Óscar A. Contreras is a Murrow-nominated journalist who has been writing for the E.W. Scripps Company since January 2014.
DENVER — Below is the State of the City address delivered by Denver Mayor Mike Johnston on July 22, 2024, at the historic Paramount Theatre, in its entirety. For a breakdown of the speech, head here.
We partnered with the city council to identify, build, and open 1,200 units of transitional housing in 8 different council districts across the city, and at each of those sites we have offered the wrap-around services people need. A dream that seemed impossible a year ago, that we could find a path to end street homelessness in the next four years, now feels more possible than ever.
I would always rather be disappointed by believing in each other, than affirmed by doubting each other.As we were working to get 1,000 unhoused individuals off the streets, 30,000 newcomers arrived in our streets in the last year. Many of them arrived in the middle of winter with sandals and a t-shirt, hungry, and thirsty and tired, without money or a job or shelter.
The people of this city responded in heroic ways. With the partnership of the City Council and the leadership of former President Torres and incoming President Sandoval, we rose to the occasion, working with incredible non-profit partners like Yoli Casas and community organizations like the Highland Moms. People stepped up, they cooked food for families, cleaned out their closets for clothes, they even welcomed families into their homes.
Families like Daniela’s. After she arrived in one of our shelters, she and her husband applied for work authorization, which they both received. Her husband started working as a chef in a local restaurant, and she started this spring as one of the founding teachers at the school that Vive Wellness opened at the Mullen Home in Northwest Denver to welcome and teach the children of newcomers.
We will launch 25 community events and pop up activities that bring joy and vibrancy to streets that could otherwise be dark and dangerous. We know that the best way to stop crime is to prevent it, and the best way to prevent crime is to build trust. So we will start a new practice of trust patrols, where officers can get out of the patrol car and walk into a business or a rec center or a park, and talk to neighbors to find out what’s working, what’s not and what we can do better.
When we took the oath of office a year ago, Courtney had a vision to bring Denver together around that spirit of service, and today, we are proud to launch the effort she has committed to make part of our legacy. This program, Give5 Mile High, is based on a simple idea: we all can serve, and our city is better when we do. We will ask every Denverite to give 5 hours of their time each month to serve our city and our neighbors.
That is why this year we will launch our Vibrant Downtown campaign to make the largest ever investment in downtown without raising taxes. We will use these resources to turn downtown from a central business district to a central neighborhood district, complete with affordable housing, public parks, child care, great retail, restaurants, art and music and walkable activated streets where you can get lost in a vibrant world you can only find in Denver.
She is not the only one awake, down the street there is a grandmother who retired from 40 years of teaching school to move to Denver to be close to her grandkids. She gets to see every flag football game and volunteer in their classrooms, help pick out a dress for the middle school dance, and host dinner and sleepovers when her daughter has to work late. But the rents keep going up and her fixed income retirement does not.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston's 2024 State Of The Cit Denver Mayor Mike Johnston's Full 2024 State Of Th Read Denver Mayor Mike Johnston's Full 2024 State Denver 2024 State Of The City Address Full Denver State Of The City Address Denver State Of The City Address 2024 Denver State Of The City Address Full Denver State Of The City Address Full 2024
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