Urban Dweller

Volume 40, Edition 4

4/4/2022

Message from the President

Dear CHUN Friends and Neighbors,

I hope this note finds you well. Welcome to the Urban Dweller...the Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods monthly e-newsletter. Here is the latest from one of Denver’s oldest and largest registered neighborhood organization and community advocate:

April is a significant month in that it is National Volunteer Month and celebrates Earth Day on Friday, April 22. National Volunteer Month is a month dedicated to recognizing the importance of volunteering and honoring the significant contributions volunteers make by generously donating their time and talents to worthy causes. It is also a month for CHUN to reaffirm its commitment to giving back to the community and supporting environmental sustainability. CHUN is co-hosting three volunteer opportunities combining our passion for building community and supporting the planet including: (1) a Morey Middle School gardening event, (2) an electronic waste recycling event, and (3) an Alamo Placita Park clean up day. Please come out and support these great causes and spend quality time with your neighbors.

On Friday, April 1, CHUN also hosted its first 2022 Lunch & Learn webinar with Denver Parks & Recreation. It was great to hear more about forthcoming projects, including an update on Congress Park's outdoor pool project plus a return to 100% planting levels at other Denver favorites including City Park, Cheesman Park, and Quality Hill Park. I, along with my colleagues on the CHUN board of directors, thank the many committed civil servants for investing their time and talent in our city.

We are also very excited to tell you that the Tears-McFarlane House project is progressing. Projects have begun on the restoration of the historic house, and we are excited to see beautification underway. I was especially pleased to see the florescent lighting fixtures removed, and I look forward to more period-appropriate fixtures and décor to be incorporated in the final restoration and development. Stay tuned for further details about this and other updates about the property's future.

I would like to give a special shout-out this month to our board member and VP of the Tears-McFarlane House, Andrew Rogge, who went above and beyond in coordinating the community giveaway, cleanup, and disposal of unneeded items that were left in the house over the past 40 years. CHUN partnered with Gone for Good to help find good homes for most of the items, including conference room tables, refrigerators, and office furniture, with local community groups. THANK YOU, Andrew. We are a stronger, more successful organization because of your hard work and commitment to CHUN and Denver.

Please join me in welcoming Katie Swick as CHUN's newly hired Community Outreach Coordinator. Looking ahead, Katie will facilitate special programs, organize community meetings, develop community-investment projects, and promote volunteerism, all with an emphasis on fostering meaningful connections for our growing organization. Katie brings social media and events experience from her time at AmeriCorps VISTA and work at the much-beloved Denver Zoo.

Finally, as Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others?” Let us invest in community and create a better future for greater Capitol Hill and Denver.

Sincerely,

Travis Leiker, MPA
President and Executive Director

Member of the Month

Novo Coffee

Cheesman Park, Country Club and surrounding CHUN neighbors favor this local coffee spot. Novo Coffee was founded in 2002 by Jake, Joe, and Herb Brodsky with the mission to connect great coffee producers with coffee consumers.

Novo Coffee builds ongoing, meaningful partnerships with producers and coffee farmers so that they can buy from the same farms year after year, helping to improve farmers’ pricing and enhancing the coffee quality.

They roast their coffees on their Loring air-roaster—one of the greenest roasters on the market today—and taste their coffees weekly, continuously calibrating and reevaluating their roast recipes to guarantee cup quality.

Novo Coffee is located at the corner of 6th Ave. and Gilpin Ave. Stop by soon for a cup!

CHUN Volunteering Opportunities

Volunteer for Morey Community Gardens Earth Day Prep

Help Morey Middle School celebrate Earth Day and the 10th anniversary of their community garden by planting some new edible perennial and pollinators in their gardens. The school will be working with their students throughout the day on planting and other gardening activities.

Volunteers will help direct the students with planting, soil amending, rebuilding their compost pile, and mulching.

This project is a culmination of a partnership between Morey Middle School, DPS, Denver Urban Gardens, Whole Kids Foundation and Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods. Click here to register for one of the volunteer spots:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090C49AAAC23A46-morey

Morey Community Gardens Prep
Friday, April 22
10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Morey Middle School
840 E. 14th Avenue

Volunteer for CHUN's Electronic Waste Recycling Event

CHUN and SustainAbility will host their annual electronic waste recycling event on Saturday April 21 in the First Baptist Church parking lot at 1373 Grant Street.

To volunteer and help us make a success of this event, please complete this sign-up form.

With the help of SustainAbility, a local recycling company whose diverse workforce includes individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities, area neighbors can bring electronic waste such as computer towers, modems and routers, laptops, tablets, printers and used cartridges, televisions, DVD players and stereo equipment and cellphones.

Electronic Waste Recycling Event
Saturday, April 23
9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
First Baptist Church
1373 Grant Street

Join CHUN Neighbors for a Volunteer Cleanup at Alamo Placita Park

Make plans to join your friends and neighbors for a volunteer cleanup at Alamo Placita Park. The event is being hosted by the Denver Park Trust in partnership with Denver Parks & Recreation and is made possible by a SEED Grant from Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods. We are excited to welcome CHUN neighbors and a crew from Bridge House/Ready to Work Aurora for a day of park stewardship, community, fresh air, and fun!

Please click here to register and download the waiver. You’ll need to bring the signed waiver to the event. You’ll also need to show proof of vaccination at check-in on cleanup day. Please bring a pair of gloves. All other tools will be provided.

Alamo Placita Community Cleanup Day
Saturday, April 30
10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Alamo Placita Park
300 N. Emerson St.

CHUN News and Events

Meet Fellow Business Members and Neighbors at CHUN's May Happy Hours

Business Member Happy Hour
May 12, 2022
5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Hooked on Colfax
3213 E. Colfax Ave.
Cash bar.
Watch your email for an invite and RSVP.

General Member Happy Hour
May 19, 2022
4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Route 40 Cafe
255 E. Colfax Ave., next to Tattered Cover
Cash bar. Snacks provided.
Watch your email for an invite and RSVP.

CHUN Members Join 7th Avenue Governor's Park Tour

CHUN board members Andrea Hamilton, Kevin Kelly and Peggy Randall joined Governor's Park business owners and other neighbors on March 25 for the 7th Avenue Governor's Park tour.

CHUN History Matters representatives and Travis Leiker have been in dialogue with neighbors and business owners in the Governor's Park area, which is experiencing a great deal of change. CHUN will continue to have a key voice in discussions about maintaining the character and history of this important neighborhood.

Stay tuned for updates.

Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Presents at March CHUN Board Meeting

Flavored tobacco products are putting a new generation of kids at risk to a lifetime addiction to tobacco. More than one in four Colorado high school students use e-cigarettes and 85% of youth e-cigarette users report using a flavored product in the past month.

At CHUN's March board meeting, representatives from Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids presented an overview of this endemic and their efforts to push for the end of sales of flavored products with a state-wide ban.

House Bill 22-1064 would ban, starting July 1, the sale of all flavored tobacco and nicotine products, including vapes, e-cigarettes, menthol cigarettes, Hookah, chewing tobacco and cigars, in Colorado.

CHUN Committee Reports

Community Engagement

A meeting for CHUN’s Community Engagement Committee was held on March 14th and focused on planning activities for 2022. Activities for this year are part of fulfilling these five community engagement goals:

Invest in our Community – our goal is to increase SEED funding through sponsorship, promotion of past and current SEED awardees, and hosting a yearly SEED award ceremony.
Foster Partnerships and Build Sense of Community - our goal is to host four to six opportunities targeted to CHUN members and their friends to serve as volunteers. Volunteer activities throughout the year will be identified and promoted to CHUN members (see opportunities this month in the Volunteering section above).
Be a Voice for Social Justice Diversity, Equity and Inclusion - to further CHUN’s commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), DEI training would be organized and offered to the CHUN board. Once held for the board, DEI training could then be offered to CHUN members and non-profit boards in Greater Capitol Hill.
Enhance Our Environment - several volunteer projects, such as the Alamo Placita Park Clean-up project, enhance our environment. Additional activities focused on the environment were also identified such as promote water-wise and small footprint gardening, promoting beautification of manmade environments, and supporting compost pick-up efforts.
Engage Families and Children - report on and promote opportunities on public projects that impact families and children, such as informing CHUN members on the pool work that is underway in Congress Park and promoting safe streets through partnerships with organizations such as Denver Streets Partnership.

History Matters

CHUN History Matters is planning for the coming year with a calendar of meetings and a renewed focus on "Preserving our Past, Improving our Present, and Planning for the Future."

The History Matters committee is tackling its work with a focus on inclusivity. Meetings will be organized in two different formats: 1) an invitation to all History Matters committee members (and occasional special guests) with a planned and focused agenda every other month, and; 2) the continuation of outreach and enrichment programming that will be open to anyone in the community.

Past community programming has included the history of Capitol Hill, adaptive reuse of historic buildings and a history walk in Cheesman Park with author Phil Goodstein.

Governor's Park Update - CHUN History Matters representatives and Travis Leiker have been in dialogue with neighbors and business owners in the Governor's Park area, which is experiencing a great deal of change. We want our entire committee to come together to discuss what next steps make sense for CHUN involvement in the area, including the possibility of a new Governor's Park Streetcar Commercial Historic District or perhaps a new Governor's Park Business Improvement District. CHUN will have a key voice in discussions about the future of this important area.

Urban Planning

The committee has two confirmed presenters for its next meeting on Thursday, 4/7 at 6pm. Analiese Hock, Denver Principal City Planner, will discuss the Expanding Housing Affordability proposal that is moving its way through public comment toward hearings and City Council consideration and Reverend Brian Henderson of First Baptist Church will present a plan to redevelop their existing parking lot into affordable and at-market housing.

Denver and Colorado News and Events

40th Annual Cherry Creek Sneak is Sunday April 24

The 40th annual Cherry Creek Sneak will be held on Sunday, April 24th. You can participate either by running/walking the event or by cheering on the athletes who will be passing through your neighborhood that morning. See their site for details.

City of Denver to Transfer Bison Yearlings to Tribal Nations

Mayor Michael B. Hancock, along with other city officials and partners, will recognize the donation of  Denver Mountain Park bison to the Northern Arapaho Tribe, Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes and Tall Bull Memorial Council, to reintroduce bison to tribal lands. 

The event on March 21 will mark the first bison transfer to the Northern Arapaho Tribe of 15 yearlings. Denver Parks and Recreation (DPR) will transfer a total of 33 bison this year; 15 to the Northern Arapaho Tribe in Wyoming; 17 to the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes in Oklahoma; and 1 to the Tall Bull Memorial Council in Colorado.

Monday, March 21
8:30 a.m. - 10 a.m.
Genesee Park, 26771 Genesee Lane, Golden, CO
Bison will be loaded and depart immediately following the program

April 15 Ribbon Cutting for The Denver Woman's Press Club New Little Free Library

The Denver Woman’s Press Club is sporting a new look this spring! The club, begun in 1898, has a Little Free Library installed in the southeast corner of their property at 1325 Logan Street. The library, created by a member’s brother and his wife, is a spitting image of the clubhouse occupied by the DWPC since 1924. The club will have a brief ribbon-cutting ceremony on April 15th around 4:30 pm. Please feel free to "leave a book take a book” as per the Little Free Library global book-sharing movement.
@DenverWomansPressClub