A Grand Groundbreaking for Clara Brown Commons
Hope is found… when we break new ground!
Over 250 people shouted the refrain, again and again, as shovels turned the earth.
Sandy Douglas, a neighbor from across the street, put her boot to the shovel. A few moments before at the microphone, she recounted stories of huddling on the floor with her children as violence broke on the block where Clara Brown Commons will soon rise. Sandy has seen plenty of trouble here, and has longed for better days for this part of neighborhood she loves. She broke into a huge smile as she let the dirt slide from her shovel. “Hope is found… when we break new ground!”
Tianna, a tiny tot resident of Joshua Station, put the muscle into her little golden shovel. “Hope is found… when we break new ground!”
Our director Jeff Johnsen—whose prayer walks many years ago sparked the dream for renewing this block a few blocks from his home—at last pushed his shovel into the ground to mighty cheers.
Person after person, shovelful by shovelful, represented great hopes and good will by all those present that sunny April afternoon, as well as so many who were with us in spirit
Across the crowd, many wiped tears. This ground isn’t simply a blank slate. It is laden with stories. Land of the Cheyenne and Arapaho peoples. Later at the far reaches of Denver settlements along the Platte River. Small quaint homes were built, and then fell into ruin. Nearby is the burial plot for Clara Brown, an extraordinary Black woman who made her way to Colorado from slavery and shaped our region’s history. Aunt Clara’s legacy of care and generosity infuses everything we hope this block to be. “Hope is found… when we break new ground!”
It truly was a marvelous community celebration with stirring music, poetry, spoken word, and prayerful ceremony. Soon much larger shovels will excavate the foundation for a 61-unit apartment building that will be truly affordable, community focused, and supportive for residents. And that’s just the first phase of more planned for the block!
Thanks to ALL who made the day grand, and who are making this vision become reality.
