Feeding the Soul in Denver

Article by Mel Ulle

In a town with seemingly unceasing growth and abundant opportunities it feels like we should be doing better. According to the city of Denver, our economy diversified in the expansionary period after the recession of years past, and those industries continue to grow year after year. Unemployment remains low at 3.4% and the character of our populace is described as “an easygoing crowd of ambitious, progressive-minded fitness fanatics and nature lovers…” by U.S. News and World Reports. We’re the BMOC, but without being overly braggy – just good-looking, smart, successful, funny, and well-liked. Or are we? Are we all those things and also secretly a big nasty fraud?

How do we explain away the dichotomy of our growth and our failures? We know that 1 in 10 Coloradans struggle with food insecurity. A 2023 poll revealed that almost 50% of Colorado’s renters fear losing their housing due to cost increases. These numbers are indicative of a city heading the way of other big cities that grow in ways that eat away at the middle class and displace those with the least, serving only those at the very top. That’s not hot.

The city continues to contend with this tale of two Denvers. It feels like a reckoning is on the horizon and we are seeing government leaders recognize that the path we are on is unsustainable and inhumane and the time for active action is now.

It’s frequently through acts of service that we can replace the feeling of overwhelm with a sense of purpose. But where does the average Jane find a way to engage and which issue does she tackle when looking at our city’s giant messy pile of challenges – insufficient affordable housing, food insecurity, inaccessible health care, lack of quality ECE, the list goes on and on.

Read the original post at Urban Life Wash Park.