Rob Brezsny, Michael J. Casey, John Lehndorff, Aneria Pattani, Dan Savage, Andrea Steffes-Tuttle, Gabby Vermeire
COVER: Chris Sawyer
SALES AND MARKETING
DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING: Kellie Robinson
SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE: Matthew Fischer
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES:
Chris Allred, Austen Lopp
SPECIAL PROJECTS MANAGER: Carter Ferryman
MRS. BOULDER WEEKLY: Mari Nevar
PRODUCTION
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Erik Wogen
GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Chris Sawyer
CIRCULATION
CIRCULATION MANAGER: Cal Winn
CIRCULATION TEAM:
Sue Butcher, Ken Rott, Chris Bauer
BUSINESS OFFICE
BOOKKEEPER: Austen Lopp
FOUNDER / CEO: Stewart Sallo
As Boulder County’s only independently owned newspaper, Boulder Weekly is dedicated to illuminating truth, advancing justice and protecting the First Amendment through ethical, no-holds-barred journalism and thought-provoking opinion writing. Free every Thursday since 1993, the Weekly also offers the county’s most comprehensive arts and entertainment coverage. Read the print version, or visit boulderweekly.com. Boulder Weekly does not accept unsolicited editorial submissions. If you’re interested in writing for the paper, please send queries to: editorial@ boulderweekly.com. Any materials sent to Boulder Weekly become the property of the newspaper.
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TOP OF THE ROCKIES
SHAY CASTLE
The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Top of the Rockies awards were announced last month.
Now that we’ve got a couple big projects behind us, I want to (quickly) congratulate the Boulder Weekly team on their wins.
I particularly want to shout out two citizen journalists. Jenn Ochs won gold for
her column on living with disabilities. As one of the judges wrote, “What a wonderful learning experience, to learn about the incredible difficulties but also unexpected joys experienced by someone who became disabled while approaching midlife. With such clear, careful writing, each column feels like a new adventure that those of us who don’t face the same obstacles can empathetically share in.”
Andrea Steffes-Tuttle picked up a first place prize for her reporting on private equity’s increasing investment in Colorado child care. She was the first journalist in the state to raise this dire issue, and her work — along with other media outlets’ subsequent coverage — even inspired legislation to reign in harmful practices.
We don’t enter a lot of contests: It costs money, and we usually have our hands full just getting out the paper each week. Top of the Rockies covers four states
(Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico and Utah). More than 80 outlets and 20 freelancers competed.
Why are we telling you? Because when you open your paper each week, know you really are getting the very best.
BOULDER WEEKLY’S TOP OF THE ROCKIES WINS
Jenn Ochs - 1st place personal/humor column
Andrea Steffes-Tuttle - 1st place business enterprise reporting
Chris Sawyer - 1st place front page design
Tyler Hickman - 2nd place short-form feature
Jezy J. Gray - 3rd place arts, entertainment and food criticism (Team award) Newsletter - 1st place
OUT OF OFFICE
High costs and a changing culture keep workers — and energy — out of downtown Boulder
BY ANDREA STEFFES-TUTTLE
This is the conclusion of a threepart series investigating downtown Boulder’s economic woes. Read Part 1 (bit.ly/EmptyDowntownBW) and Part 2 (bit.ly/EmptyRestaurantsBW)
“I’ve been in this business for almost 36 years, and in the last few years, we’ve seen the highest vacancy rates we’ve ever witnessed,” said Becky Gamble, CEO of commercial real estate firm Dean Callan & Co., speaking at the Downtown Boulder Partnership’s Town Hall on April 22.
Today, nearly 29% of downtown office space sits empty as efforts to bring workers back face headwinds. In response, city leaders, business owners and community members are working together to reimagine the future of downtown.
To turn things around, they’ll also need to contend with high property and housing costs, shifting industry dynamics, remote work normalization and economic uncertainty at the national level.
WORKERS CAN’T LIVE IN BOULDER
The topic of Boulder’s affordability crisis is covered a lot, but that’s because it’s one of Boulder’s biggest issues. When the median housing price exceeds $1 million, like it does in Boulder, people can’t afford to live here.
According to population change data, Boulder’s population has decreased over the last decade while surrounding areas, especially Longmont, have grown. Longer commutes and fewer workers able to live in Boulder affect companies’ ability to bring workers together in an office and into downtown.
“More of my employees were moving further and further away,” said Chris Schwalbech, a business and property owner in downtown Boulder. “The whole location equation just changed a lot. What didn’t change for us is that we were working primarily remotely before COVID, except for a small group of us, then even that group said, ‘Well, why can’t we just work remotely like the rest of the team?’”
After almost a decade of having an office downtown, Schwalbech is planning to move their company to fully remote work and sell or lease their property at 15th and Pearl.
Connor Cantrell, an employee at Wunder Capital, lives in Golden and comes into Boulder once a week to work in the company’s downtown office.
“I’d say because of the commute, I need to justify the drive with something other than just sitting in the office.” The office’s free EV charging station is his main incentive to come into Boulder.
“That makes it hard to recreate a social culture when more people are like, ‘Well, I got a half-hour drive home, and I don’t want to do that after sitting at a bar having one or two drinks and some food.’”
DOWNTOWN ISN’T WHAT IT USED TO BE
The 2010s were a booming time for Boulder. In 2013, Inc. Magazine named Boulder “America’s Startup Capital” and the Kauffman Foundation claimed that Boulder had the highest “high-tech startup density” of any metro area in the U.S.
A lot has happened in the past decade. Private equity and corporations like Google, Microsoft, X (formerly Twitter) have acquired many of the startups. Investors and incubators like The Foundry Group, TechStars, Boomtown and others have decreased or ended activity in Boulder.
“I think it has a lot to do with Techstars and Foundry — they were such a strong
Credit: Tyler Hickman
A side effect of more workers living outside of Boulder is that it’s less likely that they are going to stay downtown for afterwork social gatherings.
“I see that with a lot of my colleagues who are on the newer side,” said Alejandro Soto, a planetary scientist at Southwest Research Institute, which has an office on 13th and Walnut in downtown Boulder. “They have to do a 20- to 30-minute commute into downtown and park, and then are potentially less likely to stay after hours because they have to get back out to where they live.
magnet,” said Schwalbech. “The technology scene has moved to Denver where people can live and they can transit into town much more easily.”
When companies like Microsoft and X initially acquired businesses in Boulder, they kept offices here, but since the pandemic, they have left or downsized, turning mostly to remote work. The shrinking software industry in Boulder has had an impact on the downtown energy and businesses.
“Twitter employees would get a gift card each month to buy coffee, so we’d have
great sales from those employees,” said Justin Hartman, co-owner of OZO Coffee, which has two Pearl Street locations. “Now, they are gone.”
COVID-ERA HABITS ARE HARD TO KICK
“In the 2010s, Boulder was at its highest point of venture-backed energy for companies doing awesome stuff,” said Peter Genuardi, a business owner who works from home and rents a desk at Kiln coworking on the east end of Pearl Street.
“After the big tech giants moved in and things have changed with regard to who lives in Boulder, who’s starting businesses here and the pandemic, it became easy to just work from home.”
Boulder has the highest share of the workforce that works from home in the country, according to Axios: 28% of people in Boulder work from home, compared with the national average of 13.8%.
“One of the major hurdles we have to clear is the allure of rolling out of bed and going to your home office versus having to actually get in your car, ride your bike or whatever, and get to an office,” said Dave Reiss, co-founder of Wunder Capital. Wunder has adopted a hybrid model, offering incentives to come into the office, such as free lunch, group gatherings and EV charging. Reiss estimates about 60% of the company comes into the office throughout the week.
The hybrid model is being increasingly adopted by companies. But as the cost of a downtown office space becomes untenable, businesses are rethinking even that option.
DOWNTOWN OFFICE SPACE IS TOO EXPENSIVE
“I would say that property taxes are probably, other than the team not wanting to be there, the next biggest reason for me to say, this doesn’t work,” said Schwalbech, who reports that property taxes make up 25% of his costs to run the business.
Commercial property taxes in Boulder are 27.9% of the property value — on top of already high costs, that makes a huge difference to businesses deciding whether or not they want to be downtown.
Renters feel the impact of property taxes since owners often pass the expense onto tenants.
“We’ve been at Pearl Street West since 2011, so we’ve had 3-5% rent increases every single year,” OZO’s Hartman said. “Then during that tenure, when that new building was built across the street, [county assessors] argued our property value increased, and our property taxes went up by like 30%. Our rent is more than double right now from when it started.”
The significant expense is likely keeping vacancy rates high. Right now, nearly a third of downtown offices are empty.
Downtown Development Authority (DDA). DDAs are quasi-governmental entities that essentially function as taxing districts, providing a stable source of revenue; voters in Lafayette approved one last year.
These opportunities and efforts could have the impact of attracting and keeping businesses downtown, but don’t address issues of affordability and remote work.
City council member Ryan Schuchard highlighted this gap during the study session when he asked who the economic vitality plan was for and how the plan addresses the ability for “folks who are at lower-thanaverage income levels” to “maintain and improve their economic choices.”
WHAT COMES NEXT?
City officials and business representatives are hoping that new industries will come into Boulder to fill the gaps left behind by the software industry and remote work.
Whatever specific actions the city chooses, they will also need to take into account the economic crisis that the federal government is causing. As John Tayer, president of the Boulder Chamber, wrote in an email to city staff and council prior to the study session, “There is no hyperbole in suggesting that the paradigm for our community’s economic success is under assault.”
During an April 24 city council study session, city staff presented the emerging opportunities including the potential expansion of the film industry with the Sundance Film Festival’s relocation in 2027, as well as promising local growth in artificial intelligence, life sciences and quantum technology.
To address the stagnation of Boulder’s business districts, officials are proposing the creation of a
In response, Jennifer Pinnsoneault, the city’s economic vitality manager, pointed out that the city is working with Boulder County and other groups to help low-income individuals.
Yet there’s a large group of people not addressed in the plan: middleincome earners. These are people who make over $100,000 per year but still can’t afford to own a home in Boulder, people like Soto, a planetary scientist with a PhD.
Soto used to live and work downtown until the owner of his apartment decided to move back in. He realized he had been benefiting from below-market rent for three years. Without it, he couldn’t afford to stay in Boulder.
“It was cheaper to buy in Lafayette than to rent in Boulder,” Soto said.
Attracting more businesses might strengthen the city’s revenue base, but it won’t help Soto or others like him buy homes here.
“Is Boulder still great?” wonders Genuardi. “I would say if anybody asked me, that Boulder’s a great place to live, but it’s not as great as it once was, 15 years ago. The thing that keeps me from saying Boulder is still great is the class stratification that’s happened in the last 10 years.”
“This performance led by WoodsKenneth is gripping, and the orchestra play the piece incisively and with great virtuosity.”
~John Quinn, Music Web International
WOODS ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Credit: Tyler Hickman
CREEKSIDE CREEKSIDE BEER FEST BEER FEST EER FES
2025 Experiments in Public Art Lecture Series: Ana Maria Hernando
Saturday, May 10, 6 to 8 p.m. and Wednesday, May 21, 5 to 7 p.m. Boulder Public Library Main Branch, Canyon Theater, 1000 Canyon Blvd. Free and open to the public, all ages welcome!
Ana María Hernando, from Argentina, is a Colorado based multidisciplinary artist. She is a 2023 Joan Mitchell Fellow and was a 2021-2023 RedLine Resource Artist. In 2016, she participated in the initial iteration of the Experiments in Public Art series. Ana María will share past projects and her artistic process in these enlightening lectures; a piece of her work, titled Fervor, will be on-view in the conoid atrium entrance of the main library during the month of May
“Scale fascinates me, and it's always something that pushes me to think in different ways. I make some works that are small, but then I also make large installations, including public artworks that might be spread through a whole park. When I create my tulle pieces inside museums, I love how the work takes on the space and just expands it in a regal way, but at the same time makes it intimate, so we can relate to it and feel how our bodies connect with it.” - Ana María Hernando
anamariahernando.com @anamariahernandoart
The Office of Arts and Culture presents an ongoing series of lectures and community workshops through the Experiments in Public Art program which serves as a city-wide laboratory expanding the potential of public art . Unlike a traditional public art commission, Experiments in Public Art projects are as much an experiment for the community as they are opportunities for artists to work within unconventional parameters
Waterfall . 2020
DEAR WHOLE FOODS DADDY
Your burning Boulder questions, asked and answered
BY GABBY VERMEIRE
We all have questions and need advice, but sometimes the pseudo therapy in the Instagram stories of astrology girlies doesn’t cut it. Or maybe the gate-keeping culture of adventure bros has you fearing the judgment that comes with revealing yourself as a newbie at anything. This monthly advice column exists to hold space for you and your Boulder queries (especially the uncool ones).
Is it gonna be ok?
This one stumped me, so I posed it to my roommate. “Did your cereal taste the same this morning?” was his reply. “Then it’s gonna be OK.” Admittedly, I’m not sure what this means, but he also thinks Boulder is up its own ass, so I respect his judgment.
What year will Boulder’s wokeness collapse onto itself?
The funny thing is that Boulder is literally not woke. It only takes two sangrias for
your white neighbor to tell you what she really thinks would solve our homelessness crisis (“‘Rough ‘em up,’ huh? That’s so interesting Stacy, but I just remembered I have to not be here any longer.”)
More importantly, Boulder is not woke in the fundamental meaning of the word. Despite all the festival girlies wearing glitter bindis to activate their third eye (girl, not very woke :/) , we’re all sleepwalking through our little queer-vegan lives. Have you ever seen someone put down their phone and fucking ascend from seeing the sunset from the Whole Foods parking lot? Of course you haven’t, not because they didn’t but because you were too busy overanalyzing your microinteraction with the Gen Z cashier when you said their tattoo of a naked lady was full of whimsy.
Step 1 for approaching a MAMIL (middle-aged man in Lycra) in the wild: Do not, under any circumstances, look at their junk.
Should BJs be only for boyfriends?
As women of a certain age (i.e. too old to be mistaken for co-eds but too young to not gag from their dads’ drunk come-ons during CU graduation weekend), we have experienced two sides of the BJ pendulum.
Instead of worrying about if the Naropa ecopsychology department is dumping pronoun bath salts into the creek to make us all poly, maybe wake up and smell the ink on that neoliberal Daily Camera letter to the editor.
Who is Boulder made for in 2025?
Just like the ideal amount of body hair, Boulder’s most blessed child changes on a whim. In 1980, Boulder was made for (and belonged to) gorgeous beard-y men with runner’s legs who looked from the neck up like Robert Redford in Jeremiah Johnson and smoked the all-natural stuff.
In the Boulder Zodiac, 2025 may well turn out to be the year of East Pearl Men who harbor disturbingly positive attitudes toward AI. In 2027, Boulder will be made for a NIMBY who will (ironically?) Airbnb his daughter’s bedroom to Kristen Stewart’s assistant during Sundance and for the real-life (and still fine) Robert Redford.
In high school and college, BJs were at worst a social currency and at slightly-less worse a very drunk thing you did very badly in the alley outside the Rio on College Thursday. But now, our #healingjourney and #highstandards have overswung the pendulum. BJs have become a highly potent, controlled substance subject to strict rules as determined by your posthookup bestie and your professional post-hookup bestie, a.k.a. your therapist Caroline.
Perhaps BJs have accumulated too much power in the giver’s head ;) when they’d better serve to exert power and influence over the receiver.
How should I approach d-bag cyclists?
First of all, don’t look at their junk. Fuck, you just looked at their junk, didn’t you? Maybe it’s because if you glanced at their reflective Rapha sunglasses, you’d just see your own sweaty, entitled face. Look at yourself, blubbering something about going the wrong way on a one-way. His Spruce Confections cortado looks so tiny
the
positive attitudes towards AI. Courtesy: Twitter
and classy. You’re embarrassing yourself, man. The d-bag cyclist is literally wearing a stained bib and clip-in shoes, and he still gets more pussy than you ever could even if Clairo was your wingman.
Got a burning Boulder question? DM @wholefoods_daddy on Instagram or email letters@boulderweekly with the subject line “Dear Whole Foods Daddy.”
Wearing glitter bindis at Coachella to activate your third eye? Girl, not woke. Courtesy: Pinterest
In
Boulder Zodiac, 2025 may well turn out to be the year of East Pearl Men who harbor disturbingly
MUSIC
BASEMENT REVIVAL
Emo darlings Tigers Jaw mark 20 years on their biggest stage yet
BY TYLER HICKMAN
Ask a psych-rock fan if they could visit a moment of time, anywhere in the world, and chances are they’ll shoot back with 1960s San Francisco. Most fanatics of any genre would give anything to be plopped on a street corner in the middle of a movement: 1980s Seattle to witness Nirvana force feed grunge to the world, or the smoke-filled bars of Greenwich Village a couple decades earlier to witness babyfaced folk superstars like Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell.
Ask an emo fan, and they just might say a 2005 Northeast Pennsylvania (NEPA to the well-informed) basement.
“What drew me in in the first place was finding community and going to local shows,” says Ben Walsh, guitarist, vocalist and co-founder of the seminal NEPA emo revival group Tigers Jaw.
Two decades after the beloved Scranton outfit was born from a high school jam session — the day after Walsh’s 16th birthday — Tigers Jaw still gets to play with the bands they grew up with, only this time on one of the world’s most iconic stages.
“So many, like, actual legendary artists” have played Red Rocks, adds singer and keyboardist Brianna Collins. “It’s just crazy that we get to be in that group of people that have gotten to that point.”
Tigers Jaw and the Pennsylvania emopunk scene are legendary in their own right. Groups like Title Fight, Modern Baseball and Balance and Composure get credit for reviving a blend of secondwave emo and post-hardcore that first exploded into the headphones of angsty 2000s teens everywhere.
Now, after-school rehearsals have turned into sound checks for shows in front of 10,000 former teenagers, but the
group is still just happy to be here.
“It’s pretty cool to have grown up together and to go from, like, literally all of us being in high school or early college,”
Walsh says. “Now we’re having kids and, you know, getting older. The vibe in general that I get from everyone is that we’re all just very grateful to still be able to do it.”
SUMMER CAMP VIBES
When Tigers Jaw, along with Balance and Composure, take their high school basements to the big stage with Virginia-born headliner Turnover, it will be a reunion of sorts.
“We’ve been friends with Turnover and Balance for over a decade and all of us there together, it’s gonna be so fun,” Collins says. “I feel like those six days are gonna be like summer camp vibes.”
Despite its members being spread out across Pennsylvania, Tigers Jaw still finds time to write music between touring — they’re making progress on their first record in four years, Walsh, 35 and Collins, 33, reveal. The album is still in pre-production, but the band expects to
anthems marked by raw guitar riffs and heavy-hitting lyrics: “I learned a lot about falling in love when I fell out of love / I learned a lot about being a friend when I was alone,” Walsh belts with a distinct adolescent voice crack on “Never Saw it Coming” off the group’s 2008 self-titled debut.
More recent albums, like the 2021 release I Won’t Care How You Remember Me, reveal a metamorphosed Tigers Jaw in the form of a mature, restrained indie-rock group, without shedding the emotionally charged hooks weaved into their songs.
“The definition of what a Tigers Jaw song is, or can be, has definitely been stretched in cool ways,” Walsh says. “I mean, if it’s us playing it, then it’s right for us.”
‘DIY ’TIL WE DIE’
record after they return from Outbreak Fest in Manchester, U.K. in June.
“A lot of the songs are just fully collaborative from the jump, coming from jams together,” Walsh says. “It’s resulted in a really sonically diverse batch of songs.”
For day-one Tigers Jaw listeners, the band has aged into itself as its fans grew up, leaving teen anguish in their childhood bedrooms for homes and families of their own.
Early projects in the Tigers Jaw catalogue are packed with energetic, angsty
Scranton is perhaps most famous for being the home of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company in NBC’s beloved sitcom The Office. But the real Scranton was built by coal miners and factory workers who weren’t afraid to get their hands dirty.
Forming a band in a small, legacy industrial city takes a bit of grit in its own right, a roll-up-your-sleeves approach that Tigers Jaw still holds on to 20 years later.
“If there’s no venue, you figure out getting in touch with the VFW hall and doing a show there,” Collins says. “We do a lot on our own.” Walsh manages the band and Collins handles the creative direction and design for everything from merch to album art.
“As a band, functionally, we’ve been DIY ’til we die.”
After their stint with Turnover, Tigers Jaw will hit the pavement between dark, bar room venues from Texas to West Virginia for their own short tour in May — stages not too different from the sweaty basements where the band first cut their teeth 20 years ago.
In a large room, Walsh says, there’s a lot of separation between the stage and the crowd, and massive light rigs turn faces into indistinct shadows. “In a more intimate show, you might not have all that, or any of that,” he explains. “You are seeing faces and seeing facial expressions, and seeing people in real time, connecting with what you’re doing.” But when Tigers Jaw is in the moment, playing side by side as they did in the Scranton dives that molded the band, none of that matters anyway.
“We put the same amount of energy into our performance, whether it’s playing to 200 or 2,000 people,” Walsh adds.
“We love playing this music. We love playing these songs. And regardless of what type of stage we are on, as long as it’s as a group of friends playing music together, it feels right in any setting.”
ON THE BILL: Tigers Jaw with Balance and Composure and Turnover. 7 p.m. Friday, May 2, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, 18300 W. Alameda Pkwy., Morrison. $63
Having fun, whether it’s karaoke or a dressed-up speakeasy night in the trailer, is the glue for Tigers Jaw, says singer and keyboardist Brianna Collins. Credit: Luke Ivanovich
Collins shot the cover of Tigers Jaw’s self-titled album at the groups favorite spot for a slice, Buona Pizza in Scranton. Courtesy: Run for Cover Records
MUSIC
STAFF PICK
Irish experimental musician Maria Somerville is a master of the hypnotic. On Luster, her 4AD debut and second studio album, the artist’s glistening sound exists somewhere between a deep dream state and her home on the Atlantic coast of Ireland, capturing the spirit of both places with droning instrumentation and soft vocals. On tracks like “Garden” or “Stonefly,” you can’t help but float, caught in a trance, but you’ll be nodding along the whole way up.
— Carter Ferryman, special project manager
FOUND SOUNDS
What’s in Boulder’s bag?
BY BOULDER WEEKLY STAFF
Genre scrambling breakout
Ethel Cain made history last month as the first openly trans artist to crack the Billboard Top 10 with the vinyl reissue of her 2022 album, Preacher’s Daughter. The groundswell of enthusiasm for the Florida songwriter’s immaculate debut was palpable in Boulder, with the album topping the list of April’s bestselling new LPs at Paradise Found Records and Music (1646 Pearl St.) Her ongoing tour may be skipping the Front Range (wtf?) but you can catch U.K. art-pop shapeshifters Black Country, New Road — making their Found Sounds debut at No. 4 — when they open for St. Vincent at Mission Ballroom on May 16
1. ETHEL CAIN Preacher’s Daughter (Reissue)
2. BON IVER SABLE, fABLE
3. MK.GEE
Two Star & The Dream Police (Reissue)
4. BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD Forever Howlong
5. SMASHING PUMPKINS Siamese Dream (Reissue)
For the complete list of top new local vinyl releases, visit bit.ly/FoundSoundsApril25
Want to beautify your garden while providing resources for local pollinators?
This 90-minute workshop led by Gen Eliot and Lindsey Bricker will teach you how to make your own bee bath to support bee larvae. Wear clothing you don’t mind getting dirty. All tools and materials provided.
2
STUDIO 24: TAKE IT APART-Y
1-3 p.m. Friday, May 2, Studio 24 Makerspace, North Boulder Library, 4500 13th St. Free
Learn how your things work by taking them apart. Community educator Libi Rose will walk you through disassembling and dissecting broken stuff, teaching you what each piece does and where it comes from. Bring your own or use the provided tech and safety gear. No re-assembly required, but registration is: bit.ly/MakersSpaceBW.
2
FIRST FRIDAY MAKERS MARKET
4-8 p.m. Friday, May 2, The Local Drive, 110 Emery St., Longmont. Free
Browse a curated selection of handmade goods by local artists during this monthly makers market at the Local Drive in Longmont. In addition to offerings from BoCo crafters, sculptors, fiber artists and more, you’ll also have the chance to enjoy live music, food trucks, and liquor and beer tastings.
3
SPRING ART MARKET
9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 3, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, 1750 13th St., Boulder. Free
Spring has sprung and you can mark the occasion with a full day of art vendors and creativity at BMoCA. This new event at the museum features opportunities to shop small and support your local art scene. BMoCA’s ongoing Dazzle of Darkness exhibit will be on display, and you can hit the Boulder Farmers Market on 13th Street on your way out.
Dress to the nines at Wibby Brewing in Longmont for this annual Kentucky Derby celebration complete with horse races, rock and rye, big hats and bowties. This full day of festivities includes afternoon bluegrass from Mighty Holler and headliners Shakedown Street playing your favorite Grateful Dead tunes.
3
LONGMONT CINCO DE MAYO
10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, May 3, Roosevelt Park, 700 Longs Peak Ave., Longmont. Free
Celebrate Mexican culture during Longmont’s 22nd annual Cinco de Mayo event at the city’s Roosevelt Park. Join thousands of your neighbors for food, shopping and live entertainment, plus a car show, break dance competition and loads of free family activities.
3
4
COMMUNITY PLANT SALE
8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 3 and Sunday, May 4, Hawthorn Farm, 1630 Hawthorn Ave., Boulder. Free
Grow baby, grow! The 25th annual Community Plant Sale has organically grown heirloom and hybrid tomatoes, along with herb and veggie starts for your garden and dinner table. Plus perennial flowers, native plants, shrubs, vines, roses, grasses and more.
4
LAFAYETTE FARMERS MARKET
9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, May 4, Public Road between Cleveland and Geneseo, Lafayette. Free
Stop schlepping to other towns — Lafayette now has its very own farmers market! Shop the fresh produce, meat, dairy and prepared foods at this growers-only market, happening every Sunday through October. Folk-rock duo Many Mountains will be providing the soundtrack to the inaugural event, kicking off a weekly sonic lineup that features everything from bluegrass to thrash bands.
4
EFAA FRIEND FEST
3-6 p.m. Sunday, May 4, The Rayback Collective, 2775 Valmont Road, Boulder. $20 adults / $10 youth
For local families struggling to make ends meet, Boulder’s Emergency Family Assistance Association (EFAA) is a lifeline. Come support this essential nonprofit and learn more about their programs during this outdoor bash featuring live music by Wrenn Van and food from McDevitt Taco Supply and Passport World Eats. Bring a personal care item to donate.
4
POKEMON CLUB
1-4 p.m. Sunday, May 4, George Reynolds Branch, Boulder Public Library, 3595 Table Mesa Dr. Free
Pokemon Go is a psyop, so go old school to catch ’em all. Back by popular demand — or so organizers say — this club meets the first Sunday of the month. Trade cards or learn to play; all levels of trainers welcome.
4
GOATFLIX AND CHILL: ROGUE WAVE
8 p.m. Sunday, May 4, Left Hand Brewing, 1265 Boston Ave., Longmont. $5
For when goat yoga is just too much effort, snuggle up with rescued Nigerian dwarf goats and watch one of the notterrible Star Wars films. Snacks available on-site for humans and quadrupeds. BYO blankets, chairs and pillows; goats provided by Rocky Mountain Goat Yoga. Tickets: bit.ly/GoatflixBW
6
SOBER NIGHT LIVE
6:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 6, Roots Music Project, 4747 Pearl St., Suite V3A, Boulder. Free
Head to Roots Music Project for this monthly open mic for sober creatives featuring live music, storytelling, poetry and more. Whether you’re looking to fine tune your own artistic chops or just enjoy the show and community, you won’t want to miss it.
LIVE MUSIC
THURSDAY, MAY 1
BOULDER OLD-TIME JAM 6 p.m. Trident Cafe, 940 Pearl St., Boulder. Free
D’LOVELIES 6 p.m. Bricks on Main, 471 Main St., Longmont. Free
TONY FURTADO DUO WITH LUKE PRICE 7 p.m. eTown Hall, 1535 Spruce St., Boulder. $28
MOJOMAMA 6 p.m. Bricks on Main, 471 Main St., Longmont. Free
YOUNG AND DEAD 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. Free before 9 p.m., $12 after
LIVE MUSIC
ON THE BILL
Living funk legends
George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic take the stage at Denver’s Ogden Theatre on May 7 for a performance that’s guaranteed to be out of this world. Since their origins in the days of doo-wop, the paradigm-shifting collective of rotating musicians led by “The Prime Minister of Funk” has changed the game with albums like the 1971 masterpiece Maggot Brain and a live show you have to see to believe. See listing for details
THE ARISTOCRATS 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $40
WEDNESDAY, MAY 7
OPEN BLUEGRASS PICK. 6 p.m. The Garden at Left Hand Brewing, 1245 Boston Ave., Longmont. Free
BEN COSGROVE 6 p.m. Stone Cottage Studios (House Show), 3091 7th St., Boulder. $35
JOHN BUNZLI TRIO 6 p.m. Rosalee’s Pizzeria, 461 Main St., Longmont. Free
VIC DILLAHAY WITH DOUG CARMICHAEL 7 p.m. Dry Land Distillers, 519 Main St., Longmont. Free
THE DIRTY TURKEYS WITH BLUEHOUSE AND GROVE 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $20
GEORGE CLINTON & PARLIAMENT FUNKADELIC. 8 p.m. Ogden Theatre, 935 E. Colfax Ave., Denver. $67 BW PICK OF THE WEEK
NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS 8 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. $99
Want more Boulder County events? Check out the complete listings online by scanning this QR code.
Boulder Bookstore Loving Books for 50 Years
UPCOMING MAY EVENTS
ASTROLOGY
BY ROB BREZSNY
ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 19): To create microgardens, you plant vegetables and herbs in small containers placed on your porch, balcony, window sills and kitchen counter. Lettuce, peas, spinach and basil might be among your small bounties. I encourage you to use this practice as a main metaphor in the coming weeks. In other words, gravitate away from huge, expansive visions and instead work creatively within existing constraints. For now, at least, “less is more” should be your operative motto. Meditate on how apparent limitations might lead to inviting innovations. Seek out abundance in unlikely places.
TAURUS (APRIL 20-MAY 20): Taurus author Nellie Bly (1864–1922) was a daring trailblazer. It was almost impossible for a woman to be a journalist in the 19th century, but she did it anyway. One of her sensational groundbreaking stories came when she did an undercover assignment in New York’s Women’s Lunatic Asylum. Her reporting on the neglect and brutality there prompted major reforms. I nominate Bly as your role model for the foreseeable future. You are, I believe, poised for epic, even heroic adventures, in service to a greater good. (P.S. Bly also made a solo trip around the world and wrote 15 books.)
GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20): Gemini painter Henri Rousseau (1844–1910) never saw a jungle in person. In fact, he never left his native country of France. But he painted some of modern art’s most vivid jungle scenes. How did that happen? He visited zoos and botanical gardens, perused images of tropical forests in books and heard stories from soldiers who had visited jungles abroad. But mostly, he had a flourishing imagination that he treated with reverent respect. I urge you to follow his lead, Gemini. Through the joyful, extravagant power of your imagination, get the inspiration and education you need. The next three weeks will be prime time to do so.
CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY 22): No, ruby-throated hummingbirds don’t hitch rides on airplanes or the backs of geese. They make their epic migrations completely under their own power. To get to their wintering grounds, many fly alone from the southern United States to the Yucatan Peninsula, crossing the 500-mile expanse of the Gulf of Mexico in 20 hours. I don’t recommend you attempt heroic feats like theirs in the coming weeks, Cancerian. More than usual, you need and deserve to call on support and help. Don’t be shy about getting the exact boosts you require. It’s time to harvest the favors you are owed and to be specific in articulating your wishes.
LEO (JULY 23-AUG. 22): The golden pheasant is dazzling. Among the bright colors that appear in its plumage are gold, red, orange, yellow, blue, black, green, cinnamon and chestnut. In accordance with astrological omens, I name this charismatic bird to be your spirit creature for the coming weeks. Feel free to embrace your inner golden pheasant and express it vividly wherever you go. This is a perfect time to boldly showcase your beauty and magnificence, even as you fully display your talents and assets. I brazenly predict that your enthusiastic expression of selflove will be a good influence on almost everyone you encounter.
VIRGO (AUG. 23-SEPT. 22): Virgo poet and visual artist Dorothea Tanning (1910–2012) had a few mottoes that endlessly nurtured her abundant creative output. Here’s one: “Keep your eye on your inner world and keep away from ads, idiots, and movie stars.” As excellent as that advice is, it’s a challenge to follow it all the time. If we want to function effectively, we can’t always be focused on our inner worlds. However, I do believe you are now in a phase when you’re wise to heed her counsel more than usual. Your soul’s depths have a lot to teach you. Your deep intuition is full of useful revelations. Don’t get distracted from them by listening too much to ads, idiots and celebrities.
LIBRA (SEPT. 23-OCT. 22): Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is essential for the functioning of your body and every other animal’s. It carries instructions about how to build proteins, and your cells are full of it. We humans can’t edit this magic substance, but octopuses can. They do it on the fly, enabling them to adapt quickly to changing environmental conditions. Even though you Libras can’t match their amazing power with RNA, you do have a substantial capacity to rewrite your plans and adjust your mindset. And this talent of yours will be especially available to you in the coming weeks. Your flexibility and adaptability will not only help you navigate surprises but may also open up exciting new opportunities.
SCORPIO (OCT. 23-NOV. 21): Is there a sanctuary you can retreat to? A relaxing oasis where you can slip away from the world’s colorful madness? I would love for you to be bold enough to seek the precise healing you need. You have every right to escape the rotting status quo and give yourself full permission to hide from pressure, demands and expectations. Is there music that brings you deep consolation? Are there books and teachers that activate your profound soul wisdom? Keep that good stuff nearby. It’s time for focused relief and regeneration.
SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22-DEC. 21): The chemical element known as arsenic is notoriously toxic for humans, but has long been useful in small amounts. Ancient Chinese metallurgists discovered that blending it with copper and tin made the finest, strongest bronze. In modern times, arsenic fortifies the lead in car batteries. People in the 19th century sometimes ingested tiny doses as a stimulant. In this spirit, Sagittarius, I invite you to transform potentially challenging elements in your life into sources of strength. Can you find ways to incorporate iffy factors instead of eliminating them? I assure you that you have the power to recognize value in things others may neglect or reject.
CAPRICORN (DEC. 22-JAN. 19): Renowned Capricorn author Henry Miller (1891–1980) had to wait far too long before getting readers in his home country, the United States. American censors regarded his explosive texts as too racy and sexy. They forbade the publication of his books until he was 69 years old! His spirit was forever resolute and uncrushable, though. In accordance with astrological omens, Capricorn, I recommend you adopt his counsel on the subject of wonders and marvels. Miller wrote, “The miracle is that the honey is always there, right under your nose, only you were too busy searching elsewhere to realize it.” Here’s another gem from Miller: He advised us “to make the miracle more and more miraculous, to swear allegiance to nothing, but live only miraculously, think only miraculously, die miraculously.”
AQUARIUS (JAN. 20-FEB. 18): For now, everything depends on your foundation, your roots and your support system. If I were you, I would devote myself to nurturing them. Please note that you’re not in any jeopardy. I don’t foresee strains or tremors. But your graduation to your next set of interesting challenges will require you to be snugly stable, secure and steady. This is one time when being thoroughly ensconced in your comfort zone is a beautiful asset, not a detriment to be transcended.
PISCES (FEB. 19-MARCH 20): The coming weeks are a favorable time for you to build symbolic bridges. I advise you to not model your metaphorical bridges after modern steel suspension bridges, though. Instead, be inspired by the flexible, natural and intimate bridges made by the ancient Incas. Woven from ichu grass via community efforts, they were strong enough to span rivers and canyons in the Andes mountains. I hope you will link resources that aren’t yet linked. I hope you will work to connect people whose merger would help you, and I hope you will begin planning to move from where you are now to the next chapter of your life.
My wife and I are socially monogamous but have a DADT arrangement that applies if we’re not in our home city. I just had an outstanding weekend getaway with a new friend.
Here is my question: How do I sustain the erotic tension with this new friend with so much time between now and our next date? We are planning to introduce Shibari into our play next time, with me tying her, so I was thinking sending some self-tie photos or photos of the ties I plan on doing would sustain the erotic tension. But taking photos at “home base” could count as a possible rules violation.
SAVAGE LOVE
BY DAN SAVAGE
renegotiate that rule. It’s going to be a complicated conversation, WAP, and you may not get the answer you want right away (or at all), but renegotiating the rules shouldn’t be against the rules.
P.S. Gay guys? They’re coming for our PrEP too.
— Bending Rules In Erotic Frenzy
Let’s get the question you asked out of the way first: Ask her. What works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for another person.
Speaking of communication…
The DADT agreement you have with your wife is way too vague. Nonmonogamous relationships require more communication, not less. You owe it to your wife to have a real conversation about the terms of your DADT agreement. You need agreements, not assumptions.
I’m a cis woman in my mid-30s in an open relationship with my long-term partner, who is a trans man. I haven’t been on any kind of contraception since pretty early on in our relationship. Within our open relationship, our rule has been to always use condoms when having sex with people with penises.
I’m beginning to question this as a hard rule. I’d like to hear your take on condoms for PIV sex.
— Wants A Penis
Seeing as abortion has been banned or heavily restricted in more than half the states, and seeing as Republicans are right now working to roll back access to both medication abortion and birth control, anyone with a working flesh-andblood dick who wants to raw dog a casual sex partner should get a vasectomy before those are banned.
You and your partner agreed to one very explicit rule, and now you want to
I’m a lesbian in my early 20s who just started experimenting with anal with my girlfriend. It’s been great fun! However, I have discovered that my ass gets wet, producing sizeable quantities of slightly yellow slippery discharge. Everything I have read says that the rectum should be fairly dry. What could be the root of my self-lubing asshole?!?
— We’re Exploring This Anal Stuff Seriously
I love a good, ol’ fashioned sex question: If you’re using as much lube as you should as an anal newbie — a lot and then adding more — some of that lube is gonna get so far up inside you, WETASS, that you’re not gonna be able to crap it all out when you’re done. Which means some residual/leftover lube is gonna work its way down and out over the next twelve hours or so.
So, if you’ve only noticed your ass producing slightly yellow slippery discharge (technical term: santorum) on the days you’ve done butt stuff, that’s probably just lube leaking out of you. But if you’re noticing discharge even on days when your girlfriend hasn’t been plowing your ass, that could be a sign of a sexually transmitted infection, WETASS, and you’re gonna need to talk to a doctor about that.
Email your question for the column to mailbox@savage.love or record your question for the Savage Lovecast at savage.love/askdan. Podcasts, columns and more at Savage.Love
THE $7.99 SECRET
Shhh! Don’t tell anyone about Boulder’s best full meal lunch deal
BY JOHN LEHNDORFF
At noon on a recent Friday, one Downtown Boulder lunch spot is busy and rocking. Animated greetings and worried chats about the day’s news take place around long tables. Couples, business associates and a group of CU students are munching happily in one corner of the dining room.
Everyone is here for the $7.99 full lunch, including beverages and dessert.
If you stopped at most cafes, $7.99 plus a tip might get you a fancy coffee and pastry: It certainly won’t get you a sandwich. Why is this long-standing restaurant still a secret to most Boulder residents as the cost of dining rises?
The reason is simple. The deal is available at the Eat Well Café inside the City of Boulder’s Age Well Center at 909 Arapahoe Ave.
That’s right: It’s a cafeteria at a senior center.
I don’t know about you, but the idea of eating there automatically fills my mind with images of cranky, hard-of-hearing whitehairs, flavorless steam-table food on a tray and meandering conversations.
rated in bright murals painted by artist Salowa Salzer. I grabbed a tray and moved through the cafeteria line and beverage station and settled in to lunch with a longtime friend.
As a starter, I skipped the well-stocked salad bar and opted for “pizza soup,” a thick stew of tomatoes, beans and olives topped with mozzarella — oyster crackers on the side. “It should be hotter,” I hear myself mutter, and realize I sound like my mother.
My chicken pot pie entrée was a baked round of puff pastry over a thick creamy filling of mildly seasoned shredded chicken and rice. The side of mixed frozen
That is why this old food critic had never dined at the Eat Well Café, which has been open (minus the pandemic) since 1994, much longer than most Boulder restaurants. It was formerly named Classico Cafe when the Age Well Center was called the West Senior Center.
After I finally grabbed lunch at the Eat Well Café, I sighed and realized my prejudice had denied me the best full meal deal available at any Boulder restaurant … and a big hug of community.
LUNCH: SOUP, CHICKEN POT PIE, KEY LIME TART
The cafe space in the busy center is fronted by big sunny windows and deco-
vegetables needed to be less steamed. I made a chicken pot pie slider using a soft, buttered dinner roll.
Given my pie judging experience, I don’t gush about pies very often, but the key lime tart with real whipped cream was a genuine first-class pastry joy.
It’s easy to appreciate the cafe’s allyou-can-drink beverage choices including milk, juice, iced tea and coffee. Honestly, this is good but not gourmet fare. Considering the dietary needs of some of the regulars, the food can’t be drenched in spices. The cafe maintains a roster of bottled hot sauces for anyone needing to add a little flavor oomph.
A NEW MENU EVERY DAY
Cute farm-to-table bistros sometimes feature menus that change every week. The offerings at the Eat Well Café are different every day of the month, a point of pride for Boulder-born chef John Bleil.
While Bleil gets requests for favorites like his beef tips with noodles, roasted chicken and fish and chips, he fills the month’s menu with a world of options like croque monsieur sandwiches, chicken chimichurri, beef bulgogi and a vegan farro skillet.
The chef mixes in nostalgic comforters ranging from meatloaf and sloppy joes to pork schnitzel and Italian sausage with
‘IT SOUNDS REALLY OLD’
If dining in a cafeteria around elders makes you nervous, Mary Ellen Floyd says she understands. She is dining with her whiskered husband, Delbert, who was born in Boulder in 1936.
“A lot of people wouldn’t want to come here because it sounds really old,” she says. “This is the best place in town. The food is good and the people are really nice. We usually take home leftovers for another meal.”
Floyd has been eating at the cafe since it opened and lunch cost $2.50.
“Honestly, I don’t know how to cook,” Floyd says. “My sweet boyfriend here is a good cook, but he’s on strike so we eat here.”
peppers and onions. Meatless options are always available including mushroom stroganoff, chickpea curry, eggplant parmesan and falafel pitas.
Cafe manager Sara Steinman noted that downtown shoppers, CU students and business associates who prize an affordable, convenient lunch destination with parking are spreading the word.
In fact, the Eat Well Café is the write-in winner in the Business Lunch category in the Boulder Weekly Best of Boulder 2025 survey published May 1.
Talking to some of the diners confirms a hunch: Boulder’s large and growing boomer cadre are not your great-grandfather’s old people. Dear old Granny and Pappy may look sweet, but back in the 1960s and ’70s, they filled Folsom Field for concerts and protested Rocky Flats. Their generation helped to make Boulder the cool place it is today.
The Eat Well Café is operated by Meals on Wheels of Boulder, which focuses on delivering healthy meals to seniors and others regardless of their ability to pay.
There is a certain sweetness to lunching at a place that allows everyone on a fixed budget the dignity of dining out, and company for those who live alone. Most of the truly kind folks working for this nonprofit spot are volunteers. The cafe counter includes a donation jar for those who can afford to pay a meal forward. (You can help fund this work at mowboulder.org.)
The Eat Well Café offers a few other bonuses, too. A freezer is packed with ready-to-heat or bake quiches, pies and soups crafted in the Meals on Wheels of Boulder kitchen. Also, the Age Well Center backs up to Boulder Creek, making it easy to take a post-lunch stroll behind the nearby Boulder Public Library.
The Eat Well Café is open 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. weekdays. The changing daily menu is available at: mowboulder.org/ eat-well-cafe-boulder-lunch
Credit: Laura Bloom
Credit: John Lehndorff
Credit: John Lehndorff
NIBBLES
LOCAL FOOD NEWS: GOLD HILL, WARD CAFES REOPEN
The Gold Hill Inn opens May 2 for its 63rd season as a restaurant and music venue. Over the foothill in Ward, Marrocco’s Family Dining, an Italian eatery that started serving in 2009, is also open for the season. Boulder’s Süti & Co. hosts a series of summer supper club meals on its cafe patio including a five-course meal on May 31: bit.ly/SupperClubBW.
CULINARY CALENDAR: NEW LAFAYETTE MARKET OPENS
The Lafayette Farmers Market opens for its inaugural season May 4 on Public Road, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Saturday Boulder Farmers Market and Longmont Farmers Market are open for the season. The weekly Wednesday night Boulder Farmers Market opens May 7. The Nederland Farmers Market opens May 11 on a bi-weekly schedule. Market share boxes are available at nederlandfarmersmarket.org.
WHERE ARE BOULDER COUNTY’S FARM STANDS?
Boulder County’s backroads are dotted with roadside stands for farms and food makers you don’t see at the weekly farmers markets. They produce heirloom varieties of vegetables and fruits plus eggs, honey and other prepared foods. Boulder Weekly is preparing our annual comprehensive guide to local farm stands. Please email hours, offerings and detailed location info to nibbles@boulderweekly.com.
WORDS TO CHEW ON: LOVE AND SPUDS
John Lehndorff hosts Radio Nibbles and Kitchen Table Talk Thursdays on KGNU. Podcasts: kgnu.org/category/radio-nibbles Woodford
Gigantic outof-state spud recently seen parked behind a hotel in
“I have made a lot of mistakes falling in love, and regretted most of them, but never the potatoes that went with them.” — From Heartburn by Nora Ephron
Cure Organic Farm. Credit: John Lehndorff
Lafayette. Credit: John Lehndorff
ON DRUGS
‘RECOVERY IS TREATED AS OPTIONAL’
The human cost of Trump’s addiction funding cuts
BY ANERIA PATTANI KFF HEALTH NEWS
When the Trump administration cut more than $11 billion in COVID-era funds to states in late March, addiction recovery programs suffered swift losses.
Although the federal assistance was awarded during the pandemic and some of the funds supported activities related to infectious disease, a sizable chunk went to programs on mental health and addiction. Colorado received more than $30 million for such programs, according to health and human services agencies. In many cases, this money flowed to addiction recovery services, which go beyond traditional treatment to help people with substance use disorders rebuild their lives. These programs do things that insurers often don’t reimburse, such as driving people to medical appointments and court hearings, crafting résumés and training them for new jobs, finding them housing and helping them build social connections unrelated to drugs.
A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s cuts, allowing the
programs to continue — for now — receiving federal funding. But many of the affected programs say they can’t easily rehire people they laid off or resurrect services they curtailed. And they’re unsure they can survive long-term amid an environment of uncertainty and fear, not knowing when the judge’s ruling might be lifted or another funding source cut.
The week it slashed the funding, the Trump administration also announced a massive reorganization of the Department of Health and Human Services, including the consolidation of the main federal agency focused on addiction recovery services. Without a stand-alone office like the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, many advocates worry, recovery work — and the funding to support it — will no longer be a priority.
“Recovery support is treated as optional,” said Racquel Garcia, founder of HardBeauty, a Colorado-based addiction recovery organization.
The federal cuts put at risk a roughly $75,000 grant her team had received to care for pregnant women with substance use disorders in two rural counties in Colorado.
“It’s very easy to make sweeping decisions from the top in the name of money, when you don’t have to be the one to tell the mom, ‘We can’t show up today,’” Garcia said. “When you never have to sit in front of the mama who really needed us to be there.”
Mental health conditions, including substance use disorders, are a leading cause of maternal mortality in the U.S. Although national overdose deaths have decreased recently, rates have risen in many Black and Native American communities. Many
people in the addiction field worry these funding rollbacks could reverse hardearned progress.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Emily Hilliard told KFF Health News that the department is reorganizing to improve efficiency, foster a more coordinated approach to addiction and prioritize funding projects that align with the president’s Make America Healthy Again initiative.
Garcia’s program gave birth, she said. Though her grant funding was in limbo, Garcia told her employee to show up at the bedside for both moms. The employee followed up with daily check-ins for the new moms, connected them to treatment or housing services when needed, and helped them navigate the child services system.
“I just can’t leave moms” without services, Garcia said. “I just can’t do it.” Nor can she abandon that employee, she said. Although the federal funding provided half of that employee’s salary, Garcia has continued to keep her on full time.
Garcia said she primarily employs women in recovery, many of whom spent years trapped in abusive situations, relying on welfare benefits. Now they’re sober and have found meaningful work that allows them to provide for their families, she said.
“We created our own workforce of mamas who help other mamas.”
“We aim to streamline resources and eliminate redundancies, ensuring that essential mental health and substance use disorder services are delivered more effectively,” she said in a statement.
But to Garcia, it doesn’t feel like streamlining. It feels like abandoning moms in need.
Between the time the cuts were announced and when the federal judge paused them, two women served by
The Trump administration’s drug policy priorities, released in early April, identified creating “a skilled, recovery-ready workforce” and strengthening peer recovery support services as crucial efforts to help people “find recovery and lead productive, healthy lives.” Many recovery programs train people for blue-collar jobs, which could support Trump’s goal of reviving the manufacturing industry.
“You can’t have manufacturing if people can’t pass a urine drug test or continue to suffer from addiction or relapse,” said Rahul Gupta, the nation’s drug czar during the Biden administration.
Racquel Garcia (left), founder of the Coloradobased addiction recovery organization HardBeauty, helps a woman giving birth. The woman, in recovery from addiction, went on to become one of Garcia’s employees and now serves as a peer recovery doula for others. Credit: Cortnie Watson, KFF Health News
