The Kids Are Alright - Part 2

On Monday I wrote about my visit to North High School in Denver with ABCD Coordinator Aspen Matthews. Our objective was to interview high school students in the neighborhood about the ongoing gentrification in their neighborhood, and what we found was that the students were as aware and opinionated about gentrification as many of the adults.

The freshmen and sophomores we spoke to first were able to identify and discuss the changes happening in their neighborhood, but many of these students incorrectly identified the gentrification as happening within the last year or two. This is a far cry from the a general consensus found during the ABCD project that place the first signs of gentrification around 2007 or even earlier.

The Juniors and Seniors, on the other hand, generally identified the gentrification as beginning five to seven years ago. This is much more in line with our earlier findings.

What was even more interesting is the varied reactions to gentrification. It can be easy to try to over simplify the issue and assume that the Hispanics and Italians, whose families have been in the neighborhood longer, would be against gentrification, while newer whites might be indifferent to it.

However, that wasn't the case.

Since we talked to students in groups, there may have been group think at work, but we ended up talking to a group of white students that hated the gentrification, a group of Hispanic students that liked it, and another group of Hispanic students that hated it.

Furthermore, Aspen talked to a group of students that had a mutual dislike of gentrification, but found that not everyone was comfortable sharing that. When one of the white students she spoke to stated their dislike for gentrification, a group of Hispanic students responded with, "you can say that because you're white."

For these students, the fear is that they will be perceived as being racist for expressing negative opinions about the changes in the neighborhood, since the gentrification is caused by wealthier whites who are culturally different than they are.

If anything, this only adds to the helplessness that these students feel as they are forced to watch the neighborhood around them change, with many low income Hispanic and Italian families are being pushed out due to rising property taxes and outside pressure from real estate agents.

So, what does all this mean?

While I don't have a definitive answer to that, the variable that I imagine would make these students unique - compared with adults we interviewed - is that they have grown up with the gentrification and the consequences of it most of their lives.

For some, gentrification may feel natural and normal. This doesn't necessarily mean that they do or don't like what is happening, but it may explain why we were able to find students that might be more negatively effected by gentrification responding positively to it or why young Hispanics are hyper aware of the perception their opinions might send to outsiders.

These are just some initial thoughts, not hard theories or conclusions. At the very least, we learned that whether or not they have a name for the concept, high school students in Northwest Denver are aware of the changes caused by gentrification, and whether positive or negative - and in fact, it's mostly negative - these students have strong opinions about it.

- John Putnam, The 32^nd Avenue Jubilee Center Episcopal Service Corps Intern

The Kids Are Alright - Part 1

As someone who has worked with teens extensively the past two summers, I can honestly say that I have never met a dumb teenager. Teenagers are usually very intelligent, often much more so than society gives them credit for. Such was my experience when Aspen and I visited North High School this past Wednesday to interview the students during Freshman/Sophomore and Junior/Senior lunch.

I went in without too many expectations, and found two images of the school once I was there. The first came from my own impressions. All of the kids we talked to seemed like fairly typical high school students. In fact, they were all fairly calm and approachable. Chill is the perfect word to describe these teens.

However, another image I received was the ones the students painted of their school. It seems that both the school and the neighborhood has a reputation for being "ghetto" or "hood" - a reputation that the students were not too fond of. I won't make a statement for or against that reputation, but simply want to point out that the language surrounding the school's identity seemed very different from the reality of it.

Aspen talked to a woman who works for the district as a hall monitor of sorts. She goes to different schools throughout the year and acts as a roamer, making sure students get where they need to be going. When asked about her experience at North, she said that the students there were better behaved and easier to work for than any other school she had been to.

Something else we noticed is that what appeared to be at least half of the students were wearing purple North High School apparel on what was just an average day of school - not a pep rally or football day. We asked about the dress code and found out that there really wasn't much of one. It's simply popular to wear North High apparel.

This says a lot about North.

Regardless of what people think about it - and I will admit to only having a limited view - it appears that North does a great job of fostering school spirit, has a well-behaved, active student body, and has students that are proud to be North Vikings.

To the students who described their neighborhood or school as "ghetto" or "hood," I would simply say, "don't." A reputation won't change unless you can change the way you view yourselves. You come from a neighborhood and school that is rich in culture and diversity...

... and you have a lot to be proud of.

- John Putnam, The 32^nd Avenue Jubilee Center Episcopal Service Corps Intern


In part 2 I will discuss our findings from our conversations with the students about the neighborhood and gentrification.

Food Gentrification in North Denver

Yesterday at the Jubilee Center our ABCD pilot project held our second small community discussion. Our first meeting was on education and youth, this one focused on a challenge that many have not yet admitted is happening in Northwest Denver: gentrification. However, throughout our one-to-one interviews with community members, we have heard quotes talking about gentrification such as:

“I worry that people are living here because it’s trendy and cool and they don’t have a commitment to where they live.”

“One time we had a community meeting at Our Lady of Guadalupe – it was the first time Italians were in a Mexican church. People are drawn through the history and culture. If you capitalize on the people who were here, who have that history and culture, there is a point of equalizing.”

“Younger metropolitan group doesn’t have historical connection, instead want access to downtown.”

It is clear that the influx of people into Northwest Denver is part of people’s thoughts when they are discussing their neighborhood. At our second community meeting, we had a more in-depth discussion on gentrification. As we prepared for that meeting though, we stumbled across articles about something called food gentrification, which refers to previously inexpensive or unpopular foods becoming the new “foodie trends”. This means that the higher the demand, the higher the prices because there is a shortage in supply and willingness to pay more.

The food that tends to come to mind when talking about popular new vegetables is kale, a leafy green that has been dubbed a superfood. In 2011, kale was sold in 4,700 stores in the United States. Now, it is sold in 50,700 stores and during that time increased in price by 25%. In 2013, Entrepreneur wrote an article dubbing 2013 as “the year of kale”. Everyone is talking about kale, blogging recipes centered around it, and sharing on social media when they eat it. Whole Foods recognized the takeover that kale had in the food industry and at the beginning of 2014, wrote an official blog post and marketed in store the idea: Collards Are the New Kale. This is where the food gentrification began.

Collard greens have been a staple of working class Black and White Southern American’s meals for centuries. When a high end grocer decides to market collards by likening them to the status of kale, prices undoubtedly increase to accommodate the surge in demand, leading to less availability and affordable prices for the people that had already “discovered” this vegetable. The life of collards may soon mirror that of kale’s to be a booming fad across the country.

Through our work in North Denver, we thought about this idea of food gentrification a little differently. Here, food gentrification manifests itself differently than by increasing prices in grocery stores. Rather, our change in prices has come through an abundance of restaurants. Gossip around the neighborhood states we have about 65 restaurants within a two mile radius. Many of these restaurants offer a variety of cuisines and the prices in these establishments tend to be on the higher end. Such an incredible number of options to dine out implies that the people of the neighborhood have that leisure time as well as the disposable income to choose which restaurant they are in the mood for. What does that mean for restaurants that have been in the neighborhood for years?

This neighborhood is very good at dining out, enjoying the social scene, and hosting community events around food and leisure. Knowing about food gentrification and its implications on the prices and availability of food, how do we welcome new restaurants into our community? In what ways can restaurants bring us together? How do we appropriately manage this influx of higher end cuisine in our neighborhood while also having local grocery stores and restaurants that cater to lower income families?

Curiosity and judgement cannot live together in the same space

This past weekend the Jubilee Center presented at the 127th Annual Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado on Asset Based Community Development. The presentation was a way to share our story of implementing ABCD work in a community, including first steps, asset mapping, and continuing conversations. We met people from Episcopal churches across Colorado that were looking to begin community building initiatives in their church or out in their neighborhoods.

The Jubilee Center used this workshop as a way to begin organizing our own thoughts about ABCD and the work we have done. As a pilot project, we are responsible for completing a "how-to" manual to share our processes, including how we structured our project and what worked well for us in our neighborhood, which is in a state of constant change. The workshop had three different sections: an overview of ABCD, an appreciative inquiry exercise that led into preliminary asset mapping, and a description of how we are using ABCD in North Denver.

Attendees were active participants by conducting "one-to-one" interviews with partners to discover gifts and assets in their stories. They shared answers to one of the following questions: What is something you did to prepare to come to Convention? or What is something you left behind when you came to Convention? Participants observed that it was easy to begin connecting right away with their partners and found that their conversations began to delve deeper into more than simply answering the question. This allowed attendees to start thinking of the gifts both they and their partners have. Then participants began the mapping process of their gifts. This was an individual exercise in which attendees wrote their individuals gifts, associations they belong to, and institutions they are part of in their communities. They also wrote what they are most excited about for convention, which goes on what Aspen (our ABCD intern) calls the themes board, which helps to organize people by their passions and interests.

The attendees gave great responses to the mapping exercise and had many questions on how it works and how to implement it for themselves. We were very excited about their interest in the project and how we can continue to share our own story.

If you are interested in seeing our presentation slides or learning more about how we're using ABCD in North Denver, please contact the 32nd Avenue Jubilee Center at aspen.matthews@jubilee32.org.

Blowing Bubbles

There is an image of a beautiful woman blowing bubbles between Little Man Ice Cream and Olinger’s. She wears a colorful outfit highlighted by a butterfly wing tutu and carries colorful, abstract hair behind her. This image should be a joyful one, as it is filled with symbols of color and hope, but the woman doesn’t look happy. The look on her face screams bored, dull and disenchanted. It’s as if she has lost her grasp on the beauty surrounding her.

 

I’m not sure what the artist had in mind when she or he made this masterful street art, but it reminds me of North Denver in many ways. There is still so much beauty in North Denver: from the children that visit the 32^nd Avenue Jubilee Center after school program and fill North Denver schools to the oldest generations that have kept businesses, cultures and lineages alive throughout the years.

However, I have also noticed the changes that have been made over the past decade. The culture of North Denver is being lost in the influx of modern homes and businesses that have brought in a completely new people and lifestyle to the neighborhood. People and businesses are being pushed out of North Denver so that a younger and wealthier generation can move in. Of course this is a great financial move for the city, one of the driving forces behind this change, but it has taken some of the magic away. The beauty of North Denver is still there, but I can’t help but be disenchanted with the way things are headed.

As frustrating as this is, I am excited by the possibilities of my work with the 32^nd Avenue Jubilee Center and hopeful for all the things North Denver still has to offer. There is great work to be done in North Denver, whether it’s as individual as tutoring children or as large as tackling a project such as the Assessment Based Community Development program headed by Aspen Matthews. Generations of families still have so much to give to North Denver, and it’s exciting that for the next year I can watch and be a part of that. My journey has just begun, and I can’t wait to see the ways 32^nd Avenue Jubilee Center can partner with the community to do great things.

- John Putnam, The 32^nd Avenue Jubilee Center Episcopal Service Corps Intern

Back-to-School Carnival, August 19!

The 32nd Avenue Jubilee Center is the only nonprofit that is part of the LoHi Merchants Group. The group was originally formed as a support and resource system for businesses that were starting in Northwest Denver. In this thriving area the group promotes events around the neighborhood, introduces new business owners, and connects professionals in the community. It has helped the Jubilee Center become more connected. It is an association the Jubilee Center belongs to. And we get to bring a unique gift. As the only nonprofit, we were called to help with GIVE LoHi, the August month of the five month long "LoHi Series" which highlights different businesses each month. Last month was Feel Good LoHi, showcasing the health and wellness companies in the neighborhood.

For this event, we are teaming up with Little Man Ice Cream and Menchie's Yogurt to host a Back-to-School Carnival for Denver Public Schools students on Tuesday, August 19 from 1-5pm. Planning this event has been a crucial part of our ABCD work as we try to meet more residents and employers in this area as well as connect people that might never have met otherwise. We have collected donations of school supplies for the event and will be making a monetary donation to a school after the carnival. Most importantly, it will help bring everyone from the community together before another school year begins.

Please join us on Tuesday for this exciting event!

Rooftop Porch: The new front porch?

In our past newsletter, we discussed the idea of urban planning and how we use our public spaces for socializing, recreation, and work. This blog posting adds the influence of the new home private contractors and developers in their building around North Denver. Along Quivas Street in particular, there is one startling design element that has not been present previously in any Denver architecture: rooftop porches. These were right next door to the more traditional and ubiquitous front porch. In LoDo, rooftops are easily accessible by walking across the bridge. In the new restaurants along Tejon and 16^th Street, rooftop porches on bars and restaurants are coveted spaces, perfect for enjoying Colorado summer. Some folks have decided to bring the feeling of looking out over the city to their own homes by creating rooftop patios and ridding themselves of traditional front porches.

rooftop patio and living space

rooftop patio and living space

rooftop patio and living space

During a one-on-one with a community member, he brought up an observant description of how we use our homes. He said, “We drive home, park in our garage, go in through our garage door, and never have to speak to our neighbors. Then we repeat this process to leave our houses.” Where a front porch might help create a space where residents could sit and watch the neighborhood, now some are opting for the rooftop because of its undoubtedly cool look, and trendy location for entertaining or relaxing.

front porch on same street

But how does this influence how we interact with our neighbors? Even outgoing residents may feel odd to call to a neighbor on a rooftop three stories up from the street. And side-by-side rooftops don’t lend themselves to easy mobility from one to the other. It resembles a type of castle fortress, with the owners calling down to potential guests that need keys or passwords or codes to get to it. We may be bold in saying this, but it’s exclusive. It does not open the opportunity to meet your neighbors.

What are your thoughts? Do you think a rooftop porch is hindering our ability to befriend our neighbors? Are trendy and neighborly mutually exclusive? Does your dream home contribute to community development?

Where are our Third Places?

Much of the ABCD work we have been doing looks at the places and spaces that we use in our daily life. How do we use our parks? Where can we walk from point A to point B? How do the businesses in our neighborhood affect our routines? We all spend a considerable amount of time at work and at home, but where is that other space we go to meet friends, our significant other, or family that is comfortable and familiar? Ray Oldenburg, a professor at the University of West Florida calls this extra place beyond home and work the “third place.”

We have watched our favorite characters on weekly sitcoms go to their third place. On the show “Cheers”, it’s the bar. In “Friends”, it’s Central Perk. And on “How I Met Your Mother” it’s MacClaren’s Pub. One of the goals as we learn about and spend time in our North Denver community is to find the third place that we have here and what third places mean to community life.

We tried our local coffee shops – Laughing Latte, Black Eye Coffee, and Common Grounds. While there are some small groups just talking, mostly these shops are filled with people working on their laptops with headphones in, and only stopping to talk to the barista or ask to plug their computer charger in. In the bars it seems that as the neighborhood is branded more and more as trendy and “Top of the Town” that people that do not live or work here are coming to see what the cool, new scene is and not make lasting roots.

So what allows these social spaces to hold that welcoming, vibrant status as a third place? Is it one with more couches and less tables for laptops? Is it a smaller bar that not so many people think is trendy? In your lifetime have you known that you have had a third place? Where do you enjoy spending your time with friends and family that is not school or work? Do you have a third place in North Denver? We want to hear about yours!

Sharing Successes

The Next Step: Bringing Together Groups with Common Interests

Last week we began the next step in this continual process of community engagement and asset mapping work. This next step for us was a community conversation. It included bringing together members of the community with similar interests to simply meet each other and to discuss the findings we have compiled through one-on-one conversations so far. We chose to invite people based on the interests of folks we had already met and through email introductions. This conversation focused on youth, schools, and partnerships with local businesses in the community. In this conversation we shared the asset map we have created so far and anonymous quotes from people that spoke about education and youth during their one-on-ones. This helped create positive dialogue about the programs North Denver schools are currently implementing: both with in-school curriculum and after-school extracurricular activities.

The conversation was highly positive in a number of ways (many that we were not expecting!):

• We were able to introduce people that ordinarily may not have met each other, but are passionate about the same things;
• New assets were added to the map that we had not heard before;
• A way to explain the boundaries of Northwest Denver, including a color coordinated map;
• Follow-up task items created by attendees, including goals for school-business partnerships, collaboration between our local food bank and after-school programs, and ways to create future connections; and
• It provided a way to share the stories of the Jubilee Center, folks in the community, and what is happening in our local schools.

The follow up from this conversation is to check in with the attendees before school begins at the end of August and continue to share contacts that are passionate about the youth in our community.

Asset Mapping

40 interviews, 7 themes, countless individual gifts, associations, and institutions.

Yesterday we began the process of mapping, which was a big step we have been putting off, partly because we didn’t know how and partly because we didn’t feel we had enough information. After completing more than 40 interviews, taking our own walks and drives around the neighborhood, and hours of online research, we have put together a first edition map of the assets of North Denver.

We began by printing rereading all our interview transcripts up and finding themes that were mentioned by multiple people. Using this method, we discovered seven key themes that resonated with people in the community. These themes were:

- gentrification

- youth and education,

- language,

- neighborhood identity/history,

- leisure, 

- entrepreneurial background, and

- participation in city government.

Once we learned what was on our community’s collective mind, we began mapping the assets. Leaders in the ABCD sector have devised ways to break up the assets in a community into three main categories: (1) individuals gifts, (2) associations, and (3) institutions. We added a fourth category that we called economy and land that captures the flow of goods within the neighborhood and the space available. Some examples of the assets we found are:

• Individual gifts: tech-savviness, pastoral counseling, appreciation of arts and food, and culinary gifts.
• Associations: Coffee groups, North High School alumni, neighborhood associations, #WeAreNorthDenver, and business associations.
• Institutions: RTD, local restaurants, churches, Woodbury Library

With this inventory, we will begin by getting small groups together with common interests to talk about what they would like to accomplish together in the neighborhood and how  to use the strengths of the community toward these shared ends.  

A Lemonade Stand

Last week, we tried something new in our ABCD journey: opening a lemonade stand! What else says summertime in the neighborhood like getting an ice cold cup of lemonade while strolling the sidewalk? While most lemonade stands support the financial goals of a kid on the block, we made our lemonade free of charge so that we might meet as many people as we could. Our table on the corner of 32^nd and Wyandot offered a rare perspective on each walk of life in the neighborhood: four teenagers just finishing the school year at North High, a few mothers with strollers, a realtor meeting the owners of a new juice bar down the street, and everyone in between. As we poured each customer a cup, they told us a little about their day and their connection to the place. An older man was walking his dog around the streets where he grew up. He lives in LA now, and was only visiting, but he stopped by and told us some stories of being a young man in the North Side in the 1970s. Some who visited our table ran into passing friends, or struck up conversations with strangers. Life offers few spaces for these kinds of interactions: a chance to take out our headphones, pause our busy walk down the pavement, and be with the people with whom we share that pavement. We enjoyed the chance to share that space, and look forward to the next step in the journey!

Questions for community:

-          When was the last time young people on your block put up a lemonade stand?

-          Have you said hi to a neighbor today?

-          Have you heard a good story today?

Oh hey there Spiderman

Today, where returning from an interview we spotted this Spiderman! What will happen in North Denver next? :)

We are North Denver!

by Guest Blogger Lelanda Lee

In the first week of May, North Denver residents were confronted by at least 20 signs posted on white paper on utility posts that spewed racist messages against Hispanics. [See ABC 7 news story here.] The neighborhood quickly responded with a Twitter campaign (#WeAreNorthDenver and #SomosNorthDenver) that also appeared in other social media such as Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/wearenorthdenver), Instagram, and a new Website (wearenorthdenver.com).

What is heartening is how residents, workers, and business owners in North Denver are standing up for our diverse neighborhood and counting the many blessings of our diversity. Our Hispanic, Italian, and other cultural roots go deep, and North Denver is an exciting, interesting, and caring place in which to live and work, because we reflect acceptance, shared community values, and innovation.

Here at the Jubilee Center, our mission is to break the cycle of poverty for those who have been marginalized by the changing demographics and economic face of North Denver. Change is always hardest on those at the bottom of the economic ladder, who are one paycheck or one illness away from food insecurity, a shortage of funds to pay their rent or mortgage, and homelessness. The 2006-2009 recession is one from which many families have not recovered. Our new North Denver businesses are adding some jobs, but we don’t know how many other jobs have been priced out of the neighborhood by rising rents and real estate prices.

If you walk around the neighborhood these days, you will notice many signs of the changing face of North Denver. I spent an afternoon this week on Central Street near the 20th Street pedestrian bridge, drinking coffee in the breezy sunlit afternoon, listening to the white noise of the I-25 traffic below my view and gazing at the downtown high rise Denver skyline behind the nearer LoDo lofts and businesses on the south side of the interstate. I was surrounded on every side by new apartment and loft dwellings, with amenities like lanais and small landscaped areas for residents to be outdoors. The age ranges of most of the people I saw were mid-twenties to late-forties with a few outliers, many with dogs and toddlers in strollers.

I had many questions, which I didn’t have a chance to ask, like asking the employees of the cafes and restaurants if they lived in the area and if they could afford to live in the area. The parking signs typically allow a 2-hour parking period during the hours that stretch from 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM, and I wondered about where the residents parked their vehicles. I saw several city buses pass by, and I wondered if they offer enough convenience to wean residents and workers away from their vehicles. Being “on-the-ground,” so to speak, in the neighborhood, made me want to learn more from the local residents and workers about their individual stories, because #WeAreNorthDenver definitely has a story to tell. I think the Jubilee Center, and especially our ABCD (asset-based community development) project, can be part of that storytelling.

Guest blogger Lelanda Lee serves on the board of directors of the 32nd Avenue Jubilee Center and blogs at whatacupoftea.blogspot.com.

Unexpected Places

A couple of weeks ago, as we were driving around the Northwest Denver area, we noticed a very large, Victorian style home. Unsure of what it was, we got out one of our fancy, folded-with-love flyers and walked up to the home. Colorado is warming up for the summer, giving us beautiful, sunny days that are just perfect for sitting on a porch. When we walked up to the home, a few older gentlemen were sitting outside and told us that it was a home for veterans, called Heather Grove.

This home was an exciting find as we work to capture the entire picture of NW Denver and the people who make this place home. This past Thursday we got another gorgeous spring day that's just perfect for some front porch sitting and we went to talk to the gentlemen that reside in this beautiful home. We brought donuts to share and spent the afternoon listening to gossip, things the men enjoy doing, and little snapshots of their lives.

Asset Based Community Development Update

Last November, the 32nd Avenue Jubilee Center received a grant from the National Episcopal Church to complete a project called Asset Based Community Development.

Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) sounds complicated, but in practice, it's a simple technique to bring people together. We are using ABCD by identifying what is working well in the neighborhood we serve, Northwest Denver, as it rapidly changes. We hope to strengthen the current community as it goes through periods of transition, connect community leaders, and reflect on our own programs and services.

What was the first step?

For the past three months, our two interns Joe and Aspen have been interviewing residents of the community to understand the neighborhood: its rich history, the people who live and work here, and what lies in its future. They first interviewed board members and through connections, shared contacts, and simply "hitting the pavement", met with more than 20 individuals to discuss their strengths, associations in the community, and experience with NW Denver. We have been working diligently to connect with people from all walks of life, as the North Side is historically, and currently a great fusion of individuals and cultures.

Where do we go from here?

Joe and Aspen plan to continue individual interviews for the next month. If you are interested in being interviewed or know of someone that would be willing to share their story please email us to set up a time for conversation. Once we have completed the initial interviews, we will connect those that share the same interests, hopes, and passions to further the identification of assets within the community.

What happens if you've already been interviewed?

YOU have been an incredible launching pad to our process and we are so appreciative of your continued support in the project. We will continue to stay in touch with you as we identify common themes about what's happening in the neighborhood. You can always donate to or volunteer at the Jubilee Center and we encourage you to keep having dialogues about your experiences within your neighborhood.