The LWVD Newsletter
May 2024 | 
Tuesday!
Who Should Attend?
This is a highly requested member event we strive to hold with each new city council. As members of the League, you won't want to miss this opportunity to connect with your local representatives. We welcome and encourage guests! If you know a business owner, community organization, or young professionals or students, please invite them!
New Council Members Invited:
Diana Romero - District 4
Flor Alvidrez - District 7
Shontel Lewis - District 8
Darrell Watson - District 9
Sarah Parady - At Large
Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez - At Large
Don't miss this opportunity to meet the dedicated individuals who work tirelessly to make our city a better place for all. Together, let's build bridges and strengthen our community. We look forward to seeing you there!
Questions?
Contact Cassie Bishop, Marty Sloven, or Cindy Sestrich |
Saturday, May 18, 8:45 - 11:30 a.m.
Montview Blvd. Presbyterian Church
Speaker: Sara Hazel, CEO of the Denver Public Schools Foundation
Register Here
The Denver Public Schools Foundation was founded in 1992 as the fundraising partner for the city's public school system. Sara Hazel, its current President and CEO, will speak about the history, purpose and accomplishments of the foundation. Focusing on this past year's challenge for our public schools of a rapid influx of migrant families, Ms. Hazel will describe the New Arrivals, Student and Family Fund.
Sara is a proud DPS parent, advocate for public education, and a community builder. She has 20 years of nonprofit development and leadership experience. Sara has worked at global, national, and local organizations, including The Red Cross, The American Cancer Society, and Girls Inc. of Metro Denver. Sara joined the DPS Foundation in May of 2020 as the Vice President of Development & Impact, and also served as Interim CEO from June 2021 through February 2022. Sara was appointed President & CEO in February 2024.
As a reminder, we will begin our morning with a light continental breakfast at 8:45 a.m. followed by our speaker at 9:30 a.m. and then finally the business meeting, all to be finished before noon.
The business part of the meeting will include approval of the 2024-25 budget and the slate of officers. You should have received the budget in last Thursday's Update. A highlight of the meeting is always the member awards. In addition this year, we will recognize Peter Esseveld, our bulb supplier of more than 30 years, and Ellie White, creator of a recruitment video for the Denver League. We hope to be able to share the video as well.
Member input is always welcome and encouraged, but especially at Annual Meeting. The Board is open to new directions and ideas of interest to members and ways to increase our membership.
Please plan to attend and register early for this event so that we can plan the breakfast. Although there is no charge for the breakfast, we will have a voluntary donation jar available that day.
| April Briefing Recap
In April of 2023, LWVD welcomed Mark Donovan, Founder, to speak about the newly instituted Denver Basic Income Project (DBIP). Such programs to give unrestricted money to individuals or families to address poverty have been in place in other cities, but Denver’s is the first to work specifically with the unhoused. This project was done in collaboration with the University of Denver’s Center on Housing and Homelessness to create a randomized trial of distribution in order to collect valid data on the Project’s impact.
For an update on DBIP’s progress, LWVD’s Program Committee invited Maria Sierra, its Manager of Community Outreach, to share the results so far. As of March, 2024, $6.8 million has been distributed to about 800 previously unhoused people in Denver. DBIP also distributes pre-paid smart phones to all participants and provides workshops on such topics as job search and access to childcare.
While the official results of the research will not come out until June, the data collected indicated that many of them were now living in rental or owned housing and a large number had secured full-time employment. In addition, reductions were seen in the use of outside social services and visits to emergency rooms. Participants also reported significant reduction in anxiety (improved mental health), all of which benefits taxpayers. DBIP has secured $2 million in continued funding from City Council and has approached Mayor Johnston for an additional $2 million.
When asked how Leaguers can assist DBIP, Ms. Sierra stated that we could contact our City Council Members to state our support for continuing the project. (A perfect opportunity for that: Come to our “Meet Your New City Council Members” get together on April 30.) Holding public education programs such as our briefing are important in the effort to dispel myths about the capacity for people living in poverty to make decisions themselves on the best ways to use funds to improve the stability of their lives.
Ms. Sierra will send LWVD the link to the June report and you can go online now to our website lwvdenver.org to view her slides and hear her presentation.
Susan Stark, Director of Program |
LWV Denver’s Premiere Fundraiser
OUR 2024 INDOOR BULB SALE STARTS MAY 6!
Beginning May 6, you may order beautiful Holland, Jumbo Holland and Southern Hemisphere Amaryllis bulbs!
We’re also offering two impressive Paperwhite varieties, one of which has less fragrance.
These high-quality bulbs make wonderful gifts.
Bulbs arrive in October in time for your holiday giving!
Order online beginning May 6!
Or print an Order Form and send with your check to LWV Denver, 1980 Dahlia St., Denver. CO 80220
If you’d like a Bulb Sale Packet for distribution to friends and neighbors, call Barb Mattison, 303-322-4878, or Marty Sloven, 303-333-3148.
Buy Bulbs/Give Bulbs
and
Support the League of Women Voters of Denver
The League of Women Voters of Denver is critical to maintaining and strengthening Democracy in our city.The League is valued for our ongoing non-partisan work, public information and education, and highly effective action and advocacy. Our support comes from members and the community. Help the League remain strong!
Join this Fundraising effort!
Thank you!
Barb Mattison, Bulb Sale 2024 Chair
| Voter Service
April Voter Registration Events
So far this month we have visited three Denver Public Schools high schools – Legacy Options, Montbello Career and Technical, and Montbello High School. We’ll also be visiting Northfield High School and MLK Early College. Three Brookdale residential facilities have opened their doors for voter registration, which often involves a change of address for recent arrivals. Kudos to circulators who’ve assisted in April: Renee Ruderman, Cordelia Lee, Kay Taylor, Rita Hughes, Wanda Lennox, Bob Bassett, Gail Goss-Brown, Elsie Haley, Nina Churchman, Emily Meyer, Bonnie Saliman, Jeanette Scotland, and Linda Siderius.
And many thanks to our Circulator Trainers Jeanette Scotland and Anne Duncan. They have hosted a whopping nine training events so far in 2024 and we now have 40 (count ‘em – forty) circulators to support LWV Denver Voter Registration Drives!
Please Join Our Voter Service Committee
Looking for a meaningful volunteer activity? Consider joining the Voter Service Committee which meets virtually the 4th Monday of the month at 5:00 p.m. Opportunities include helping to coordinate voter registration events, organizing the ballot issue speaker’s bureau, or being our Vote411 Information Coordinator. If you’re interested or have questions, please contact Lisa Haddox at lisa.m.haddox@gmail.com.
Lisa Haddox, Voter Service Chair | In Memoriam
We were sorry to see that League Member Saletha “Sally” Isaacson passed away March 23. Those of us who attended in-person briefings will remember Sally as an interesting, outspoken person who asked excellent questions. Her obituary indicated that she was “worried about the future of democracy.” She will be missed.
We were also saddened to hear of the death of Joyce Solomon on April 10, long-time member of the Southwest Unit. Joyce joined the Denver League as soon as she and her husband moved to Denver from New York in 1977. She was a dedicated volunteer, an art expert, and an artist in her own right. We heard she ran a dramatic and successful White Elephant auction for the unit’s Unit Pledge every year. She, too, will be missed. | 
Read Speak, Okinawa by Elizabeth Miki Brina and join us: a “hauntingly beautiful memoir about family and identity” (NPR) and a young woman’s journey to understanding her complicated parents—her mother an Okinawan war bride, her father a Vietnam veteran—and her own, fraught cultural heritage.
This is a great new way for Leaguers to engage. All are welcome!
RSVP
Cassandra Bishop, Membership Chair
| Welcome New Members
Naomi Almond, zip code 80205, anardentmoon@gmail.com
Melissa Mann, zip code 80206, melissamanndesign@gmail.com
Carol Rinaldi, zip code 80247, carolrinaldi1@gmail.com
Susan Schwellenbach, zip code 80206, sueschwellenbach@gmail.com
Lara Widger, zip code 80204, lara.a.widger@gmail.com
| VOTER Articles Welcome!
We welcome articles from all members. We usually publish the VOTER on the fourth Thursday, so the deadline to submit articles is the Friday before.
| VOTER |
Article Deadline |
Voter Publication Date |
| Summer |
TBD |
TBD |
| September |
Friday, August 16 |
Thursday, August 22 |
Please send your articles or ideas about articles to pzelarney@yahoo.com. | LWV Denver Units
A great place for meaningful conversations
Although two of our units have concluded meetings for this spring, two are having potlucks where (or at which) you would be welcome. Just let the Unit Leaders know you would like to attend.
Cheesman Unit: They will meet for a potluck Friday, June 7, at 5:00 p.m. at the home of Bobbie Heisterkamp. Bobbie is also the Unit Leader (303-333-6818).
Cherrington Unit: They will meet for a potluck Thursday, May 9, at noon at the home of Marty Sloven, followed by a trip to the Central-70 Cover Park, weather permitting. The unit members are curious to see for themselves the park featured in the January briefing on the I-70 Corridor air pollution. Unit Leader is Peg Oldham (720-220-3988).
| Consider a Sustaining or Benefactor Membership
We appreciate all those who pay $60 to be a member. However, the LWV Denver can only keep $8 of that $60 and the rest goes to Per Member Payments to the LWVCO and LWVUS. For those who are able, think about paying a sustaining $125 membership that gives the LWV Denver $73 or a benefactor $300 membership that gives the LWV Denver $248 to use for our education activities, to support our office and to continue our voter service resources for the city of Denver. Thank you!
Bobbie Heisterkamp, Treasurer
| Please Renew Your Membership or
Become a Member Today
If you received this email VOTER and are not a member, please consider joining us. If it's time to renew your membership, consider doing it online.
Follow this link to join or renew at one of our membership levels and remember that it covers Denver, Colorado and National membership. Also, please consider renewing at the sustaining or benefactor membership level. Membership dues are tax deductible.
| Regular Individual Membership |
$60 |
| Sustaining membership (includes an additional donation) |
$125 |
| Benefactor membership (includes additional donation)
|
$300 |
Two regular members at the same address
|
$90 |
| Two sustaining members at the same address (includes an additional donation) |
$150 |
| Two benefactor members at the same address (includes an additional donation)
|
$450 |
Member needing assistance with paying dues
|
$5 |
| Part or full-time student |
$10 |
Members: Forward this VOTER and encourage your friends and neighbors to join! | | 1980 Dahlia Street, Denver, CO 80220
303-321-7571 | | | |