribute to this unfortunate reality, family abuse, parental neglect, gang affiliation, drug or substance use, etc. And so often are these all piled together, and rarely handled properly in the delegating of resources and time.

Read more: Recent efforts have been made citywide to combat Denver’s growing youth homeless population

The city of Denver has been a partner in combatting this issue within their own means with recent efforts. In April of 2021, the city council approved two separate contracts for local organization Urban Peak, totaling $1.6 million in aid.

Urban Peak started over 30 years ago by local citizens who were concerned of the high number of youth living on Denver’s streets, it is the city’s first and only licensed shelter for homeless youth.

According to their site, their mission is, “meeting where they are at and ignite a spark that puts them on a path toward self-determined, fulfilled lives.”

“We’re only providing the platform for these individuals, it’s up to them on how they want to implement it [our resources] into their daily lives.”  Says Joan Winstein, community leader and correspondent of Urban Peak.

One of their drop-in centers on Stout Street has their doors open five days a week, providing more than a place to stay and food on the table, but cleaning and sanitary stations, counseling, and case work management.

Hard to imagine the challenges many of these young individuals face, Urban Peak and other programs provide so much both physical, mentally, and developmentally.

Denver’s homeless population nearly doubling from 2020-2021 due to COVID complications, an estimated 10,870 individuals were counted for to be “unsheltered”, not accessing government support or local organizations. And of those, 952 are youth members.

With numbers as big as one in every 10 young adults, 18-25, have experienced some form of homeless living over the course of a year, about 3.5 million young adults. It was clear that work had to done in every corner of the country, especially in Colorado.  

Clear that this is national problem, different cities take different initiatives at trying to provide the right resources and care.

In Chicago, at any given time there are over 1,500 youth or young adults (18-25), experiencing homelessness. PADS Shelter Program, being the main organization within the city and suburbs, provides overnight shelter and meals for those in need.

Taking turns each night at different shelters throughout the suburbs, individuals are able to be bussed to locations the following morning. While the shelters and homeless population change, most the volunteers stay year after year.

“I think organizations like PADS are essential in the community.” Shares Dar Townsend, volunteer of over 13 years at the local shelter in Libertyville, IL.  Not having to disclose identification or any other information, PADS is a safe space for some of the more vulnerable members of our communities.

“There’s a lot of ways to help out but I think most people are too hesitant to take the initiative to get involved.” Says Townsend.

“I’ve heard dozens of times from people, “I’ve always wanted to do something like that” or words to that affect but so few people actually do anything of the sort.” Chimes in Townsend when reflecting on how the number of volunteers has been dwindling since COVID.

And since COVID, have PADS seen an increase in 18-23 guests and less families. Luckily thanks to gracious donors, a lot of the regular families (with kids as young as 6-9 months) in hotels across Cook County.

“We used to have as many as 75 people show up on any given night, but since COVID our numbers have been around 20-25.”

Now this case of combatting homelessness isn’t all that monument when looking at the national implications and numbers we see, but it is a start.

“There’s certainly more to be done to address homelessness but it’s not just one’s singular responsibility. We in society all need to step up.”

infographicDownload

And we see that attitude here on campus, with University of Denver’s Housing and Homelessness Research programed assisted with “research, program evaluation, data analysis and interpretation, policy analysis and needs assessments.”

Their program, Your Family, Your Neighborhood, works with families living in low-income housing and communities. Aiming to strengthen pre-existing bonds between children and their schools, children and parents, and try to reduce further wrongdoings.

Professor Daniel Brisson, the executive director of the Center for Housing and Homelessness Research, comments on recent efforts by the community and his team regarding housing security and homelessness.

“Homelessness and housing affordability are at crisis levels, both in Denver and in the country as a whole. It’s more than just observing communities, neighborhoods, or the “other”. It is going deeper with elements of activism and optimism to provide the right kind of help.”

“We’re moving one step at a time, thinking with trauma informed design, even the simplest of things such as texture and architecture of the housing in account.”

Aware that many of these individuals who do reside in these housings, could have been exposed to traumatic or uncomfortable experiences in past shelters or say hospitals. Brisson and his team makes sure that these environments are welcoming and safe.

Making sure that these safe spaces are cultivating feelings of familiarity and new possibilities, hoping to create “a warm and soothing environment”.

Another recent project in the works for DU’s Housing and Homelessness Research group, the Denver Basic Income project, a citywide organization that provides a basic income to those experiencing homelessness with, “the goal of building a healthier society grounded in social justice and centered around improving human thriving.”

By pairing up with this organization, the community will be providing “guaranteed basic income” for these people. More clearly, the city will be providing cash, no-strings attached money, to meet basic needs.

This program is still in the works, observing the impact this type of aid will affect homeless individuals.

They have divided their participants into two groups of 260. One group will receive $1,000 a month for 12 months. While the other group of 260, will receive a onetime payment of $6,500 and a consecutive $500 for the following 11 months.

Giving individuals cash with no other requirements, allows them to put their own financial needs, rather than many other programs that decide how and how much someone struggling with poverty can spend their money.

It is evident that this nationwide cannot be solved overnight, but it is essential to make note of the strides by so many citizens who want to help.

If you or someone is experiencing housing insecurity, the following lines are open 24/7 for the Denver area.

Urban Peak mainline: 303.974.2900

Urban Peak shelter: 303.974.2908

Don’t Choose a Program, Choose a Professor: Lifelong teacher and current Ph.D student, Anne Walker shares stories and advice regarding education

Photo provided by University of Denver

More than familiar with the setting of a classroom, lifelong teacher, and current Ph.D student /teaching instructor at University of Denver, Anne Walker, is learning what it’s like to be on the other end. The student.

Anne Walker is currently in her third and final year of her Ph.D. research program here at DU regarding the loss of loved ones due to COVID. 

Walker graduated from the University of Iowa with both a bachelor’s degree in art and journalism and wasn’t interested in the teaching world until she lived through the lull that came with Public Relations. Getting her start at Chicago firm, Edelman, she realized quickly on, it wasn’t what she was meant to do.

“I am pretty organized but that is not where my heart is”, joked Walker when thinking of her quick lived career in event planning.

Read more: Don’t Choose a Program, Choose a Professor: Lifelong teacher and current Ph.D student, Anne Walker shares stories and advice regarding education

Feeling as though she was ‘creating a narrative that was false, and an attempt to appease the reader’.  Not at all what she signed up for when going into the field of journalism and not at all like real storytelling.

Four years later Anne would identify herself as a student again, attending University of Illinois Chicago and obtaining her master’s degree in Secondary English Education.

And from 1991 to 2016, Anne did what came naturally, she taught. Starting with high school, to being a professor at Metro, and back down to middle school; Walker found growth within each age group.

Leaving the teaching world in 2016, unsure if she should stay or if there was more out there for her, she connected, and self-explored as much as she could.

And in 2019, she began her three-year long program here at DU within the Communications department. Bringing in all her knowledge, and identity as a teacher, she was ready for this world again.

But in no means was this an easy start for her. In those three years, her life had started as well as those of her three children. And soon after she began, COVID hit.

Yet she persevered, knowing that this was the right place for her and her skills.

One thing she learned early on in her teaching experience, and became a huge part of her time spent with middle schoolers and so on with the differing age ranges,

“I felt like my job as a middle school teacher, and really as a facilitator is to think about how people are ‘human-ing’. That people are humans first, and how do we then take care of the human part”, states Walker.

This comes naturally for Anne, thinking of the person behind the façade. By breaking the social barriers and getting to know one another, she teaches with vulnerability and strength.

One example of her methods in action is with two of her courses she teaches this year at DU, Speaking on Ideas that Matter and Topics in Communication: Intergenerational Communication. These classes and the meaning behind them go far beyond what a traditional classroom can offer.

Speaking on Ideas that Matter, a public speaking class geared towards preparing students to be confident in their words and ideas and being vulnerable to yourself and an audience. According to Pioneerweb’s description, the students will be, “becoming more competent and comfortable when speaking about their opinions.”

Anne went on to say that this is only possible if the classroom environment is established and connected.

“If people don’t feel they know each other or there is no sort of commonality, people are not able to learn as well”, notes Walker when reflecting on some of the challenges she faced with the new classroom environment.

Being on both sides of the classroom, she can work through these challenges by being herself in both worlds.

“You have to teach who you are,” shares Walker. “I teach from my heart and who I am, and I hope that is reflected in my work and in the students mind.”

Anne’s vulnerable teaching skills is seen in her second course this year, Topics in Communication: Intergenerational Communication, because it is essentially the exchanging of stories.

Made up of herself, DU art professor Roddy MacInnes, and Denver Public Library worker, Amy DelPo in charge of the Creative Aging Forum, came together to create a space where individuals from all ages can come together and share photographs and memories.

Stating that photography ‘brings people together’ and ‘creates a catalyst of connection’, so it seemed natural that this was the class for her teach.

Anne learned early on what it means to be a professor, reflecting on advice she heard when she was as student in undergrad,

“Don’t choose a program, choose a professor.”

Finding that statement to applicable to her current situation as a student, Walker had to take some time to truly find not only a program suitable to her but a professor who is passionate and ‘doing the real research you want to do’.

Her current mentor and director of program, DU Professor Erin Willer, who also teaches the Communication Capstone course, Communicating Empathy through Compassion, has all the same passions and teaching methods as Anne.

Creating a space for Anne as not only a graduate student, but peer and teacher alongside her own professors. Just one example of the everchanging norms on a college campus regarding professors and students.

“The “traditional”, on-campus college student, newly out of high school, is no longer the norm”, shares Northeastern University. But neither are the professors.

It is no longer uncommon for classes to be led by graduate teaching assistants, according to the Bureau of Labor Statics, there were over 100,000 of them. And a generalized annual income of $41,150.

This is just one road one may follow if they hope to be a professor one day, and Anne is more than ready with experience and advice to help her and those around.

Her greatest pieces of advice she’s learned, and took years to get comfortable with, is being able to say, “I don’t know.”

Both as a student in the classroom, the ability to be transparent regardless of your status in the classroom. And the realizations and embracing of all the many Uturns in life.

And “difficult people are life’s greatest teachers”. Whether that be students or peers, or your superiors, it is one of the greatest gifts in life to work through a situation like that.

Assoc.Judge William Yu addresses UIC class of 2022 as ‘The guardians of the Constitution and the advocates for the powerless”

(Picture by John Marshall Law, of Assoc. Judge William Yu)

On May 6^th, the University of Illinois Chicago, came together for the commencement ceremony of the 2022 John Marshall Law School. This graduating class is the first class to have an in-person graduation since 2019.

With nearly a full house at the Credit Union 1 Area, the anxiously awaiting graduates were surrounded by family and friends on this special night. As well as a stage full of notable alumni, including commencement guest speaker, William Yu.

William Yu, associate judge for the Domestic Relations Division of the Cook County Circuit Court, welcomed the graduates and families for this joyous occasion.

Read more: Assoc.Judge William Yu addresses UIC class of 2022 as ‘The guardians of the Constitution and the advocates for the powerless”

Welcoming the audience by starting off with thanking the community and the school for asking him to celebrate this special night with the graduates.

While congratulating the graduates, he shared little antidotes of his own law school days, “just being here brings back a flood of memories, and a handful of nightmares.”

But rest assured, Yu chimes in lightheartedly, “But I made it, and so have you all now.”

Congratulating them on this honor alone wasn’t enough but recognizing the dedication and hard work that went into their entire academia.

“Today is a very special day because you all are closing a long, tedious chapter and starting a thrilling new one with one another.” Yu made it known that this was not a process done alone, shouting out the help of peers and families both in attendance and those who couldn’t join us. 

A feeling synonymous with graduates all over the world after enduring an almost entirely virtual college experience.

Calling it a “tremendous triumph” and one that “required great dedication and perseverance”.

He then went on to share a story of Ketanji Brown Jackson, who has to overcome a number of challenges to be the first ever Black woman on the Supreme Court.

An experience many in the audience can attest to and can relate, many of the graduates were 1^st generational lawyers and had their fair share with stereotypes and restrictions.

The story goes that Ketanji Brown Jackson was walking through her campus of Harvard University, and crossed paths with another Black woman who only told her one word, persevere.

Encouraging graduates to adapt to the new normal. That this everchanging world we now live in may not be fit to us and or needs, but by no means should that slow you down.  

Yu offered advice that every graduate, or just any individual anywhere in their live should hear, “Recognize that not all paths are linear.”

A piece of advice that so many people need to hear, especially students who have gone to school through the pandemic, taken all the curveballs with ease and can continue to find their higher education.

Ending his speech with encouragement to the future lawyers of our generation, to “work hard, especially when no one’s watching” All of these words of wisdom seem self-explanatory but for these graduates, their whole education was pretty much self-explanatory.

The entirety of 2021-2022 was held on zoom for John Marshall Law students, no option to even go into campus or meet with anyone on campus.

And yet here they are, they persevered.

The class of 2022 was more than ready to throw their caps in the air and celebrate when the time came.

Following William Yu’s speech was Student Bar Association President, Fredrick T.J. Joshua, fellow graduating member of the class of 2022 to conclude the ceremony.

Ti West’s “X” exposes viewers to the horror within

This movie freaked me out ! I agreed with the lack of plot, but I feel like movies nowadays with all this suspense, they use the visual aspects to make up for it.

MFJS Reporter Spring 2022

Warning: contains spoilers

A viewer watches “X”. [Photo by Lauren Schmidt]

A24’s “X” hit theaters this March, marking the triumphant return of director Ti West to the horror genre after almost a decade long hiatus. “X” follows an amateur porn crew shooting on a rural Texas farm, led by the ambitious RJ (Owen Campbell) who dreams of making adult movies an art form. Not all is as it seems, however, once their elderly hosts catch wind of their activities, resulting in Pearl (Mia Goth) going on a murderous spree as she grapples with her desire to be desirable.

Despite the star-studded cast, featuring the likes of Jenna Ortega and Kid Cudi, 20-year-old Sophie Van Winkle, a self-confessed lover of the slasher genre, stressed that “although there’s a lot of famous actors, you don’t lose the character to the actor.”

View original post 443 more words

“The Far Side” – Formally known as “Pharcyde”, return to Denver on their 30th Reunion Tour

Photo by Tess Styler (April 23, 2022 at Your Moms House, Denver.)

DENVER – After almost thirsty years since their last tour, The Far Side, formally known as The Pharcyde, finally came to local venue, Your Moms House, here in Denver on April 23.

Far Side (Pharcyde), an alternative hip hop group formed in the late 80s dominated the underground scene of hip hop in South Central Los Angeles. Made up of the original members, Imani, Fatlip, and SlimKid3, it was an instant throwback for the entirety of the night.

But the night didn’t start that way. Doors opened at around 8:00, and the crowd, an older one (me 21, was definitely the youngest one there), didn’t start forming till closer to 9:00, when the opener begun.

All eager for the night to begin, many of those in the audience haven’t seen them since high school or college days, and for me my first time. By the time the show begun, the people were ready.

Read more: “The Far Side” – Formally known as “Pharcyde”, return to Denver on their 30th Reunion Tour

Photo by Tess Styler, opener DJ Abilities using a turntable to mix, similar to that used in the 90s, unlike most Dj’s who opt for the modern day DJ pads.

The opener and sound master for the tour, DJ Abilities, was met with lively, tightknit crowd.

Mixing hits from the age of hip-hop with metal and 80s punk with classic rock, and mix that all together with EDM. Made out to be quite the night, full of dancing, head banging, and the occasional call-and-response with him and the crowd.

Busting out staples within the hip-hop world, “The Humpty Dance” by Digital Underground, and “Electric Relaxation” by Tribe called Quest. And the people danced.

By the time The Far Side came to stage, the crowd was ready. Playing some of their biggest hits from their 1992 album, Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde, like “Passin’ Me By” and “Ya Mama”.

Keeping the audience in high spirits came as second nature for these emcees, reminding everyone there why the underground hip-hop community fell in love with them all those years ago.

This was a night to remember, both for Far Sides, not having been in Denver since the 90s, and their dedicated fanbase that came out in numbers and did a number on the merchandise table.

Which unfortunately wasn’t all that stacked in the beginning.

Talking with one of their road members as to why they only had one t-shirt and one hoodie option, they went on to share that their trailer of merch was broken into earlier that day, nearly clearing them out.

But that didn’t stop them from giving the people what they wanted. Being true guides, and legends on a trip back down memory lane. Way back to the 90s, full of their mischief and humor through their ability to keep the audience engaged and excited.

Closing out with their hit song, “Runnin” from album “Labcabincalifornia”, and accompanied by local Denver singer, Moombeam Kelly, to give us a nostalgic yet powerful closing song.

Sticking around for autographs and photos, the three emcees were right at home at Your Moms House and feeling all the love from their Denver fans.

This show ends up being in the middle of their 30 Year Tour, where they’ll travel to the West Coast, hitting their home city of Los Angeles before finishing up back in Wisconsin.

Read more: “The Far Side” – Formally known as “Pharcyde”, return to Denver on their 30th Reunion Tour

University of Denver’s strides at becoming a Greener campus.

Backyard of a University of Denver students college house a week after a party. (Photo by Tess Styler, courtesy of Carson Blocker)

In 2019, the University of Denver announced the construction of three new buildings, all of which with LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, with the hope of becoming a greener school.

With solar panels on rooftops, energy saving outlets, and the switch to biodegradable cups and utensils in the cafeteria; DU comes across environmentally friendly.

But what about the students?