​
    It wasn't much but at least I was not sleeping out side. The Denver Catholic Worker House had put me up in a tiny storage room that they had thrown a bed into and asked me if I would be interested in staying. In the span of three years I had gotten very comfortable there. Living in a community which became more family as time went on. Well... the room may not have been much but a large comfy house full of friendly supportive people and a refrigerator full of food. What more could a homeless guy ask for? I was not the first person they have taken care of this way and will not likely be the last. Fires are tragic events but the loss of the Catholic Worker House may be greater than many may realize.
    It was 4 in the morning and I heard a lot of commotion upstairs in the kitchen from my tiny little sleepy hole. I went upstairs to investigate and noticed the flames outside the kitchen window. My first response was to think … “the fire is still small (trash can size) if I can get to the garden hose I can probably put it out." So out the back door I went... running around the side of the house to try and get the hose. When I got there and tugged on the hose, it would not come. “Rats it is attached to something in the front yard” So I went back into the house (passing by the flames) came out the front door and detached the hose and went back through the house. All the time thinking I still had a chance.
    When I got to the kitchen this time the flames had spread enough for the garden hose idea to no longer be viable. What is more those flames were dangerously close to the gas stove. So much so I decided
not to return to my room and put on shoes and a coat. It was time to get out of the house. Wearing sweatpants, a T- shirt and socks out into the cold night I went with the others to wait out the fire. Well that is my CW House fire story.
    12 of us were living there and everyone was able to get out safely. Early detection of the fire probably saved lives. The flames spread so fast!!! It was only a minute later that the fire department arrived but by then the house was lost to the flames. But this story is about what is happening now.
    Since the fire... the CW community has been hard at work seeing to the well being of guests in the house and raising money for a new building. As well as looking to the future of the Denver Catholic worker community here in Denver. Rest assured, the loss of the house has not disrupted the unity and commitment of the Catholic Worker Community. The community remains unified and active... they just have new issues and challenges to work through due to the fire. The previous building was a rental, and since the fire has been sold by the owner, so in order to have a building for the community to live in a new building must be acquired,
    The CW has been a pillar of the 5 points community for 38 years. Those who have lived in 5 points for any length of time have lamented the loss of the building and the work that was being done there. 5 points residents are fully aware that with 2 large apartment buildings under construction (nearly 300 units worth) and the loss of the Worker House the face of the community will completely change. Most of the new people who will be in the neighbor hood when the construction of these new units is complete, will never know the impact that the house had on the community and on the city of Denver.
    The previous house was 7-9 bed rooms (depending upon how you define what a bedroom is) and the CW community has already raised enough money to  “shop” for a suitable building to re-establish in.
But it will not likely be in the gentrified 5 points community. The financial cost will be just too high so the new house will likely be somewhere else in Denver when they re-establish. Many locations are under consideration as pro's and cons are regularly deliberated. I am grateful to be a part of this community and look forward to the future for the CW movement here in Denver as we make new plans for our new future in the coming years.  

Alex Binder

​On February 24, 2016 the Local Government Committee of the Colorado State legislature voted 5 for 6 against HB16-1191, known as the “Right to Rest Act.” We were one vote short of passing this committee.
We are very sad. Because this bill did not pass the people of Colorado will continue to be awakened and moved about the city with no place to legally rest; the people of Colorado will continue to be ticketed and later thrown in jail for covering up with a blanket to stay warm; the people of Colorado will continue to hear taps on their window from officers telling them they can’t sleep in their own car. Laws will continue to be used to attempt to hide, to move “away,” the fact we live in a State and a Country with mass homelessness and poverty.
    But we cannot be hidden and forced “away.” We are here and we will continue to exist in public space. And just as we must continue to exist, we will continue to join together and fight for our rights to exist.
    Representatives Salazar and Melton introduced this legislation to end the alarming trend of cities passing laws that criminalize the basic civil rights of homeless individuals. The Right to Rest Act would, among other things, protect the rights of homeless people to move freely, rest, have privacy of one’s belonging, and eat in public space as well as protect their right to occupy a legally parked motor vehicle. The many laws across Colorado which infringe on these rights would be rendered null and void, and people will be allowed to rest.
This bill would “allow people the right to rest without harassment from police and without ordinances that violate civil and constitutional rights,” the bill’s Sponsor Representative Salazar explained at the Right to Rest Festival. “You better believe homeless people are being discriminated against. So many ordinances are being passed against homelessness that violate people’s rights, and this has become a statewide concern.”
    Denver Homeless Out Loud (DHOL), as a member of Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP), is leading the campaign for the Right to Rest Act in Colorado together with partner organizations across the state and along with 53 local Colorado organizations and over 170 nationally endorsing the campaign. In a coordinated campaign, California, Oregon, and Colorado are running the Right to Rest Act in their state legislatures.
Here in Colorado the low estimates of counted homeless people is 16,000, with schools counting 23,000 homeless children. Cities across Colorado are increasingly enacting and enforcing laws which punish people for doing what any person must do to survive–even though the extreme lack of affordable housing is forcing more and more people out of their homes and into living in public spaces. Due to the fact that these activities are being conducted in public space, these individuals are being treated inhumanely. Studies have shown for optimum health a person needs 7 to 8 hours of solid uninterrupted sleep. Colorado is ranked in the top ten states in the nation as to the highest cost of housing. The average one bedroom apartment is $1255. The average worker making minimum wage is priced out of the housing market. Colorado has what is known as the Telluride Law giving the owner/landlord the right to raise rent to any amount he deems fit. These two factors are contributing to people formerly housed no choice but to occupy public spaces.
    The recently published report “Too High a Price: What Criminalizing Homelessness is Costing Colorado” by DU Sturm College of Law Homeless Advocacy Policy Project, shows that laws criminalizing homeless people for being homeless have become widespread in Colorado. Colorado’s 76 largest cities have 351 anti-homeless ordinances. Cities issue citations to homeless residents at a staggering rate. For example, 30% of all citations that Grand Junction issued are pursuant to an anti-homeless ordinance. The citations that Fort Collins issues to homeless residents represent 36% of total citations issued. Colorado Springs has doubled the rate at which they enforce anti-homeless ordinances between 2010 and 2014. Boulder stands out in issuing camping ban citations by issuing 1,767 between 2010 and 2014. By studying the enforcement of five anti-homeless ordinances in Denver, the report found that in 2014, Denver spent nearly three-quarters of a million dollars ($750,000.00) enforcing these ordinances.
    The Colorado Homeless People’s Rights Survey, conducted by DHOL and partner organizations across the state, documents the experiences of 431 homeless people in 12 Colorado cities. This survey shows that 70% of respondents have been criminalized for sleeping, 64% for sitting/lying down, and 50% for loitering. Also, 60% have had their belongings taken by police or city employees. A similar survey done in Denver in 2012 found that 37% of respondents chose not to cover up against the elements in order to avoid violating the camping ban and being confronted by police.
To make a serious dent in the number of Coloradans facing homelessness, we must prioritize our efforts at the federal, state and local levels to provide affordable and healthy homes for all people who need it. At the same time, our humanity and common sense impel us to immediately end the cruel, costly, ineffective and unconstitutional practice of criminalizing people for performing necessary acts of survival in public places. That is what the Right to Rest Act is designed to do, and why the Colorado Legislature should have passed it.
So much gratitude goes to Representatives Salazar and Melton for their incredible, dedicated, and deep hearted leadership in this fight.
    Together we ran the Right to Rest Act last year and were voted down 3-8; we ran the Right to Rest Act this year and were voted down 5-6; we will keep coming back to the legislator year in and year out until we have the Right to Rest!
    Prior to the hearing, at 12:30pm, a rally was held in front of the Capitol to remind our legislators all people need the right to rest! With over 100 supporters in front of the Capitol, we heard the raw, sad truths from people experiencing homelessness about how the laws criminalizing homelessness make it nearly impossible to survive. 
    One woman, Serena, spoke out and said, “I just came from the library, they woke me up while I was sleeping, I’m really tired. As I stand here right now and I look at everybody, and everybody else that is homeless I’m sure you’re tired, too. I haven’t been homeless that long, but I’ve been here for about a week. You know, I have to get up every time a cop comes by and takes my blanket from underneath me and makes sure that I’m not covered up. I’m not out here because I choose to be, I don’t have a place. It is really cold, and it was really cold last night, and I don’t want to be here. If I could get a job, I would, but I am so tired, I just want to sleep, that’s all I want to do, you know. And I can’t sleep no matter where I go. I’m tired of f*cking rolling my bags, I’m so tired of all of it. I just want to sleep, but at the same time I have to get a job, I have to make money. I have two boys who need me, and God bless that they’re not here, but how am I supposed to get back to them if I can’t sleep? How am I supposed to work? Debra said earlier that it’s torture, and it is, I can’t even think straight because I haven’t slept. No one thinks straight when they go days without sleep. I can understand why some of these people turn to drugs just to keep them up. I don’t know what this is about, but the Right to Rest sounds right to me! I want to sleep. I don’t have anything, I don’t have blankets that I can use out here because they said that they will tell me to take them from underneath me; you can’t have anything over you and you can’t have anything underneath you, and I think that’s bull*hit because what about us? How are we supposed to get out of this if we don’t have a chance? And we don’t have a chance, if we don’t have the right to sleep, right? I need sleep. I mean that’s all I need. And if I could sleep at least 6 hours, then I’d be alright. Looking for a job would be easier, getting a place would be easier, you can’t expect us to get out of this situation if you’re not helping.”

​Put Your Green Thumbs Up!
 
Denver Homeless Out Loud has five plots at the Eddie Maestas (Triangle Park) Community Garden. We have planted kale, spinach, onions, radishes, beets, carrots, corn, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, tomatillos, oregano, basil, and parsley. It is truly beautiful and therapeutic to sow seeds and watch them grow from tiny sprouts into flourishing nutritional sustenance. We invite anyone who is interested to join our garden team and help water, weed, harvest, and play in the dirt with us! You will also be able to enjoy the fruits, vegetables, and herbs of our labors! Our meeting time is Monday at 4pm at El Centro Humanitario at 2260 California Street. You must attend a meeting before joining us at the garden plots.

for more details email us at        [email protected]

​​    Mayor Michael Hancock has directed the Denver Police to sweep away every homeless person sleeping, having “too many” belongings, or otherwise trying to survive outside in public space. These sweeps are devastating our community. It can hardly be called anything other than a “war on homeless people.”

    The sweeps began on March 8th, 2016 by Broadway and Lawrence and was just his kick off for policy and proceedures that continue today. Under the Mayor’s direction, police have been on streets throughout the entire city every day and night telling people to move along, waking people from sleep, and taking their personal belongings.

    Every morning or night since the sweeps began in March police have come to the public land where people have been sleeping and telling people to wake up, move along, and give them written warnings.  
Even at spots where no one is incumbering the sidewalk (i.e. the Resurection Village community).  At this spot no one is encumbering the sidewalk, and the area is kept clean by those staying there. The only law being broken is the “camping ban” (better named the survival ban) which makes it illegal to cover yourself with anything other than your clothing. After the sweeps began March 8th many people who had congregated by the Samaritan house, (just a few blocks from Coor's Feild) were displaced from that area and came to sleep at spots like Resurection Village.  However, with nightly awakenings and move alongs by the police many of people have wandered further to other more hiden spots in hopes of finding some place to rest. The whole city has been affected including people sleeping by the river who are trying to sta out of the way. Some have reported that they have been followed around the city by police told to move every time they lay down to rest. This MUST STOP IMMEDIATELY.

          We need rest. 
          We are not “camping,” we are surviving. 
          We have to exist somewhere. 
         We have a right to survive.
          We will not be hidden. 
          We need homes not sweeps.
          The city can’t force us into the shelters as if they were a new kind of jail.
          We are demanding the City immediately end the sweeps 
          We are demanding the City immediately end the confiscation of people’s belongings.


Furthermore as a city we must…
    *Repeal the Camping Ban and Pass a Right to Survive
    *Instead of spending city money criminalizing homelessness, we must allocate public funds for homes
     and allow underutilized public space as an option until such homes are available.