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Denver police are handing out gift certificates to auto parts stores instead of 'fix-it' tickets

via Pexels

Imagine if you were driving around, saw the flashing lights of a cop car behind you, and didn't immediately think you were in trouble. What if your first thought was that someone was here to help instead of giving you a ticket.

That'd be pretty great, right?

Police in Denver, Colorado have a new program designed to improve public safety as well as the relationship between the police and those they serve and it's something everyone can get behind. Instead of issuing tickets, officers will now have the option to hand out $25 gift cards in situations where people are pulled over for minor "fix-it" violations.

The program is a partnership with Advance Auto Parts which donated 100 $25 gift cards to the police department.

Advance Auto Parts is teaming up with #DPD to increase vehicle safety for motorists in #Denver by providing officer… https://t.co/lZ4Qqsu1MK
— Denver Police Dept. (@Denver Police Dept.) 1627069819.0

"Working together is how we create stronger communities, and stronger communities are safer communities," Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen said during the announcement.

The Denver Police Department has already begun handing out the gift cards and the response has been very positive for all involved. It has to be a lot more rewarding for a police officer to shock someone with a gift card instead of ruining their day with a fix-it ticket.

"We've done this already. One of our traffic officers has pulled some folks over to give them warnings on defective vehicles, handed them a card, instead of a ticket, and the smile that these folks have, not only the motorist but also the officer," Chief Pazen said.

"So, Advance Auto Parts' donation not only helps us get greater compliance with the motoring public, but it also helps us build and strengthen relationships with our community," the Chief continued.

Advance Auto Parts sees the program as a way to improve public safety as well.

"I think the importance of ensuring that the vehicles are safe going down the road prevents other things from happening," a representative from the company said.

It's unclear whether the program will last once the 100 gift cards are given away.

Let's face it, the big reason that many people drive with a broken head or tail light is they may not have the money to fix their car, but they still have to get from point A to point B. By giving them a gift card, police help to lift them up instead of turning them into criminals.

A fix-it ticket that doesn't get taken care of on time in some states can cost people a few hundred dollars. In some places, it can even lead to jail time.

The partnership between the Denver Police and Advance Auto Parts is a great reminder that protecting and serving the public can sometimes mean giving them a leg up instead of issuing a fine or worse. Let's hope the program continues in Denver and beyond and can help heal the frayed relationship between citizens and law enforcement.

From Your Site Articles

Denver donates bison to Cheyenne and Arapaho nations, citing conservation and reparation

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Prior to European colonization of North America, millions of bison roamed the Great Plains. By the turn of the 20th century, those numbers had dropped to less than 1,000. The deliberate decimation of buffalo herds was a direct attack on the Native American people, who colonizers saw as an obstacle to their "Manifest Destiny," and who the U.S. government engaged in a systematic attempt to eliminate or force into docile submission.

For thousands of years, bison were a sacred, inseparable part of life for Indigenous tribes of the Great Plains, used for food, shelter, utensils, and clothing, in addition to spiritual and emotional well-being. Wiping out the bison population nearly wiped out the Native tribes they were connected to.

Though bison numbers have increased significantly thanks to conservation efforts, governments are still grappling with the ugly legacy, and some municipalities are taking steps to try to repair some of the damage done. As one example, the city of Denver, Colorado has taken the step of giving some of the city's bison population managed by Denver Parks and Recreation to Native American tribes engaged in bison conservation efforts.

In a unanimous 13-0 vote, Denver City Council gave the final approval Monday to donate 13 buffalo—around half of which are pregnant—to the Cheyenne and Arapaho nations in Oklahoma and one buffalo to Tall Bull Memorial Council in Colorado. In addition, Denver Parks and Recreation will no longer hold its annual auction to keep its bison herds at a healthy population size and ensure genetic diversity, but rather will work with tribal partners through the year 2030 to give surplus bison to Native tribes across the country to enhance conservation herds on tribal lands.

"This donation is the result and culmination of a very long, storied history and relationship with the State of Colorado," Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes Governor Reggie Wassana told 9 News. "The Tribes plan to use the donated bison as a cultural, conservation and educational resource, with the goal of locating the bison on our own tribal natural plains habitat."

"We appreciate this gift and hope to grow our relationship with the great state of Colorado," said Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes Lt. Governor Gilbert Miles.

Denver Councilwoman Pro Tem Jamie Torres told 9 News she was "proud and honored" to carry the ordinance forward.

"This is a unique opportunity to not only return the bison to tribes across the country and support their conservation efforts but to honor those who have cared for these ancestral lands before us," she said. "The land acknowledgment we adopted in 2020 asks us to work to dismantle legacies of oppression and inequity, and today we are doing that."

The land acknowledgment, which is read at each city council meeting following the Pledge of Allegiance, reads:

"The Denver City Council honors and acknowledges that the land on which we reside is the traditional territory of the Ute, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Peoples. We also recognize the 48 contemporary tribal nations that are historically tied to the lands that make up the state of Colorado.

"We honor Elders past, present, and future, and those who have stewarded this land throughout generations. We also recognize that government, academic and cultural institutions were founded upon and continue to enact exclusions and erasures of Indigenous Peoples.

"May this acknowledgment demonstrate a commitment to working to dismantle ongoing legacies of oppression and inequities and recognize the current and future contributions of Indigenous communities in Denver."

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock also acknowledged the significance of the ordinance, according to NPR, seeing the annual donations as one form of reparation.

"I don't think it's ever too late to acknowledge the challenges and the wrongs of the past," he said. "We got a chance to simply apologize, acknowledge the challenges of the past and to forge a relationship going forward that allows us to exercise our common objectives around the conservation of the tribal lands and of these animals."

Nathan Hart, executive director of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes' business department who oversees the tribe's herd of 530 buffalo, told NPR that the city's donation will help the tribes toward their goal of sustaining a herd of 800.

"Everybody's really excited to grow the herd with this addition," Hart says. "The bison was very significant to our well-being in the past — we have still have a lot of respect for the animal."

He also credits the bison for the tribes' relationship-building with Denver's city officials.

"We're developing these relationships because of the bison," he says. "That's what brought us together ... it all came from the bison themselves."

Beautiful. Here's to seeing more of these restoration and conservation efforts in the future.

From Your Site Articles

This woman was struggling to find fresh food. She never expected this solution.

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How do you get healthy food on the table when you can't find any?

This is a question that Ortilia Lujan Flores had grappled with many times before.

She wanted affordable, nutritious food, but lived in a neighborhood that didn’t have an accessible grocery store.

Flores couldn't drive, which limited the few food options she had. "There was nowhere to go," she explains.

All images via Upworthy.

Flores isn't the only one that's struggled with this problem —41 million Americans don't have consistent access to nutritious food.

But when she moved to Denver's Elyria-Swansea neighborhood, she discovered a nonprofit that made all the difference.

This nonprofit is called The GrowHaus, and it takes a community-led approach to tackling food insecurity by giving neighbors the tools they need to improve their access food.

The GrowHaus knew that their community's challenges went far beyond a lack of grocery stores. They looked at everything from local food production to food waste and education, and they found that the issues residents were struggling with all seemed to be connected.

Food rescue is changing this neighborhood
They recover and deliver nutritious food to community members that need it most. For free. 🙌
Posted by Upworthy on Thursday, August 30, 2018

To address the food crisis in their community, then, they needed to think bigger.

That's why The GrowHaus partnered with Denver Food Rescue, an organization that rescues food from donors (like stores and restaurants). Volunteers travel by bike and deliver that rescued food to The GrowHaus, where volunteers then distribute it to local families — ensuring it can be eaten rather than thrown away.

And that's no small potatoes. According to a recent report by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), supported by The Rockefeller Foundation, there's great potential to expand food rescue in Denver.

The NRDC found that under optimal conditions, 4,232 tons of additional food could be rescued each year — equivalent to 7.1 million meals — from retail, institutional and restaurant locations within the city. When organizations like The GrowHaus take advantage of rescued food, everybody wins.

But that was just the beginning of their efforts. The GrowHaus also wanted to ensure that residents like Flores could actually access fresh food more conveniently, too.

So they established a neighborhood market, Mercado de al Lado, which has fresh produce as well as meat and dairy products, most of which is organic and/or local. The market uses a tiered pricing system to ensure that the food is accessible to everyone, including SNAP recipients.

"I saw that they sell organic, nutritious things," Flores explains. She was surprised to see this kind of food in her neighborhood, especially after struggling to find it for so long.

The GrowHaus also has a solution for residents, like Flores, who can't drive to the market. They offer a weekly food box filled with fresh fruits, vegetables, and dry goods sourced from as many local farms as possible and deliver right to their doors at affordable prices.

"It has what people need," Flores says. "Vegetables, potatoes, sometimes they bring eggs. So, things that nourish us."

If you're not a cooking aficionado, The GrowHaus also offers weekly bilingual cooking classes. Every week, volunteer nutritionists teach residents about the importance of healthy eating and how to prepare different foods.

After sharing a meal together, participants get to fill a box with produce to take home from The GrowHaus' free food pantry. By sharing unsold produce from their market, The Growhaus helps to ensure the sustainability of their own food system.

The GrowHaus is even growing their own food and empowering other residents to do the same.

They now have multiple urban farms, all of which focus on sustainability and education.

There's a hydroponics farm, which grows plants in a nutrient solution or in eco-friendly perlite or gravel instead of soil. The farm produces around 1,200 heads of leafy greens per weekbut manages to use 90% less water than a conventional farm.

They also have a seedling nursery to help residents establish their own gardens. And for community members still working on their green thumbs, there's a Growasis — a permaculture farm. Here, residents can also learn more about sustainable practices, like how to compost or even raise chickens.

"They are always looking at what we need," Flores explains.

Tackling food insecurity isn't easy. But thanks to organizations like The GrowHaus, people like Flores are able to create their own solutions.

Community members in Elyria-Swansea are now growing their own food, educating one another about nutrition, feeding their neighbors, and best of all, ensuring that everyone has a seat at the table, no matter who they are.

Up to 40% of food is wasted in the United States, yet millions of people are unsure where their next meal is coming from. Redistributing just 15% of the food that is currently discarded could feed 25 million people.

And The GrowHaus hopes that by modeling that impact, they'll show what is possible for communities around the country.

For more than 100 years, The Rockefeller Foundation’s mission has been to promote the well-being of humanity throughout the world. Together with partners and grantees, The Rockefeller Foundation strives to catalyze and scale transformative innovations, create unlikely partnerships that span sectors, and take risks others cannot – or will not.

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High schoolers actually look forward to this unique class. Mic. Dropped.

True

Let's be honest about something: High school doesn't work for everyone.

And things get even harder if you're a student of color, from a poor family, or are one of the millions of kids who grow up with learning disabilities. All of these variables can put you at a demonstrable disadvantage within the education system.

All images via XQ.

The world needs creative solutions to this problem, and one school has managed to find one — a musical one.

Youth on Record is a nonprofit organization in Denver, Colorado, that gives high school youth access to music training.

"We put professional, local musicians in the classrooms," says Jami Duffy, executive director of Youth on Record. "And they teach for-credit high school classes to the kids with the least amount of credit to make sure that our kids get across that finish line and are ready for college."

These classes range from technical training in music production to discussions of race, class, gender, and social solutions. Many classes also involve the Denver community and feature guest speakers and lecturers from the area.

More than just extra classes, Youth on Record is empowering kids to take control of their own education.

"If I had a music program like this, I'd be more engaged to do my other classes so then I could get to that music classroom," says Israel Juarez, an intern at Youth on Record.

Israel Juarez rapping at Youth on Record, Denver.

By engaging students in areas they're naturally passionate about and teaching them the real-life skills associated with those passions, Youth on Record shows kids that education is about much more than passing a test.

"High school is to develop citizens," says Margarita Bianco, executive director at Pathways2Teaching. "It's not just about mastering a content area so that you can pass a state exam. I want students to feel empowered to share their stories and think of themselves as change agents."

For kids who might normally be left behind, Youth on Record provides an opportunity to get ahead.

The best moments in school are the ones when your natural interests intersect with your education, when you start to think of yourself as talented and special.

Not everyone gets those moments, and they walk away from high school feeling defeated.

Youth on Record is doing something potentially life-changing for their students by helping them discover that they're smart and capable, even when they feel the system has let them down.

The most important lesson of all? Even if traditional school doesn't work for them, there's a bright future ahead.

All you need to do is grab the mic and dictate your story.

Watch these amazing students in action:

They're providing a creative outlet for these teen students — and it's actually helping them excel in other areas of school as well.
Posted by Upworthy on Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Learn more at XQSuperSchool.org.

The people of Aleppo, Syria, are living in a nightmare right now.

Innocent men, women, and children have been caught in the cross fire between the Syrian army, rebels refusing to back down from a tyrant president, and reckless Russian drone strikes. In the eastern part of the city — once a thriving, metropolis home to millions — 50,000 civilians are bunkered up amongst the ruins, living at-risk of being killed in a moment's notice.

On the ground accounts coming out of Aleppo are horrifying. The city has been grappling with unrelenting violence for months. But the UN reports that, in just the past few days, Russian and Syrian forces — which have gained control of nearly all of the city — have slaughtered dozens of civilians. Messages of despair from inside the city walls have gone viral around the world, even as their authors remain helplessly trapped in a besieged city with "nowhere safe to run." Despite a cease-fire on Dec. 13, 2016, ongoing violence reportedly continued the following day.

It's easy to feel hopeless and helpless watching immeasurable heartache unfold continents away. But the people in Aleppo need us now more than ever before, and rallies in cities across the globe are showing us exactly how it's done:

1. In Beruit, protesters with signs reading "Aleppo" in Arabic said a lot without voicing a single a word.

Photo by Bilal Hussein/AP.

2. In London, activists rallied outside Downing Street, urging their leaders to do something to protect the most vulnerable in Syria.

Photo by Daniel Sorabji/AFP/Getty Images.

3. In Kuwait City, protesters held placards with a black "X" through the Russian flag in protest of Moscow's role in Aleppo's devastation.

Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat/AFP/Getty Images.

4. In Denver, residents and lawmakers alike voiced solidarity with the Syrian people, even an ocean away.

Photo by David Zalubowski/AP Photo.

5. In Amman, Jordan, peaceful but determined protesters took aim at the local Russian embassy.

Photo by Muhammad Hamed/Reuters.

6. In Istanbul, people poured into the streets with signs and flags in staunch opposition to Vladimir Putin.

Photo: DHA via AP.

7. In Idlib, Syria — just 40 miles away from Aleppo — protesters pleaded for the outside world to save their neighbors "before it is too late."

Photo by Omar Haj Kadour/AFP/Getty Images.

8. And in Sarajevo, women held dolls in protest of the young children who've been killed at the hands of violence.

Photo by Amel Emric/AP Photo.

Regardless of where you live in the world, you can make a difference.

There are many organizations providing vital services on the ground in and around Aleppo, like search and rescue operations and medical relief for those in desperate need. If you have a dollar to spare, it won't go to waste.

As Malala Yousafzai once said, "When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful."

Even though these tiny houses are as small as backyard sheds, they could make a big difference for homelessness.

Meet 57-year-old Ray Lyall, one of more than 15,000 homeless folks living in Denver.

Photo via Ray Lyall’s Facebook, used with permission.

Ray is a member of a grassroots group called Denver Homeless Out Loud made up of folks who are homeless as well as supporters of the local Denver homeless population. Ray says he's been without a home for nearly three years, and he is most often found at the DHOL office or playing his guitar downtown.

With the cost of living in Denver (and other cities) continuing to rise, affordable housing is a huge issue, especially for those who can’t afford a place to live at all. And while there are many proposed solutions for limiting homelessness, Ray is part of the force behind a very unique and new idea: Creating a tiny home community for Denver’s homeless population.

A completed tiny home in Denver. Photo via DHOL, used with permission.

The tiny houses are only as big as backyard sheds, but some folks think they could make a big difference for homelessness.

Sometime around the late-1990s, minimalist living became trendy, and the tiny house movement was born. Soon after, homeless activists realized that tiny houses could be the perfect storm of a solution: They’re easy to build, cheap, environmentally friendly, and mobile, making them a great option for constructing quickly and inexpensively. It costs about $700 to $1,000 to build a small Conestoga hut, and approximately $2,500 to $5,000 to build a slightly larger tiny house.

Building a tiny house in Denver. Photo via DHOL, used with permission.

Some of the earliest tiny home communities for people experiencing extreme poverty and homelessness started popping up in 2004. You can find projects like the Village of Hope in Fresno, California, and River Haven in Ventura, California. Then, in 2013, Opportunity Village opened in Eugene, Oregon, and Quixote Village launched in Olympia, Washington. More recently, OM Village was constructed in Madison, Wisconsin, in 2014.

But while tiny houses could provide help for homeless people, cities so far have opposed the informal communities.

Denver Homeless Out Loud decided to embrace the small-home strategy in October 2015. They started by building five houses on vacant land, all with full understanding that it was an act of civil disobedience. Not surprisingly, the police were less than thrilled with the impromptu housing development, and on the night of October 24, the Denver Police Department (including the SWAT team) arrested 10 people responsible for the building and coordination of the tiny house community.

Resurrection Village in Denver was named after the “Resurrection City” constructed on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., after Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. Photo via DHOL, used with permission.

Denver isn't alone in this drama: Police have disrupted many of the other tiny home living communities around the country, and government officials aren't thrilled with the idea.

Many folks think tiny homes might not be the perfect solution.

The main concerns against these communities seem to revolve around zoning requirements, building standards, creating a community versus a "ghetto," and resident selection. Some also worry that tiny homes send the message that homeless people are not equal to everyone else.

OM Village in Madison, Wisconsin. Photo via OM Village, used with permission.

An imperfect solution might be better than none at all, however.

“It’s a home, not a shelter. And it’s their home," Ray Lyall explains. "[People] can paint the walls, do whatever they want. We want to give people a 15 by 15 foot plot that is theirs."