Happy New Year Neighbors

 

Dear Friends and Neighbors, 
 

2017 was a busy year in West Colfax! WeCAN...

•  Participated in two neighborhood clean-up days with Extreme Community Makeover
• Planted trees in the spring for neighbors with Denver Digs Trees
• Held down a water station for the Colfax Marathon
• Collected diaper and food donations for Bienvenidos Food Bank
• Collected school supplies for Cheltenham and Colfax Elementary
• Celebrated the 1st anniversary of the WeCAN Running Club 

WeCAN held 9 General Membership meetings in 2017, helping to educate neighbors on the issues here in West Colfax. Topics included...

• Sustainability workshops, including Master Composting and Gardening
• Updates from the West Colfax Food Coop, Little Man Ice Cream, Girls Inc., Even Stevens, Bienvenidos Food Bank, and Earthlinks
• Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design and regular updates from DPD District 1 Community Resource Officer Bob Anderson
• Panel discussions on Denver Ordinance 300 - social marijuana use and Lakewood Gulch Safety & Homeless Outreach
• Housing development projects coming into the neighborhood.
• Introductions to local school principals.
• Updates from West Colfax representatives, including Rafael Espinoza, Paul Lopez, and Dan Pabon
• Information on ballot issues voters faced this year, including the Denver GO Bond

WeCAN is looking forward to bringing all of these things back to West Colfax in 2018, and hope you will be a part of them! 
 

Kind Regards,

Leah Rounds & Dave Justice

WeCAN Co-Presidents

Volunteer Opportunities in 2018

Meet some neighbors and help out right here in your West Colfax neighborhood. Here's a snap shot of what is coming in 2018 for WeCAN and other ways you can get involved.

• West Colfax Clean-up Days in May and October
• Tree planting in April
• Colfax Water Station in May
• Join the Social Planning Committee: We need neighbors to help plan our Barfly Social Hour and other special events that come up during the year.
• Join our Board of Directors: If you like knowing what's happening in the neighborhood and being part of the voice to move it forward, considering becoming an At-Large Board Member.

Denver Public Library has been opening ideaLABs across branches for 4 years now, with spaces at the Central, Montbello, Hampden and Hadley libraries - and one opening on the first floor of the Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales Branch Library in late 2018.

What are ideaLABs? They are makerspaces: free community spaces to make things, for people of all ages. Do you need to produce videos, repair something, make jewelry, sew, or learn about electronics?  The ideaLABs aim provide the tools, resources, and community you need to make your projects happen. 

What are the things you're already making at home? What could we have at the library that would let you take that to the next level? Would you like access to sewing machines? Access to a laser cutter or 3D printer? Are there specialized tools you've always wanted to lay your hands on? Please let us know - we'll be come to the January 9 General Meeting to provide feedback! Or leave feedback through a form at http://bit.ly/gonidealab. 

Slot Home Task Force Presentation

The Slot Home Task Force is about to make its final recommendation and will have draft language ready for public review in January. Senior City Planner for the City and County of Denver, Analiese Hock, who is the lead planner for the task force, will be at our January 9 meeting to give an update. Learn more at www.denver.org/slothomes.

WeCAN Running Club, Mondays, 6:30pm
@Seedstock Brewery

Conversations in the Community with Councilman Rafael Espinoza

City Council District 1 Representative, Rafael Espinoza, hosts several Conversations in the Community every month. This is an opportunity to chat and ask questions of one of the West Colfax Representatives. Here is the schedule for January

Friday, January 5th: 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Common Grounds Coffeehouse, 2139 W 44th Ave.

Friday, January 12th: 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Pinwheel Coffee, 3659 Navajo St.

Wednesday, January 17th: 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Tenn Street Coffee, 4418 Tennyson St.

Friday, January 26th: 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Highland Recreation Center, 2880 Osceola St.


The West Colfax neighborhood is represented by Councilman Espinoza in District 1 and Councilman Lopez in District 3. Please reference the map to see who your Denver City Council Representative is!