February Extreme Endeavors: To Freely Offer to Do Something

Extreme Community Makeover Newsletter  February Extreme Endeavors February 2015

In This Issue Volunteer Happy Hour Colorado Avalanche Game ECM Work Day Extreme Teams Church Partner: Denver Community Church Quick Links About ECM  Contact ECM           Donate  Help ECM build stronger communities in Denver through your financial support.     Checks can be made to:   Extreme Community Makeover    and sent to:    Extreme Community Makeover PO Box 102586 Denver, CO 80250-2586 One of the definitions I've seen for volunteering is to freely offer to do something.  This month, there are a lot of ways to get involved with Extreme Community Makeover, even though we aren't in the swing of things with our regular projects. I would encourage you to consider how you can volunteer this year. And if you want to volunteer with ECM or learn more about the work we do, read on for a number of ways to do just that!   Angela Bomgaars, Executive Director  Volunteer Snapshots Let's Do This 2015 ECM Work Day Dates Check out the dates and locations for our ECM Work Days by clicking here.  Read more about getting a group involved with this doc.  Once you've talked with Angela about more details, you can sign up for a Work Day by clicking here.

Volunteer Happy Hour: Wed Feb 4 Join us for a Volunteer Happy Hour on Wednesday, February 4 from 5:30-7:00 pm at Interstate Kitchen & Bar (1001 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, 80204).  Hope to see you there!     Colorado Avalanche Game: Sun Feb 22 Cheer on the Colorado Avalanche at a game vs the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday, February 22 at 5:00 pm at the Pepsi Center (1000 Chopper Circle, Denver, 80204).  Tickets are $27 (upper level) or $57 (lower level).  $5 of each ticket sold will be donated back to ECM.  Grab some friends for a fun night out while supporting ECM.  Get your tickets here.     ECM Work Day: Sat Feb 28 On Saturday, February 28 from 9:00 am - 3:00 pm, we will be meeting at the ECM office (4200 Morrison Road, Unit 3, Denver, 80219) to help with an evaluation project.  If you would like to volunteer on your own or with a group, please contact Angela.   Extreme Teams If you would like to get involved in ECM more consistently, the Extreme Teams might be the place for you.  The ten teams fall within a Program Team (more task-oriented) or the Strategy Team (more relational-oriented).  Our kick-off meeting is on Mon Feb 23, so check out our website and contact Angela with your questions before then so you can join us at the meeting.   Program Team:   Strategy Team:     Church Partner: Denver Community Church Denver Community Church (DCC) started when a group of people felt led to move to Denver to start a church that would be so involved in the community that the only appropriate name would be Denver Community Church. The vision of DCC has always been to journey together following Jesus, and to demonstrate God's love to all people.  DCC is doing just that through their involvement in ECM.  As one of the churches who has been involved in ECM from nearly the beginning, we are so grateful for the hundreds of volunteers that have participated in our projects, as well as monthly financial support that make our work possible. Thank you Denver Community Church!

Thank you for partnering with ECM to make a difference in Denver neighborhoods!       Sincerely,   Extreme Community Makeover

2015 ECM Work Day Schedule

Here is the schedule for Extreme Community Makeover Work Days in 2015:

Saturday ECM Work Days Schedule: 9:00 am – 4:00 pm

• April 11 – Barnum – Host: Bethany United Methodist Church
• April 25 – Westwood – Host: Crossroads of the Rockies
• May 2 – Villa Park – Host: Set Free Church
• May 16 – West Colfax – Host: Confluence Ministries
• May 30 – Barnum – Host: Barnum Recreation Center
• June 13 – Swansea – Host: Focus Points
• June 27 – Elyria – Host: Colorado Miners
• July 11 – Westwood – Host: Redeemer Lutheran Church
• July 25 – Globeville – Host: Globeville Recreation Center
• August 8 – Barnum – Host: Bethany United Methodist Church
• August 22 – La Alma/Lincoln Park – Host: His Love Fellowship
• September 12 – Westwood – Host: Redeemer Lutheran Church
• September 26 – Elyria – Host: Colorado Miners
• October 3 – Swansea – Host: Focus Points
• October 17 – Villa Park & West Colfax – Host: Confluence Ministries
• October 31 – Multiple Neighborhoods – Host: Barnum Recreation Center

Tuesday & Thursday ECM Work Days Schedule: 9:00 am – 3:00 pm

• June 2, 4, 9, 11, 16, 18, 23, 25, & 30; July 2, 7, 9, 14, 16, 21, 23, 28, & 30 – Multiple Neighborhoods – Host: Set Free Church

For more information on how to get a group involved in one of these Work Days, contact Angela at 720.235.8847 or angela@extremecommunitymakeover.org.

Neighborhood Spotlight: Westwood

The Westwood neighborhood in Denver is bordered by Alameda Avenue, Federal Boulevard, Mississippi Avenue, Sheridan Boulevard. According to the Colorado Health Foundation, Westwood is a diverse, densely populated neighborhood in southwest Denver, with a total population of about 15,500 and a higher than average number of youth. The neighborhood is in need of infrastructure improvements to improve the safety and ease of walking, biking and recreating in the community.

In 2014, the Urban Land Institute (ULI) entered into a partnership with the Colorado Health Foundation to support the institute’s Building Healthy Places Initiative, a multi-year program to highlight the key role of design and development in fostering healthy living and working environments. Through the initiative, ULI examined the built environment through the lens of health and wellness, showing the connection between healthy communities and economic prosperity.

This partnership led to an opportunity for Westwood to receive a one million dollar grant to focus on projects chosen by residents to impact their health, safety, and quality of life. Click here to check out a video that shares more about what's happening.

Westwood is a place where individuals, organizations, and community groups have come together to take an active role in shaping what this neighborhood looks like now and for years to come through creating a safer and healthier environment for those who call it home. Extreme Community Makeover will be hosting Go: Westwood on Saturday, April 25, 2015. If you want to learn more about Westwood through getting involved in that project, stay in touch with us.

For more information, check out our website - http://www.extremecommunitymakeover.org/About/Westwood.aspx

Denver Digs Trees

The Denver Digs Trees program, put on by The Park People, helps residents cultivate greener, healthier, more livable communities.

The program provides Denver residents with affordable trees for planting on both public and private property. They offer a variety of species appropriate for Colorado's climate and the urban environment.

To improve tree survivorship and help the program become more cost-effective, they are combining two tree distributions into a single distribution of both street and yard trees in the spring. These low-cost trees are available to all Denver residents, and they provide trees for especially low fees to residents in 27 target neighborhoods. Find out which Denver neighborhood you live in.

Applications for street and yard trees are available now and due February 15.  The distribution will be held Saturday, April 18, 2015.

Street Trees

Street trees are planted close to the curbside in the "tree lawn" between the sidewalk and curb or, in areas with no tree lawn, 10 feet into the yard from the curb. Street trees beautify our neighborhoods and improve our quality of life, including traffic calming, decreased crime, improved air and water quality, and enhanced property values.

Shade Trees For Your Yard

The Park People provide low-cost shade trees for private property planting. Strategically planted, the shade of these medium or large trees can reduce the amount of energy needed to cool your home, which results in lower energy bills and less carbon released into the atmosphere. These trees also enhance property values, buffer noise, and provide shelter for birds and other wildlife.

Earth Day Yard Tree Sale

In addition to providing low-cost street trees and low-cost medium and large sized yard trees, The Park People hosts their annual Earth Day Yard Tree Sale. This sale is held in conjunction with tree distribution day and offers great prices on quality trees. Sale proceeds support the cost of the heavily subsidized and free trees they offer each year. Depending on availability, the sale has frequently included small ornamental trees, trees with striking fall color, and fruit trees. Check here for updates about the tree sale.

All trees planted through Denver Digs Trees are registered with the City's Mile High Million tree campaign. So your new tree(s) will become part of this Denver metro area effort!

Neighborhood Spotlight: West Colfax

Nowadays the streets of West Colfax are filled with shopping centers, healthcare facilities and commercial offices that blend with residences in this Hispanic and Asian multi-ethnic neighborhood. However, more than 100 years ago, West Colfax developed as the residential and commercial home of Denver’s original Jewish population.

Colfax long served as a route for travel and trade through Denver. Westward travelers used the Golden Road as a way to the mountains, meeting wagons of hay and other agricultural goods destined for Denver. With the turn of the century, West Colfax and other Westside neighborhoods were fast becoming the heart of a vibrant, working-class community. With immigrants from the eastern United States, as well as more recent arrivals from central and eastern Europe, the neighborhood of modest homes and small businesses was a distinctly Jewish community.

Today, West Colfax is identified by the Piton Foundation as one of the city’s at-risk neighborhoods, with residents who are younger, poorer, and less educated than those who reside in almost any other Denver neighborhood. But, as a recent study suggests, West Colfax is also a neighborhood of diverse households -- poor, rich, and the degrees between -- who have decided to make it home, and one local publication recently designated it as a up-and-coming city neighborhood. Light rail construction, redevelopment of St. Anthony Central Hospital, a new library decades after the closure of the beloved Dickinson branch, and the neighborhood’s proximity to downtown jobs and amenities offer the prospect of renaissance.

This history of West Colfax provided by Dr. Jeanne Abrams, Director of the Peryle H. and Ira M. Beck Memorial Archives Beck Archives, through the Denver Public Library.  Read the full article here.

To learn more about the West Colfax Association of Neighbors (WeCAN) and their participation in the Sustainable Neighborhoods Program, click here.

For more information, check out our website - http://www.extremecommunitymakeover.org/About/WestColfax.aspx.

Large Item Pickup

Large Item Pickup

Denver residents that have trash service provided by the City & County of Denver/Solid Waste Management may have large items (such as furniture and mattresses) picked up on a six-week rotation schedule. This is referred to as Large Item Pickup (LIP) collection service.  LIP collection service is based on the type of trash collection provided by Solid Waste Management.

Follow these general guidelines when setting out LIP items:

• 7 AM - LIP items should be set out by 7 AM according to Your Pickup Schedule on type of trash service.
• 4 feet away - LIP items should be placed 4 feet away from the trash cans, dumpsters or other obstructions (recycling carts, cars, poles, mailboxes, etc).
• 5 items - A maximum of five large items (furniture, etc.) will be collected per LIP cycle (every nine weeks) per household.  
• If you would prefer to see your large items reused or recycled, visit the Recycling Directory for drop site locations for things like mattresses, furniture and yard debris.

SERVICE TYPE	SET-OUT DAY FOR LIP ITEMS
CART	Regular day of service during assigned LIP week.
MANUAL	Regular day of service during assigned LIP week.
DUMPSTER	Monday during assigned LIP week.  The LIP items will be collected sometime during the week.  The LIP truck will go through the alley once during the scheduled LIP week.

Materials NOT accepted with trash collection

Do not place these items in your trash or set out for Large Item Pickup:

• Construction and building materials
• Wood boards or drywall sheets
• Automotive fluids, parts or materials
• Car tires or batteries
• Electronics (televisions, computers)
• Commercial, industrial or medical waste
• Hazardous waste or chemicals

Visit the Recycling Directory to find collection alternatives for these materials.

Denvergov.org