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Week of February 3, 2022
DENVER, COLORADO
A publication of
VOLUME 95 | ISSUE 11
Refrigerator, heaters funded by awards Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods’ S.E.E.D. helps fund 8 community projects BY CHRISTY STEADMAN CSTEADMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods, a registered neighborhood organization that serves the greater Capitol Hill area, presented its annual S.E.E.D. awards on
Jan. 6 with a virtual presentation. This is the third year for the S.E.E.D. Awards Program, which exists to help organizations meet immediate funding needs for smaller projects that encourage civic entrepreneurship and/or promote neighborhood engagement. To be awarded S.E.E.D. funding, a project must enhance the greater Capitol Hill community and align with CHUN’s mission and values. S.E.E.D. is an acronym for Smart development, Enrichment, Environmental sustainability, and Diversity in the community. Since the program’s incep-
tion, more than $20,000 has been directed to the community — this year’s amount being $8,000. “The S.E.E.D. awards are an opportunity for our organization to fuel creativity through local solutions and communitybased impact investments,” said Travis Leiker, CHUN’s president and executive director, in a news release. “As Denverites continue to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic and uncertainty on myriad fronts, this initiative is an opportunity for us to make a positive impact. This is how Denverites can come together and make meaningful change.”
2022 S.E.E.D. recipients B-Konnected The project: form partnerships with neighborhood groups to support B-Konnected’s work that focuses on housing access and housing stability by increasing housing retention rates among marginalized renters. Learn more: bkonnected.org Denver Community Fridges The project: Purchase a refrigerator and build a shed with built-in pantry shelves to house the SEE SEED, P6
Denver Woman’s Press Club digs for buried writing talent BY KIRSTEN DAHL COLLINS SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
Winning the Unknown Writers’ Contest sent aerospace engineer Petra Perkins’ career on a new trajectory. “It opened up a new world of possibilities,” said Perkins, who lives in Highlands Ranch and is now a professional writer specializing in memoir. The competition, which is sponsored by the Denver Woman’s Press Club (DWPC), also helped Denver author Corinne Joy Brown launch her career as a novelist. “I felt as if I had been recognized by women I respected and idolized,” she said. “Looking back, it was a life-changing experience.” After a pandemic hiatus, the DWPC is again soliciting entries with a deadline of Feb. 23. All residents of Colorado, aged 18 and older, may enter as long as they have never been professionally published. Founded in 1898, the DWPC is one of the nation’s oldest clubs for
female journalists. While the Unknown Writers’ Contest doesn’t go back quite that far, the competition has been pulling unknown writers out of obscurity for decades. “It is one of my favorite sources of surprise,” said Katherine “Kim” Millett, who serves as the contest’s chairwoman and is a nationallypublished journalist and retired editor with The Denver Post. “It reaches out into the unknown, all over Colorado.” Said DWPC President, Mindy Sink, a freelance non-fiction writer, “we’re really interested in people’s stories whether they’re pandemicrelated or not. It’s a wonderful time for our group to be sharing with the world again.” Winners celebrate over a proper English tea Entrants can write their way to first, second and third prizes in three categories: Short Fiction, Non-Fiction and Poetry. The contest winners will be invited to read their
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 8 | LIFE: PAGE 10 | CALENDAR: PAGE 7
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Katherine “Kim” Millett, chairwoman of the Unknown Writers’ Contest sponsored by the Denver Woman’s Press Club, wants to open the door to new writers. PHOTO BY TIM COLLINS
AFTERNOON TEA IN THE QUEEN CITY
A Colorado spin on an English tradition
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