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Week of April 6, 2023
JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 10 | LIFE: PAGE 12 | CALENDAR: PAGE 15 | SPORTS: PAGE 16
VOLUME 18 | ISSUE 42
Arvada City Hope House breaks ground on $5.4 million Early Learning Center Council candidates file for district races; some omit conduct code Challengers square off against council members in Districts 2 and 4 BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
by his mother during the Great Depression. He went to live in a group home and earned a prosperous life for himself, but wanted to help others avoid the same hardships he went through. “(The donation) moved it up by 18 months,” Lisa Steven, Hope House’s founder and executive director. “We had not planned to start that early.” Steven said Hope House has $700,000 left to raise, which she said they hope to achieve through grants and individual donations. Steven added that Hope house prefers to be debt-free and currently has no debt on any of the buildings they own.
Newcomer Libertarian candidates for Arvada’s municipal election in the fall would, if elected, bring party-affiliated politics to what has been a nonpartisan body. The candidates would also represent a shift in approach to issues, like efforts to improve diversity and affordable housing. Libertarian Murl Hendrickson is seeking to unseat Councilmember Lauren Simpson, who was elected in 2019, in District 2. And in District 4, Libertarian Jessica Fenske has filed to face 12-year Councilmember Bob Fifer, who is term-limited for at-large seats, but can still run in district races. Simpson and Fifer contrast with their challengers as they have no stated party affiliations. Both see the council as a nonpartisan entity focused on collaborative governing. None of the current seven members of council have party affiliations. Both Libertarians also stand out for refusing to sign Arvada’s Code of Fair Campaign Practices, which governs candidates’ conduct throughout the election cycle. Every other candidate for council, so far, has signed the voluntary pledge. “I felt like it could potentially hinder my
SEEGROUND, P2
SEECANDIDATES, P4
Members of Hope House’s staff move dirt at the April 1 groundbreaking of Hope Houses’ Early Learning Center.
104 childcare spots, all CCAP eligible, to be available for Hope House moms, staff by 2024 BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
About a hundred teen moms will have a massive burden lifted off their shoulders soon, as Hope House Colorado broke ground on its new $5.4 million Early Learning Center, which will provide all-day childcare for 104 of the nonprofit’s moms and staff. All seats at the Early Learning
Center are eligible for parents enrolled in Colorado Child Care Assistance Program for Families, and about 10 will be reserved for Hope House staff working at the center. The project broke ground on April 1 with a large crowd of onlookers in tow and is slated for completion in fall 2024. The project was initially planned as a long-term objective for Hope House — an Arvada-based nonprofit that helps teen moms achieve self-sufficiency through help with housing, transportation and childcare — but was jump-started by a $1 million gift from the Ackerman Trust after the trustee, Bill Ackerman, died. Ackerman was a barber from Evergreen who was abandoned
T BEFSTHE O T S E B
2023
PHOTO BY RYLEE DUNN
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