Simply Irresistible at Clara Brown Commons

Dear friends,

In the pioneer spirit of Aunt Clara Brown, the community-building work we do includes trying things that haven’t been done. Well, that happened at Clara Brown Commons* on a recent Wednesday morning. I grabbed some bacon and a baking pan, turned our community room oven on broil, and strategically placed each applewood smoked bacon slice side by side. I let the bacon do the rest.

I had a hypothesis: If residents smell bacon, they’ll be curious. Curiosity leads to questions and questions lead to conversations—and boy did that happen.

The aroma went up and the residents came down. Crispy-edged, juicy bacon began to disappear slice by slice into residents and our RossEnvolve property management staff. Just perhaps… I had a slice or two myself.

“What y’all cookin’ up in here?” and “Ooooo, I smell some bacon!” kicked off two conversations I’d like to share. One was from a resident who works from home. I hadn’t seen her in a while and honestly, I didn’t know when I’d see her again. Last year she stopped by to hear a harpist in the community room, but I hadn’t seen her participate in any activities since the Community Concert last spring. As she lets me know bacon is one of her favorite breakfast items, I’m thinking to myself “Am I really having a conversation with a resident whom I’ve hardly connected with and it’s over BACON?!” I’m cracking up because it is something that simple. Could it really be that simple?

I guess so, because the next thing I know, another resident offers to go to their apartment and grab some eggs, toast, butter, and strawberry jam. He expresses that “the breakfast is quite incomplete.” He doesn’t eat bacon but still wants to contribute to the experience.

While he’s whisking up the eggs adding aromatic seasonings, he goes on about his memories of his grandfather’s smokehouse business. As a child, he watched him pack sausage links and cut thick slices of bacon and sell them to take care of their family. The resident has since adopted a much different type of diet (his resident nickname is “Dr. Sebi”), but he lights up as he reflects on his experience as a child growing up in the South before moving to Denver. Years ago, he actually rented a room in the home of the mother of our eldest resident (90 years young). When they discovered their connection, they exclaimed, “It’s a small world!” and embraced each other.

Just when I thought I couldn’t love bacon any more than I already do, this experiment sparked new conversations and collaboration over cooking. On this morning, bacon expressed what the culture of community and connection look like here on our block: Inspiring, Inviting, and Irresistible.

—Cha’Rel Wright, Lead Community Advocate, Clara Brown Commons