Volunteer Testimonial, DU Alumni

The DU Alumni have been volunteering with Extreme Community Makeover for about 8 years. We appreciate their hard work and partnership. Together, we are making a difference in Denver one block at time.

The First Work Day of the Year

The Extreme Community Makeover team kicked off the spring season last week with our first work day of the year! Saturday, April 11^th we were out in the Barnum district of Denver with a group of dedicated volunteers and plenty of alley clean up, park cleanup and individual resident work.

The day started at Bethany United Methodist Church, who was gracious enough to allow ECM to use their facility as our base. Volunteers joined us from AmeriCorp, Heritage High School’s student council group, as well as plenty of individuals looking to lend a hand. The teams were deployed around Barnum with roughly 15 different projects to complete during the day. 

One of the more memorable projects of the day was the Cedar Park clean up. A small, corner lot park that needed some love after the winter months. ECM transformed Cedar Park from an overgrown, weed covered lot, into a freshly mowed and manicured park for summer. During our work at the park, I had the opportunity to chat with April Crumley, a passionate, caring resident of Barnum and fantastic supporter of ECM. Between pulling weeds and raking, April told us stories of the history of Barnum. She covered the legends of Barnum & Bailey owning elephants in the area, and educated us on the history of Civil War General Hooker, from whom Hooker Street takes its name.

Talking with April, you could feel her passion for her neighborhood. She spoke so highly of the area, the residents and the potential at every corner. She also told us about the non-profit she leads, Concerned Citizens for Barnum. Since 1974, this neighborhood organization has had the mission to promote community responsibility through informed and active participation of citizens in their local government by implementation of positive, patriotic, fraternal, historical and educational objectives and to preserve and strengthen unity among its members, and in our community by promoting good health welfare, and environmental beautification. It was incredible to hear that for 40 years, April has been working on the improvement of Barnum.

Working alongside April to help clean up Barnum gave myself, and other volunteers an incredible sense of pride. It quickly became more than just a ‘work day’ because you could see and discuss how ECM’s efforts were impacting the residents. Like-minded people, working on a shared vision for one of Denver’s incredible neighborhoods.

We can’t wait for more work days, more neighborhoods, and more people like April.

~Adam, ECM Communications Team

4.11.15 ECM Work Day - Barnum Neighborhood

AmeriCorps NCCC

Heritage High School Student Government

Individuals

Summary of 4.11.15 ECM Work Day:

• Volunteers Participated - 55
• Projects Completed - 8
• Alleys Cleaned - 3
• Volunteer Hours - 245

Getting Around Denver and Going Green

Denver has a lot of options when it comes to transportation. We have bus stops throughout the city and the light rail. Plus, taxis run around the city and Uber is making it's rounds. There are also some cool services for transportation sharing that will save you money and help the environment.

eGo CarShare

If you don't have a car, there is eGo CarShare. If you are a member, you can participate and find a car to use on the map. You can use their mobile site or the phone to reserve a vehicle at one of their nearby locations. eGo CarShare has over 40 locations to choose from in Denver and Boulder, and over 20 different types of vehicles ranging from the spunky Honda Fit and the classic Prius to  workhorse trucks and minivans.

Car2Go 

Car2Go is similar to eGo CarShare. When you sign up, you get a member card that allows you to have access to the vehicles parked throughout the city. You can locate a nearby Car2Go with your smartphone. Then, take it, drive it and then park it.

B-cycle 

If you'd rather ride a back then drive a car, there is B-cycle. Denver B-cycle has B-stations throughout Downtown Denver, the Highlands, Capitol Hill, Uptown, Cherry Creek, Congress Park, City Park, Baker, Washington Park and University of Denver neighborhoods. You can check out a B-cycle from any B-station, and return it to any other B-station or make a round-trip to the same one.

Make sure to take advantage of all Denver's diverse transportation options. Getting around Denver can be fun and you can GoGreen while getting to where you need to go. 

Photo: By Greg Goebel from Loveland CO, USA (Yvltr_1b  Uploaded by High Contrast) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Extreme Teams, Projects Team

Meet Brandon. Brandon is on the Extreme Teams, Projects Team. The Projects Team supervises projects during Work Days while being available to answer questions, troubleshoot problems, and ensure projects are completed, while stepping in as a Project Leader when groups are unable to identify someone for that role.

Find out more about volunteering on the Extreme Teams.

April Extreme Endeavors: Impacting Denver Neighborhoods Together

Extreme Community Makeover Newsletter  April Extreme Endeavors April 2015

In This Issue Give Our Tools A Home Go: Westwood: Sat Apr 25 Spring Kick-Off Synopsis Infographic 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 As we move into this season of regularly scheduled Work Days and projects starting up again this month, I am continually amazed and encouraged to see how many generous people there are who live in the Denver area and who travel many miles to be part of our projects.  It's people like you who give their time to lend a helping hand to a neighbor, who get a gallon of paint to complete a house painting project, and who pick up a shovel and dig in to make an impact in your local community. Thank you for being part of Extreme Community Makeover and making the work we do possible. I am looking forward to another great year of impacting Denver neighborhoods together "one block at a time"!   Angela Bomgaars, Executive Director  ECM Work Days ECM Work Days are starting this Saturday!  We are expecting great weather and a great turnout.  If you want to join as an individual, click here to register.  If you want to get a group involved for a future Work Day, click here for the calendar of dates and then click here to register.    Saturday, April 11 - 9:00 am (Barnum) 3501 West 1st Avenue, Denver, 80219 - Bethany United Methodist Church     Saturday, April 25 - 8:30 am (Westwood) 2707 West Mississippi Avenue, Denver, 80219 - Crossroads of the Rockies

Give Our Tools A Home We are in the final days of our campaign to give our tools a home.  Can we count on you to join us by this Friday, April 10?  Click here for more details.  Thanks in advance for your support!     Go: Westwood: Sat Apr 25  On Saturday, April 25, we're expecting around 500 people to participate in the Go: Westwood project, which will include many residents from Westwood.  Tackling projects such as alley clean-up, art projects in the alleys, bus stop clean-up, garden planting, graffiti removal, and Morrison Road clean-up, volunteers will have a chance to make a significant difference in one day with so many hands working together.  Contact Angela if you want to get involved!       Spring Kick-Off Synopsis We had a great time at our recent Spring Kick-Off event at Converge Denver, which provided a great atmosphere for sharing stories, talking about goals for this year, while enjoying delicious food and drinks from Coyote Gold Margaritas, Jake's Food and Spirits, and Jim 'N Nick's BBQ.  Thank you to everyone who attended and learned more about how to get involved in ECM this year through participating in the Extreme Teams or joining the Neighbor to Neighbor Club.  To see photos from the event, click here.                   Infographic Through a recent design contest through with 99designs, we now have an infographic that summarizes the impact Extreme Community Makeover has had in Denver neighborhoods during the past seven years.  Check it out!

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

Help Find Our Tools A Home

We need your help to give our tools a home for our ECM Work Days. Having a place to keep our tools safe and easily accessible is very important to the success of our ECM Work Days. Our first work day is coming up Saturday, April 11th and we need a shed that will allow our volunteers to easily access tools and store them safely at the end of the day.  Currently our tools are homeless and have temporary shelter in a friend's basement... Your gift will help us create a home for our tools in a shed near our project locations.  Help us reach $4,000 by April 10th. Thank you for your support!

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