Serving the community since 1926
WEEK OF MAY 23, 2024
VOLUME 97 | ISSUE 25
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Purple Door Coffee opens in Capitol Hill Outdoor
preschools could soon get state licenses in Colorado
BY ANN SCHIMKE CHALKBEAT COLORADO
Dry Bones is a Denver-based nonprofit that works with unhoused teens and 20-somethings on professional development and job training to give them the skills and support needed to get out of the homelessness cycle. It had a grand opening of Purple Door Coffee, 1640 Sherman St. in March — the proceeds of which fund the nonprofit’s mission. The support the nonprofit provides runs the gamut, but includes everything from supporting a person through various court proceedings to finding a full-time job to helping someone access medical care.
Fourteen preschoolers sang “Eggs, larva, pupa, adults,” on a recent morning, curling up on the grass, wriggling around like caterpillars, lying still, and then flapping their arms in search of wildflowers. The song, along with redwing blackbird calls and a bit of traffic noise, was the soundtrack of their morning circle, which kicked off near a wetland in southeast Denver. The children weren’t on a field trip. They were attending preschool outside like they always do, under the supervision of teachers from Nature School Cooperative. It was early May and, although the 3- and 4-year-olds didn’t know it, a momentous week for schools like theirs. Colorado lawmakers were about to pass a bill that would allow outdoor preschools — sometimes called forest schools — to be recognized with state child care licenses adapted to their format. Advocates say the great outdoors is an ideal classroom, giving young children the chance to move freely, learn about the natural world, and assess risks and solve problems in a way indoor classrooms don’t allow. They say licensing will open the programs to a wider swath of families by unlocking public dollars available through Colorado’s universal preschool and child care subsidy programs.
SEE CAFE, P12
SEE LICENSES, P4
David Jepson works behind the bar at Purple Door Coffee on March 28.
The cafe is an extension of Dry Bones, a nonprofit working to end youth homelessness BY NATALIE KERR SPECIAL TO THE DENVER HERALD
Several years ago, Robbie Goldman accompanied a young, unhoused mother to court as she was forced to give up her parental rights. As director of spiritual and emotional formation at the nonprofit, Dry Bones, Goldman sat with her as her lawyer walked her through
her options and while she wrote her statement for the court and for her son. But in her palm, the woman held a small silver coin, given to her by staff members at Dry Bones. One side of the coin read: “you have unsurpassable worth and value,” and the other side, “you belong.” The woman turned it over and over in her hand, counting on those words to get her through the court process. “She said, ‘This is who you guys are, this is how I’m getting through this today,’ and I just lost it,” Goldman said. “She was holding on to something that could have been just a statement, but for her, it was a treasured idea and knowledge of who she was, no matter what happens in court.”
VOICES: 8 | LIFE: 10 | CALENDAR: 14
PHOTO BY NATALIE KERR
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