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Speakers discuss homelessness in Littleton and the surrounding metro area during a community forum on Oct. 21.
PHOTO BY ROBERT TANN
Rich Allen,
systems supervisor for Bemis Library,
HOMELESS
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Foundation in collaboration with GraceFull Community Cafe, the City of Littleton, and Change the Trend, an organization founded to bring together stakeholder groups to address issues around homelessness.
Hosted inside the South Fellowship Church off Broadway, at least 100 community members fi lled the seats to hear from McFadden as well as social workers, community managers and a Littleton police offi cer about the stigma and struggles surrounding homelessness.
Dane Fowler, a clinical supervisor for AllHealth Network, a community mental health center, said homelessness should be understood through a lens of trauma, rather than associating people who are homeless just with mental health issues or addiction problems.
“There are a wide spectrum of reasons why someone may fi nd themselves without a home,” he said.
People can suffer from unsafe homes in which they are the victims of emotional abuse and neglect, said Fowler, and once someone becomes homeless this trauma compounds and can lead to or exacerbate issues of mental illness or addiction.
“When you think of trauma and how that can impact a person’s sense of self … and how it can make them feel powerless, it can help us understand why someone may be more likely to experience a mental health challenge or choose to use substances to relieve that pain,” Fowler said.
Hal Mandler, commander for the Littleton Police Department, said offi cers typically act as the “Band-Aid of the situation” when responding to 911 calls made about homeless people.
“Where we fall short, as a police department, is we don’t have the ability to provide medium- or long-range solutions,” he said, adding that offi cers typically choose between sending a person to jail or a hospital depending on the situation.
The department, Mandler said, is now partnered with AllHealth to provide clinicians to accompany offi cers who are interacting with people who are homeless in order to provide them with better care and resources.
One of those clinicians is Andrea Martin, who said her team’s focus is on preventing incarceration by getting people what they need in the moment. She said she hopes her team can grow in the future with more funding and community awareness.
Speakers also gave an overview of homelesness in Littleton and the surrounding Denver metro area, which they said the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated.
Jeanne Hildreth, who works with
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Littleton Public Schools (LPS) on behalf of the federal McKinneyVento anti-homlessness program, said currently there are at least 100 LPS students with parents who are homeless.
But homelessness can often be hard to spot and Hildreth suspects there are many more families who are struggling with being unhoused.
“Most of those hundred (who have been identified as homeless) are not living on the street,” Hildreth said, adding that some families live in shared spaces with others or in hotels.
Sandra Blythe-Perry, executive director for Integrated Family Community Services, said her organization has been serving Littleton and the metro area by helping families and individuals with financial aid, something she said is key to preventing them from slipping into homelessness. Before the pandemic, Blythe-Perry said her organization was helping about 600 people per month. Now she’s serving about 5,000.
Samma Fox, an assistant to Littleton’s city manager, said as homelessness continues to remain a pressing issue, the city is looking at a new action plan, which could use federal money from the American Rescue Plan, to address it.
As speakers looked to solutions, they all encouraged a commitment to compassion from the community.
“Kindness, compassion, generosity of the smallest thing,” said McFadden, the woman experiencing homelessness. “I don’t want to be here. It happened, and I’m here and I’m trying to crawl my way out.”
Rich Allen, systems supervisor for Bemis Library, said community members need to show empathy with their unhoused neighbors.
“As a nation we’ve become so divided, we’ve become very polarized,” he said. “The one thing you can do right now is step forward … and get to know the people around you.”
Jodi Nicholls, owner of the antique store Lollygag Antiques in Littleton, said building relationships with people who are experiencing homelessness is vital to defusing the tension that business owners may sometimes feel. She also said she wished she had more informational flyers she could hand out to people in need of help.
“I would love some resources that I can give them to help them seek whatever it is that they’re seeking,” she said.
But small acts of generosity alone won’t fix the problem, and McFadden said she’d like to see a day center in Littleton where homeless people can stay and feel safe, especially as winter approaches.
“Handing out blankets even,” McFadden said. “That’s a start there.”
The South Metro Community Housing Foundation is currently working with the cities of Littleton, Englewood and Sheridan to establish a Homeless Services Navigation Center where unhoused people can stay and be connected to resources. You can go to tinyurl. com/navigationcenter to make a donation towards the center.
2021 ELECTION GUIDE
Here are some fast facts about this year’s election.
Key dates
• Oct. 8: Ballots started going into the mail. (If you’re registered and you haven’t received your ballot yet, contact your county clerk’s o ce. • Nov. 2: Last day to vote. Voting ends at 7 p.m. Mail ballots must be received by the county clerk by 7 p.m. in order to be counted. At this point, instead of mailing your ballot, you should drop it o at a ballot drop box or vote in person. • Nov. 10: Last day for ballots cast by military and overseas voters to be received by the county clerk in order to be counted.
County election websites
Find in-person voting sites and ballot drop-o locations in your county, register to vote or check your registration status, track your ballot and more. • Adams County: adamsvotes.com • Arapahoe County: arapahoevotes.com • Clear Creek County: clearcreekcounty. us/104/Clerk-Recorder • Denver County: denvervotes.com • Douglas County: douglasvotes.com • Elbert County: elbertcounty-co. gov/290/Elections • Je erson County: je co.us/elections • Weld County: weldvotes.com
State election website
You can also perform many of these functions at the state election site. • GoVoteColorado.com
No internet?
Call the Colorado Secretary of State’s o ce at 303-894-2200 or your county clerk’s o ce.
Election results
After the polls close Nov. 2, we’ll report election results online at ColoradoCommunityMedia.com as soon as they are available.
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Arapahoe County is the fastest-growing county in Colorado, which increases the need to update the County’s transportation infrastructure. Join us for a series of virtual conversations about transportation in Arapahoe County and how it impacts your daily life.
Upcoming dates:
Tuesday, Nov. 9 with Carrie Warren-Gully,
Commissioner District 1
Details at arapahoegov.com/
townhall.
Upcoming Election
From state and local ballot measures to city council and school board races across Arapahoe County, the 2021 Coordinated Election this November will decide issues and candidates that will shape your community’s future. Visit arapahoevotes.com
BOARD & BARREL
Dec. 4, Noon-6 p.m Arapahoe County Fairgrounds
Early-bird tickets now on sale for Board & Barrel, a unique wintertime event featuring a snowboarding rail jam and Colorado’s finest barrel-aged libations. Catch some rays and enjoy premium adult beverages, s’mores, great vendors and vibes, and some cool tricks and flips. Visit arapahoecountyfair.com/boardandbarrel
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Choirs join together for concert on teen suicide awareness
BY ROBERT TANN RTANN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
The Arapahoe High School choirs joined with the Colorado Saints Chorale and Orchestra for a concert Oct. 23 at St. Tim’s Episcopal Church in Centennial to raise awareness of teen suicide, something that has rocked the high school for years.
Since 2013, Arapahoe High School in Centennial, a Littleton Public Schools high school, has suffered nine student suicides that included two students who took their own lives just three days apart in 2018.
For Kirk R. Schjodt, director of choirs for Arapahoe High School, the concert and the preparation for it allowed for an open discussion about youth suicide that he felt was needed.
“This was a really great opportunity for me as a teacher to talk with my students about some of the things that they’d experienced,” Schjodt said, “and to get students’ input on how we could use our art form to bring a powerful statement of positivity and support into a community that was really hurting.”
Originally scheduled for April 20, 2020, the concert was postponed due to COVID-19. Now, more than a year later, the two student choir groups, one with 31 members and the other with 40, sang to bring awareness to a topic that is personal for them.
“The students in this program, they’ve been touched by the tragedy that’s taken place in Littleton Public Schools,” Schjodt said. “They know the hurt of losing someone they care about and they know what it’s like to struggle.”
Camden Krumholz, a 17-year-old junior at Arapahoe High School who sang during the event Saturday, said she knew a fellow class member who died by suicide when she was in the eight grade at John Wesley Powell Middle School.
She said the months of rehearsals that culminated with Saturday’s performance was rewarding but at times challenging as students grappled with feelings of loss.
“I’ve found it’s been very emotional, personally,” Krumholz said. “It’s been kind of diffi cult but it’s something we’ve worked through and worked very hard on.”
Working with other students as they prepared for the concert spurred overdue conversations around suicide, she said.
“It’s brought up a lot of great conversations that have needed to happen for years,” Krumholz said.
And the students are not alone.
Lisa Comstock, president of the faith-based Colorado Saints Chorale and Orchestra, which has 75 singing members and around 50 in their orchestra, said through their participation in the concert members have opened up more about losing loved ones to suicide.
“My own mom suffered with depression and suicidal thoughts,” Comstock said. “Within our organization, we’ve grieved together.”
Comstock said the group is emotionally connected with the high school, where all fi ve of her children graduated from. The group has also sung with the high school choirs in the past.
The chorale and orchestra has a long history of connecting with communities. Since 1983, it has put on various concerts throughout the Denver metro area to spread an uplifting message.
“We work within the area to put on events that matter to them, that help them build relationships in the community or put out a message of hope,” she said.
Hope was at the center of Saturday’s concert.
One of the songs performed, titled “Please Stay,” written by Jake Runestad, ushered lyrics of belonging to remind listeners that they are welcomed, loved and valued.
“It’s not a somber feeling, but it’s a celebratory feeling, it’s a feeling of intent, of meaning,” Comstock said. “We’re driven to make a difference with this concert.”
The concert also featured an art exhibit by Brady Smith, a young artist whose art, previously featured at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, tells the story of the reasons why he chose not to take his own life.
Comstock said that following Saturday’s concert, the chorale and orchestra intend to partner with choirs to put on suicide awareness and benefi t concerts every year throughout Colorado.
For Schjodt, the high school choirs director, he hopes the performance helped listeners who maybe needed the message.
“The students want to share the fact that there’s hope,” he said. “Hope is real, help is real for people who are struggling … for folks who are struggling, they don’t have to struggle alone.”
The Colorado Saints Chorale and Orchestra during a 2019 performance.
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FOR LPS SCHOOL BOARD
DaleLPS.com 303-220-0250
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But Arapahoe public health funding to stay stable for now
BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
With Douglas County setting off in its own direction on public health policy but still contracting to receive all services from Tri-County Health Department, Arapahoe County’s public health programs are likely to remain unaffected for now.
But after the end of 2022 — when Douglas County could end its agreement with Tri-County Health and when Adams County expects to move to a new health department structure — the costs of Arapahoe and Adams counties pulling away from Tri-County could be in the millions, according to a consulting fi rm studying the benefi ts and drawbacks of the counties’ potential decisions to handle public health services alone.
“In the short term, separate, single county public health agencies would have access to less public health revenue, and perhaps services, and would incur transition costs for start-up and (the) dissolution of TCHD,” the Oct. 12 report by the Otowi Group says.
On the other hand, single-county entities “would allow counties to wholly envision a health department to be what they want and need, from the ground up,” the report adds.
Douglas County had long been contemplating leaving Tri-County Health amid a rift over the health agency’s coronavirus safety orders. Douglas County’s elected leaders formalized the decision to leave Tri-County in a meeting Sept. 7, opting to form its own board of health in charge of matters such as countywide public health orders. But the county decided to continue to receive all services from TriCounty, approving an agreement on Sept. 28.
Services that will continue include restaurant inspections, nutrition counseling, maternal and child health services, and disease control, among others.
Adams County’s elected leaders announced that Adams will also leave Tri-County, raising the question of whether Arapahoe County no longer has the option to partner with Adams down the road.
“Douglas County’s decisions left us no choice but to reevaluate the future of public health services in Adams County,” Eva Henry, an Adams County commissioner, said
health policy but still contracting to receive all services from Tri-County Health Department, Arapahoe County’s public health programs are likely to remain unaffected for now. ment with Tri-County Health and when Adams County expects to move to a new health department structure — the costs of Arapahoe and Adams counties pulling away from Tri-County could be in the millions, according to a consulting fi rm studying the benefi ts and in the Oct. 19 news release. “As a drawbacks of the counties’ po- result, Adams County must detertential decisions to handle public mine the best option to move ahead health services alone. for a health board and services provided to residents.” The Adams commissioners were would have access to less public to bring forward a resolution at an health revenue, and perhaps ser- Oct. 26 public hearing to provide vices, and would incur transition notice of Adams’ decision to leave costs for start-up and (the) dissolu- Tri-County, according to the news tion of TCHD,” the Oct. 12 report by release. the Otowi Group says. “Per its legal obligation, Adams County will remain a part of TCHD through December 2022,” the news
Tri-County Health Department’s headquarters in Greenwood Village.
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Move or drop out? It’s a game of political musical chairs
BY THY VO AND SANDRA FISH THE COLORADO SUN
One Democratic state senator was drawn into a district that now leans heavily in Republicans’ favor. A GOP House member, meanwhile, will run in a district that’s now solidly Democratic.
And a handful of incumbents will have to decide whether to challenge their colleagues in an awkward primary or general election contest or quickly move to a new part of the state.
While the new state House and Senate maps drawn by an independent redistricting commission and pending approval by the Colorado Supreme Court appear to favor Democrats’ maintaining their majority in the General Assembly, the proposals are forcing lawmakers to make tough choices that could alter the political fabric of the state for years to come.
“Somebody’s ox is getting gored no matter what they do,” said Rep. Perry Will, a New Castle Republican who would live in a district that would favor Democrats by 16 percentage points. “Would I prefer to represent the district I currently do? Absolutely. Can I do a good job of representing the new one? Absolutely.”
Democrats now hold a 20-15 majority in the state Senate, but at least nine seats will be competitive over the next two years. They hold a 41-24 advantage in the House, where nine seats would be considered tossups in 2022.
More competitive seats — and incumbents trying to win in districts that suddenly favor the opposite party — could lead to more spending in the 2022 election. In 2018, candidates and outside groups spent more than $15 million on fi ve highly contested Senate races, all won by Democrats.
Colorado state Rep. Tom Sullivan, D-Centennial, joins other members and guests in the House chambers as the second regular session of the 72nd Colorado General Assembly convenes at the state Capitol in January 2020. PHOTO BY KATHRYN SCOTT/SPECIAL TO THE COLORADO SUN
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Colorado state Sen. Brittany Pettersen, D-Lakewood, meets with other lawmakers in the Colorado Senate chambers before attending the state of the state address by Gov. Jared
Polis in January 2020. PHOTO BY KATHRYN SCOTT/SPECIAL TO THE COLORADO SUN
MAPS
In 2020, outside groups spent $10.5 million and candidates spent $1.1 million on three key Senate and two competitive House contests. Republicans won three of those fi ve seats.
The clock is ticking
The state constitution requires candidates for the General Assembly to live for at least a year in the district they run in the next election, which will be Nov. 8, 2022. This means incumbents considering a bid in a different, potentially more favorable district will have to make that decision soon.
“It’s U-Haul time for some incumbents,” said Tyler Sandberg, co-founder of the conservative education policy and political action group Ready Colorado. “The clock … is ticking real fast to move to a place that’s winnable.”
They may have to make that choice before the Supreme Court issues a decision on the legislative maps. After hearing oral arguments on Oct. 25, the court has until Nov. 15 to either approve the maps or send them back to the Independent Legislative Redistricting Commission for changes.
“I think all of us are just waiting to see what maps ultimately are fi nal, and then fi gure it out from there,” said state Sen. Brittany Pettersen, of Lakewood, who under the current maps would live in the same district as Sen. Jessie Danielson of Wheat Ridge, a friend and fellow Democrat.
Pettersen and Danielson will need to decide whether to challenge each other in a primary, move into another district or run for another elected offi ce. Pettersen wants to run for U.S. House but said she would not run against U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, an Arvada Democrat who is up for re-election in 2022.
Whatever Pettersen and Danielson decide, they would be in a solid blue district, unlike in 2018, when both faced competitive contests with hundreds of thousands of dollars in outside spending.
That’s not the case for Democratic Sen. Tammy Story of Evergreen, who fi nds herself in a newly drawn 4th District that would favor Republicans, according to a competitiveness report by nonpartisan redistricting staff based on the results of eight statewide races between 2016 and 2020.
President Donald Trump won the new district by nearly 30 percentage points in 2016. The largest population base is Fremont County, followed by western Jefferson County, and Teller, Chaffee and Park counties.
In 2024, Democrats would have a solid advantage in fi ve of the eight open seats, while two Democratic and one Republican incumbents would fi nd themselves in tossup districts. Democrat Sen. Chris Kolker of Centennial would wind up with a competitive margin, in District 16.
‘Whiplash for some’
Some current members of the House are also eyeing open seats.
State Rep. Kevin Van Winkle, a Highlands Ranch Republican, has fi led to run for the open Senate District 30 seat, which will be vacated by Sen. Chris Holbert, who is termlimited.
In the state House, 16 seats would be open in 2022 due to redistricting, term limits or members running for higher offi ce, with a relatively even advantage for the two parties. Seven Democratic incumbents face competitive battles, compared with one Republican.
Five Republicans and three Democrats would also be living in the same district as another incumbent. With 31 safe Democratic seats and only 19 safe GOP seats, Republicans face an uphill battle.
“Some of these races are very safe districts, and all of a sudden, are very competitive. That’s going to be whiplash for some of these representatives,” Sandberg, the GOP consultant, said.
Rep. Tom Sullivan of Aurora, a Democrat who has faced recall threats over his advocacy for gun control laws, would live in House District 61, the second most competitive district under the new map.
Rep. Colin Larson, a moderate Republican from Ken Caryl who has considered a run for U.S. House would also live in a competitive district.
Meanwhile, two Democratic
