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November 19, 2020
DENVER, COLORADO
A publication of
VOLUME 94 | ISSUE 2
Rental assistance runs into barriers Red tape, realities of budgets are hurdles for those seeking aid amid pandemic BY DONNA BRYSON DENVERITE.COM
Speaking six languages has been key to Emmanuel Kamabela’s efforts to keep Denverites housed during the pandemic. Kamabela has used his facility with languages to help his neighbors in East Colfax, a neighborhood with a large immigrant community, fill out forms to apply for rental assistance from the city. “I know the challenge myself,” said Kamabela, who is from Congo and volunteers as a housing navigator for the East Colfax Community Collective. “When I came six years ago, language was a big barrier.” Last month, rental assistance hit another barrier. By mid-October, the Northeast Denver Housing Center, one of two nonprofits that administer Temporary Rental and Utility Assistance for Denver, spent its entire budget for the program known as TRUA. Kamabela, who lost his job as a hotel maintenance engineer after the pandemic hit, was affected himself. He had applied for help with October rent. “They informed me there was no money,” Kamabela said. SEE RENTAL, P9
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 8 | LIFE: PAGE 10 | CALENDAR: PAGE 12
Autumn Thomas of Denver is an interdisciplinary artist currently focusing on wood sculptures. She recently served as an artistin-residency at PlatteForum, during which she taught teens the skill of 3D printing. COURTESY PHOTO
‘All those voices are valued’ Autumn Thomas reflects on being a Black artist by bending wood in her sculptures BY CHRISTY STEADMAN CSTEADMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
When Congress Park resident Autumn Thomas was in kindergarten, she got interviewed about one
of her school projects by television news anchor Reynelda Muse, who is a Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame inductee and known for being the first woman and first AfricanAmerican to anchor a newscast in Colorado. “I don’t remember, ever, not being an artist,” Thomas said of her first memory of being interviewed because of her art. Today, Thomas, 42, is an interdisciplinary artist currently focusing on wood sculptures. In the past year, she has created about 10 original sculp-
tures, she said. “It’s been amazing,” Thomas said, adding she particularly enjoys creating public art. Thomas works a full-time job as an account manager, and also spends time mentoring youths who are up-and-coming artists themselves. “It’s fascinating to hear young people talk,” Thomas said. “It allowed the inner child in me to come out and just enjoy the making.” SEE ARTIST, P13
KEEPING THE FAITH
COVID-19 forces churches in the metro area to adapt in a variety of ways P10