As the income-tax-filing season nears its end, the Colorado Department of Revenue, Taxation Division reminds taxpayers that they need to file by April 15.
Taxpayers who miss the deadline will receive an automatic, six-month extension, to Oct. 15 to file a return. However, there is no extension to pay the tax due. This means taxpayers who need to remit funds to the state will need to pay 90 percent of their tax liability before April 15 to avoid penalties.
Coloradans who need to file state income taxes can do so through Revenue Online, third-party tax preparation services, or by mail. The Department recommends the use of digital tax options to cut down on processing time, the potential for errors, as well as issues in transit.
Up-to-date information, including the status of state income tax refunds, is at Tax.Colorado.gov – just click on the “Where’s My Refund” banner. It usually takes about 7 to 10 business days for the U.S. Postal Service to deliver the refund checks, but occasionally it can take up to 30 days. If it has been more than 30 days, and you have not received your refund check, please visit this webpage to learn about the refund check reissue process.
Taxpayers who need low or no-cost help filing state income tax returns should visit Tax.Colorado.gov/Community-Tax-Help for additional resources.
For more information about Colorado taxes and Taxation Division services, please visit Tax.Colorado.gov.
Statement from President Joe Biden on Florida Supreme Court Decision: “Yesterday’s extreme decision puts desperately needed medical care even further out of reach for millions of women in Florida and across the South. The Court not only upheld Florida’s current ban on women being able to make their own reproductive choices, it will likely trigger Governor DeSantis’ even more extreme law that would prevent women from accessing care before many even know they are pregnant. It is outrageous.”
Colorado Governor
Governor Polis and the Colorado Energy Office (CEO) celebrated the launch of the nation’s first statewide electric bicycle tax credit. Colorado residents are now eligible to save up to $450 off their e-bike purchase, meaning less traffic and less pollution for Coloradans. The e-bike tax credit reflects Colorado’s bold climate goals while promoting sustainable communities for future generations. “This e-bike tax credit builds Colorado’s nation-leading work to reduce pollution and traffic, save people money and protect our environment. This will help Colorado reach our bold climate goals, invest in future generations, and expand access to clean transportation options now,” said Governor Jared Polis.
Denver Mayor
Denver’s wage protections are some of the strongest and most effective in the United States, and Denver Labor’s results for the recently published 2023 reporting period show the benefits to the whole community. “Through enforcement and education, we help workers of all income levels receive the wages they earned according to law,” Denver Auditor Timothy M. O’Brien, CPA, said. “We also help ensure a level playing field for Denver’s vibrant business community.” In 2023, Denver Labor set new records for restitution, productivity, and community engage- ment. Our office recovered more than $2 million for 3,570 workers. We audited about 96,000 payroll records, attended more than 45 community events, updated internal policies and procedures, and conducted extensive rulemaking to implement and clarify the Civil Wage Theft Ordinance.
An influential priest in Ghana is under scrutiny from outside critics for marrying a 12-year-old girl. While the legal minimum age to get married in the country is 18, about 19 percent of girls in the country are married before they reach that age. Videos of the marriage sparked outrage on social media, including among many people in Ghana.
Ex-South African president in car accident
Jacob Zuma, the former president of South Africa, was unhurt when his vehicle was hit by a drunk driver. Zuma was evacuated and taken to his house while the drunk driver was arrested. He was president of the country from 2009 to 2018 until he stepped down from his role because of corruption allegations.
Asia
Chinese migrants found dead
Officials in Mexico discovered the bodies of eight Chinese nationals on a beach after their boat capsized. Among the victims were seven women and a man, and their bodies were found on a route used by migrants trying to reach the United States. Last year, more than 37,000 Chinese nationals were detained at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Spy cameras at South Korea polling stations
Officials in South Korea are working to arrest two men who allegedly helped a YouTuber install dozens of spy cameras at voting stations. The YouTuber was allegedly working to confirm his unfound election fraud claims and was arrested late last week. Cameras were found at around 40 polling stations and vote counting centers nationwide.
Europe
Remains of French toddler discovered
French officials announced the discovery of the body of a two-year-old boy in a tiny village, nine months after he disappeared. The boy, Emile Soleil, had been dropped off at his grandparents’ house before he went missing. His remains were found by a hiker in the area, and he was last seen on July 8 of last year.
Hostage situation ends in eastern Dutch town
Police in the Netherlands arrested a man who was responsible for a hostage situation at a nightclub. The suspect held four people hostage for nearly six hours this past Saturday and threatened to blow himself up. It is unknown what the suspect’s motive was, and officials are investigating his mental state. Households in the area were evacuated, and local businesses nearby were closed. There were no victims in the incident.
Latin America
Peru president’s home raided
Police in Peru raided the home of President Dina Boluarte because of a corruption inquiry. Law enforcement was searching for more than a dozen Rolex watches Boluarte had allegedly not declared after a news report focused on watches she wears at public events. Peru’s government called the raid unconstitutional, and Boluarte said she entered her position with “clean hands.”
Venezuelan YouTuber detained
Oscar Alejandro Perez, a Venezuelan YouTuber who focuses on travel content, was arrested at Caracas International Airport. His family said he was detained over “terrorist activities.” Perez was visiting Canaima National Park in southern Venezuela when he was detained. Recently, a number of Venezuelans have been detained for allegedly planning to destabilize the country.
North America
AT&T customers’ data leaked
Data from around 73 million current or former AT&T customers was leaked on the dark web, including information like addresses, social security numbers, and passcodes. AT&T said it was unknown if the data came from its own systems or a third-party supplier. The company covers around 290 million people in the United States.
Netflix actor passes
Chance Perdomo, known for his role in the Netflix horror series “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,” died in a motorcycle accident. He was 27 and also starred in Amazon Prime’s “Gen V.” Perdomo was born in Los Angeles, and details of his accident have yet to be shared by officials.
Just recently, a social media post reminded us that it was as recent as 1971—we had already been on the moon—that women needed a man’s signature to get a credit card. But, and especially for today’s younger women, this only scratches the surface on a reality that makes our heads spin.
In 1971, a woman could be fired for getting pregnant; could not serve on certain juries; could not enroll at several Ivy League schools; could not get health insurance at the same rate as a man. Really. That was 1971. In America. The place we live today!
But as we mark Women’s Month, there’s been a seismic shift—for the better—for women and especially young girls. “It amazes me that we’ve made this progress,” said Denver attorney, law school professor and political activist Cecelia Espenoza. But progress for Espenoza was, perhaps, even a bit more problematic.
Growing up in Utah as part of one of the few Latino families in her community Espenoza also dealt with religious diversity. Back then Utah was nearly 75 percent Mormon, and she was usually the only Latina, non-Mormon in her classes.
But her parents, both working class—her father a barber, her mother, a homemaker—stressed education, and Espenoza took it almost preternaturally.
She took advantage of federal summer programs aimed at steering more Latinos into college. Then, at the University of Utah she did well, earning both undergraduate and law degrees.
Espenoza and her law degree have taken her to high level positions in the Department of Justice, to faculty positions at law schools in Texas and Colorado. She was the first Latina law professor at the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law. She has also published articles in some of the country’s most prestigious law journals.
Still, said Espenoza, “Of all the work I’ve done, the most important work is being a mentor and sponsor for young people. Giving generations coming after us the opportunity for success is a passion of mine.”
Espenoza is also a Democratic candidate for the Colorado State Legislature.
Photo courtesy: Joelle Martinez
The future is also the focus for Joelle Martinez, President and CEO of the Latino Leadership Institute. The LLI was launched in 2014 by a group of Latino political and business leaders, including former Denver Mayor and Cabinet Secretary Federico Peña.
In just ten years, LLI has touched the lives of scores of talented and imaginative young Latinos who have taken their experience gleaned and demonstrated leadership abilities across a wide swath of politics, business and entrepreneurial endeavors.
LLI’s team, recruited from these same disciplines, said Martinez, is a key part of building for the future. “Many have changed their careers to join our cause, while others have eagerly acquired new skills to contribute to our success.”
With a straight-line focus on the horizon, the LLI chief executive says recognizing and empowering new generations of Latino talent is key to not only LLI’s success but also—and more importantly—that of younger Latinos whose talent and potential is evident yet untapped.
“We recognize the immense potential within the Latino community,” Martinez stressed, “and have designed programs to facilitate career advancement and entrepreneurial success.” True strength, she said, lies in fostering a community of Latino professionals who not only recognize but have an unbridled desire to nurture the dreams and aspirations of not only the next generation of Latino talent but also those who’ll follow.
Photo courtesy: historycolorado.org
For Adrianna Abarca, Founder and Board Chair of Denver’s Latino Cultural Arts Center, art remains a driving force. It is, to her, what French artist Edgar Degas once said. “Art is not what you see,” Art, he said is “what you make others see.”
Abarca grew up in a family where, she said, “I was fortunate to be exposed to Chicano, Mexican and various Latino art at a young age and I’ve been involved in this journey for the past forty years.”
After college, Abarca took her degree in Latin American Studies from Boulder and the University of Colorado to San Francisco where she worked in art galleries, artist management and also at the city’s Mexican Museum. “I was in San Francisco during the height of the Chicano Arts movement.” Working around art and artists every day, she said, “I got to see some of the top talent…and wanted to bring back some of that inspiration to Denver.”
Today, Abarca owns Hijos del Sol at 2715 W. 8th Avenue in Denver. It’s an “appointment only” venue that sells “clothing, accessories, jewelry, household and gift items…of which 85 percent is handmade.”
But Abarca’s not stopping with a boutique art store. She has a plan in the works to also open another Latino art venue, Los Bodegas. “We want people to experience and get a sense of community, a sense of pride in the culture of other Latino people throughout the Americas.”
Abarca says a love of art is in her blood, passed down from a father who made it a part of her family’s homelife. “Just watching him interact with artists and develop friend- ships with them,” she said, was inspirational. Among his friends, Abarca remembered, were Denver Latino artists John Encinas, Carlos Sandoval, Tim Cisneros and North Denver’s shining star artist, John Flores.
While his acumen was business—he founded the Denver-based Ready Foods—“he, himself, had the soul of an artist.” In another time, she added, “he would have been an artist.”
While Espenoza, Martinez and Abarca are all accomplished Latinas, they are each the beneficiaries of the hard work, discipline and dreams of other Latinas who came before.
Included in this ever growing roll of strong, inspirational Latinas are: Rosemary Rodriguez, Yadira Caraveo, Polly Baca, Debbie Ortega, Patricia Barela-Rivera and Ramona Martinez in politics and government; Susana Cordova, Lilly Padilla, Esther Lubin, Anna Baca in education; Cindy Velasquez-Peña, Anne Trujillo, Beverly Martinez in media. And so many others including Christine Marquez-Hudson, Nita Gonzales and Pat Cortez. It is a list of amazing Latina leaders that has gone from microscopic to unavoidable in just a short span of time. And it continues to grow with amazing women.
“We each have been gifted with amazing role models,” said LaVozColorado publisher, Pauline Rivera. “Our lives have been inspired by mothers and fathers, tias and teachers, people who believed in us, taught us, pushed us, picked us up when we fell and helped us be more than we even thought we could be. Our duty and obligation is to do for the next generation what so many others did for us.”
For decades, Rod Tafoya has been involved in business operations at Colorado’s major airports, whether it was at the former Stapleton Airport in the 1980’s, or the present day Denver International Airport (DEN).
Since he was a child, Tafoya loved airports and thought they were the most exciting places to work at. He thinks of them as safe, clean, and enjoys how every day can be a different experience. “When I was younger, my mom worked for Frontier Airlines, and I was always at the airport. I was fascinated with the business and the aviation world,” said Tafoya.
Photo courtesy: flydenver.com
When he got older, Tafoya teamed up with his mother Reyes to purchase a Penguin Frozen Yogurt franchise in Arvada. While he was rejected for a bid to open a space at the Stapleton Airport in 1985 because of a lack of experience, he didn’t hang his head low for long. Instead, when Denver International Airport (DEN) opened in 1995, Tafoya placed successful bids to open both Sara Lee Sandwich Shoppe and Colombo Yogurt.
Today, Tafoya operates Mission Yogurt, which holds concession concepts at Denver International Airport, San Diego International Airport, John Wayne Airport, and a restaurant in the metro Denver area. Mission Yogurt operates 16 concepts, like Root Down, Que Bueno! Mexican Grille, and Timberline Steaks & Grille. Que Bueno! was Denver International Airport’s first authentic Mexican restaurant, and Mission Yogurt also operates the busiest Einstein Bros Bagels franchise location in the country.
The Mission Yogurt name pays homage to Tafoya’s early days with the Penguin’s Frozen Yogurt franchise, even though the entity operates restaurants now. The word mission is a nod to Tafoya’s motivation to achieve a goal like early missionaries.
“The small yogurt shop to get that experience was necessary to move to the airport. Now, we’re driven by staying ahead of the game,” said Tafoya. “What drives us is the importance of the local people,” he added.
Today, Mission Yogurt employs hundreds of people and serves around 14,000 people a day. Mission Yogurt is dedicated to building and developing its employees and offers them a 401(k) package, paid time off, a travel allowance, and free health care.
Outside of operating concessions at airports, Mission Yogurt also stays active in the community and supports philanthropic causes. Among the organizations Mission Yogurt has supported include the Latin American Education Foundation, Denver Rescue Mission, the Arvada Center, Seniors Resource Center, the Salvation Army, and several other entities that are making a difference in our community.
Tafoya is a Colorado native and received a Bachelor of Engineering from John Hopkins University and a Master’s of Business Administration from UCLA. His mother worked at Stapleton International Airport while his father was an engineer for the City of Denver.
Mission Yogurt is headquartered in Westminster and has been honored various times throughout the years including as the best ACDBE operator through Airport Experience News. The organization’s Root Down restaurant was also recognized as having the best airport food in the country by USA Today.
Mission Yogurt’s concessions are scattered across Denver International Airport, (DEN) including Concourse A, B, C, and at the great hall. For more information about Mission Yogurt and its concessions, visit Missionyogurt.com
Since the end of the All-Star break the Denver Nuggets have won 15 of their last 17 games dominantly placing them atop of the Power Rankings.
On Monday night in Denver, the Nuggets added to the win column after defeating the Memphis Grizzlies. The Nuggets had previously defeated the Portland Trailblazers in Portland on Saturday night without both Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic.
Aaron Gordon and Reggie Jackson led all scorers with 22 and 23 while Christian Braun added 17 points. On Monday night against the Grizzlies, Braun added another 17 points to help the Nuggets defeat Memphis.
With 10 games left and the Nuggets sitting one game ahead of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver has their work cut out for them with teams like the Phoenix Suns, Minnesota Timberwolves, and the L.A. Clippers left on the schedule.
This week the Nuggets will have a four game home stretch that will include games against the Phoenix Suns (Wed. March, 27 @ 8 p.m.), the Minnesota Timberwolves (Fri. March, 29 @ 7 p.m.), the Cleveland Cavaliers (Sun. March 31 @ 1:30 p.m.) and the San Antonio Spurs (Tue. April 2 @ 7 p.m.).
The Nuggets have an opportunity to repeat their trip to the Finals this year and potentially have back-to-back championships if they can stay healthy and keep up the momentum heading into the post-season.
In other sports the Colorado Avalanche too are near the top of the rankings only a single point behind the Vancouver Canucks who leads the Pacific Division in the Western Conference.
The Avs celebrated a win and a four-goal comeback on Sunday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins in overtime. The Penguins jumped out to a four goal lead by the second period but Colorado’s offense finally woke up with four minutes to play in the fourth scoring their first goal courtesy of defenceman, Sean Walker. With less than a minute left in the second period Brandon Duhaime shot a rebounded puck straight down the middle to Yakov Trenin who redirected the puck for Colorado’s second goal of the game.
The Avs still down two heading into the third period came out early with a goal from Jonathan Drouin. With less than five minutes to play in regulation, Nathan MacKinnon scored the game-tying goal to send the game into overtime.
Jonathan Drouin was the star of the game with the game-winning goal in overtime to complete the four-goal deficit comeback.
The Colorado Avalanche are poised to have a high seed heading into the post-season and could still wrap up the top seed in the Western Conference.
The Colorado Rockies will kickoff the regular season in Arizona on Thursday for a four-game series with the Diamondbacks. Colorado will then head to Chicago to face the Cubs for a three-game series before heading home for their home-opener with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Pueblo educator Terri Martinez didn’t have to look far for a role model. The person who inspired her to make education a career, she said, was someone she saw everyday. At home.
Photo courtesy: schoolengagement.org
“My Dad was an educator and principal,” said Pueblo native Martinez, CEO of the National Center for School Engagement. Indeed, her father, LeRoy Martinez, spent his career in Pueblo School District 60. As role models go, Martinez said of her father, you can’t do much better.
Martinez, who has divided her career between the classroom and school administration, said her formative years taught her the strength of family.
While her parents were nurturing and involved with their own biological family, Martinez said, there were always non-biological kids around the house.
“I never knew what it was like being from just a biological family,” she said. There were always foster kids in her home. “I am so thankful I grew up that way. It prepared me for life.” Martinez own grandparents, she said, also took in foster children as she was growing up.
One straight line through her career is kids, she said. From early home life to classroom to her current chief executive position, young people have been omni-present.
As a teacher she worked with kids with “social and severe emotional needs,” Martinez said. As time went on, her job took her from the classroom to what she euphemistically called, ‘community engagement work.’ She became a truant officer. Yes! They still exist.
“I would drive around town and find a lot of my kids,” often times playing basketball. “I actually learned how to play basketball to gain their trust,” she recalled. It created a connection. If you don’t have one, Martinez stressed, “we’d lose them.”
While Martinez admits there will never be the resources to solve all of the challenges kids face today, you just can’t give up. Martinez was instrumental in winning a nearly $700,000 grant from the Department of Education to address some of the day-to-day challenges of her work. “We were able to hire eight community advocates” who worked in the highest needs schools. Each was trained in cultural competency in order to help build relationships. “We wanted to make sure they had all the tools in their tool boxes,” in order to keep more kids from getting caught in the judicial whirlpool. Her program and its new approach to reducing the truancy problem was “one of the first in the nation.”
In her job as CEO of National Center for School Engagement, Martinez has visited schools across the country, each dealing with the historic and challenging job of keeping kids engaged—keeping them from dropping out. Her trips have taken her to the Rosebud Reservation, once called the most poverty challenged zip code in the country, to every time zone in the country.
And while the job may seem endless and, too often, thankless, Martinez said it won’t change anything for her. Kids are a forever passion and responsibility. Martinez is also ‘mom’ to one of the kids her family once fostered.
“I adopted one of our (her family’s) foster children. He was my ‘brother,’ but he became my son,” Martinez said. Part of her promise in the adoption was to ensure “he followed the ‘Red Road,” that is, stay true to his Native American roots.
Twenty years passed between that adoption and Martinez getting married. The marriage produced a “second son” who is now a teacher and coach living in Nashville, Tennessee.
In Pueblo, there are few people who have celebrated as many births, weddings, graduations and anniversaries as often as Cindy Reyes. Reyes is the owner of one of her city’s ‘go-to’ catering companies, Cinfully Delicious Catering.
It was when she was living in Los Angeles “back in the 70’s” helping her brother open a restaurant, Reyes said, that she found she had a talent for cooking. Learning the business came a little later when she worked for a caterer who had jobs all across Los Angeles. That’s when she took her dream and ran with it. “I’m just going to go home,” she told herself, “and start my own business.”
But, beyond making delicious savory meals or ‘to die for’ desserts, Reyes has another connection to her community.
Long before Latinos were invited on to radio, television or politics, her father, Henry Reyes, was a well know media and political force all across Pueblo and the Arkansas Valley.
Her father, she said, worked his way up from doing field work—planting and picking crops—across the agricultural breadbasket of southern Colorado to sitting behind a microphone as ‘the voice’ of radio station KAPI, the first Spanish language radio station in that part of the state.
He later went on to become a city councilman and its first Latino ceremonial Mayor. (In Pueblo, the president of the city council, also performed the ceremonial duties of mayor.) Still, she said, he always made time to lend a hand, even washing dishes at one of her events when there was no one else around. “He even helped make tamales.”
It is from him, she said, that she not only inherited an indefatigable work ethic but the knowledge of building relationships with people, many of whom may have been going through the hardest moments in their lives at memorial dinners.
As a caterer, Reyes has cooked for more post-funeral gatherings than she can remember. But food, she says, is often the perfect connection in these moments. It can, if only for a moment, take someone’s grief and meld it into a conversation of joy and remembrance.
Even though Reyes has, over the years, become an astute businesswoman, she isn’t above diving into the nuts and bolts of a job and joining her crew in making sure that her customers get exactly what they pay for. She tells one story about how, in a single week, she did everything her team did—including spending a lot of long hours—making “750 dozen tamales.”
Most of her employees are long term, said Reyes. Two of her daughters have also worked for her, though one recently stepped away to raise her family. Another, a man named Eric, said Reyes, “does everything.” When the business was going through a growth spurt several years ago, the Pueblo native said, “I finally had to teach someone all my recipes because I can’t always do it.” It was a move that has paid off, especially now. “I recently had surgery on my arm,” she said. “But I’m healing.”
Reyes has spread her joy of cooking into countless corners of her city. She’s taught tamale classes at Pueblo Community College and hired on young people who’ve taken her recipes to every compass point.
She modestly eschews calling herself a culinary artist, but does admit that “food is an art.” “Everybody loves to eat,” she said, no matter if the sun is shining or not. “Food brings people together.”
David Conde, Senior Consultant for International Programs
My earliest introduction to Easter was a week-long set of sermons ending with a Sunday service celebrating Christ’s resurrection. This was followed by an Easter hunt of colored boiled eggs hidden in places easy to find.
For me, eating a lot of those eggs on the spot where I found them caused issues with my stomach. Nevertheless, it was an exciting time spent with other children doing what children do.
This also represented the end of a long week of church services every night with themes about Jesus and his death. Specifically, every night of the week was dedicated to 1 of the seven sayings Jesus Christ uttered while nailed to the Cross.
At the time, I listened very little to the sermons mainly because I did not understand what the dying man was trying to say. As I look back, I do not think that those that preached about the sayings really knew either.
The seven sayings represent the first segment of a three-part cycle that describes Christ’s death and resurrection. The transformative process involved the death of his human form, transition to a new beginning and rebirth to his eternal nature.
The first saying on the cross is: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do…” This theme of forgiveness was a most important part of Jesus’ ministry.
The second saying personalizes the theme of forgiveness during a very unusual circumstance. Christ was one of three crucified the day of his death. The other two were individuals condemned to death for their crimes. On the cross, one of them, a thief identified as Dismas, recognized his sins and asked Jesus for forgiveness.
Christ forgave him and said: “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise…” Christian doctrine has interpreted that saying to mean that even in the death bed, it is never too late to ask and receive forgiveness.
The third saying is: “Woman, behold, thy son…” This powerful statement recognizes Mary as more than just his mother. Jesus also recognized her as an eternal partner that shares with him the spiritual nature of his being. That is why the bible refers to the Holy Spirit as “the spouse of Mary.”
The next four sayings refer to the process of Jesus dying to his human form as well as giving back his spiritual attributes to the Father. The fourth saying: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?…” is the cry of agony over having been left completely alone both in the human and spiritual realms.
The fifth saying: “I thirst…” is a totally human reaction to a human condition. The sixth saying: “it is finished…” recognizes the end to his life as a human on earth.
Jesus’ seventh and final saying: “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit…” completes the first step in the cycle of death and resurrection. Burial closes the curtains of his ministry and sets the scene for transition from one life to another.
One of Colorado’s popular Easter events is the sunrise service at Red Rocks Amphitheater at 5:30 am on Sunday March 31st. Christ as the risen Savior appears as the favorite among the majority of church goers.
However, there is also the death side to the epic story. Many that wear a crucifix depicting the bleeding Jesus on the cross carry that death scene around their necks without knowing the story behind it.
Death and rebirth has long been an archetypal pattern of living things. Jesus lived it as a hero.
The views expressed by David Conde are not necessarily the views of laVozColorado. Comments and responses may be directed to news@lavozcolorado.com.
RESPECT! A fundraising concert 2024 edition Bayaud Enterprises would like you to join them for a fun and energizing fundraising concert to honor and support women with house band opener Decades of Love.
The RESPECT fundraiser concert will be held at the Holiday Theatre, 2644 W. 32nd Ave. on April 19th at 7 p.m.
This fundraising concert exists to honor, support and empower women. You will enjoy songs made or performed by influential women through time. All ticket proceeds go to Bayaud and their work to create Hope, Opportunity and Choice with work as the means through which people with disabilites and other hurdles to employment can more fully participate in the mainstream of life.
Que Pasa? is compiled by La Voz Staff. To submit an event for consideration please email attractions@lavozcolorado.com with Que Pasa in the subject line by Friday at 5 p.m.
Nonprofits work with community members to leverage trauma informed design strategies to better serve Adams County community
Front-range families are experiencing innovative and convenient access to a vast array of health and social services at Adams County’s first Community Resource Hub (the Hub) at 7190 Colorado Blvd. The landmark building in Commerce City, which the community knows as a place to get resources and support, was previously occupied by Adams County Human Services before moving out of the building in 2017. The South Platte Crossings Board of Owners – including Adams County, Urban Land Conservancy (ULC), Kids First Health Care and the City of Commerce City – is working to repurpose this building.
“The Hub centralizes health and other vital social and support services for families and residents in one location,” said Lisa Jansen Thompson, Executive Director of the Early Childhood Partnership of Adams County (ECPAC). “The Hub is a result of strategic planning by a partnership of organizations located in the building and the surrounding area, as well as community members/families, who meet monthly to coordinate services, support a shared website and create welcoming spaces to better support the community.”
Through a comprehensive trauma informed design assessment and training from Shopworks Architecture, tailored recommendations were recently implemented, thanks to generous funding from Colorado Access. The collaborative’s improvements outlined in the assessment included updating the signage – with the help of 303 Sign Company – with multiple language translations, reducing wayfinding confusion with a more modern electronic directory, and transforming the drab and boring aesthetic of the interior of the building through the implementation of beautiful murals on every floor by artist Guerilla Garden, which were inspired by the culture of the community.
In addition to the Early Childhood Partnership of Adams County (ECPAC)’s Family and Support Center and Kids First Health Care, other partners at the Hub include Adams County DMV, several programs of Adams County Health Department, including the Women, Infants and Children’s program (WIC), Creative Treatment Options, Front Range Clinic, Kids In Need of Dentistry (KIND) and United for a New Economy (UNE). Commerce City’s Community Development Program and Benefits in Action will be moving in this Fall. The 6th floor is available for rent through Urban Land Conservancy.
Urban Land Conservancy, a Denver-based nonprofit, has secured the development of 60 affordable apartment homes adjacent to the Hub. The four-story building will feature studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom homes for households making 30 percent to 80 percent of area median income (AMI). Urban Land Conservancy’s community land trust will ensure the building is used for community benefit for 99 years or more.
“The Hub collaborative works collectively to address the Social Determinants of Health by reducing barriers to care and continuing to improve the experience for our families when they arrive for support services and resources,” said Whitney Gustin Connor, Executive Director of Kids First Health Care. “Construction of Urban Land Conservancy’s affordable housing units is currently underway across the street, complementing the Hub’s concept, and we look forward to serving the families who will soon occupy these homes!”
