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