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
32nd 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 32nd 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 32nd
Avenue Jubilee Center can partner with the community to do great things.
- John Putnam, The 32nd
Avenue Jubilee Center Episcopal Service Corps Intern
