On August 3, in Denver’s Sunnyside neighborhood, barricades closed Decatur Street for a block party event to allow residents to get to know one another.
This community celebration was funded by a grant from the Denver Community Active Living Coalition (CALC). The Decatur block party qualified for the business grant and was awarded $1500. Rod Kazenske, one of the event’s organizers, noted that the money was used to rent tables and chairs in addition to funding food costs for the event.
Organizers cooked burgers and brats on the grill. Neighbors brought a side or dessert to share. It felt like everyone pitched in to help revive Sunnyside’s treasured experience. “We’ve been talking in the neighborhood for quite a while about doing another block party,” Kazenske said. “We used to do them years ago.”
Due to a variety of factors, from people moving in and out to incidents that caused safety concerns to the COVID pandemic, the community block parties started to phase out. “People just drift off and so it kind of petered out,” Zaenske said. “But yeah, COVID really put a kibosh on everything.”
However, Kazenske wasn’t content to sit by and let the events die; through conversations with other organizers, they found that CALC’s micro-grant program became a realistic way to put the plan into action. CALC was created with the Department of Transportation & Infrastructure (DOTI) and the Denver Streets Partnership (DSP) to give residents resources to re-energize their communities.
“It came around that we could use it for a block party-type event because it met a lot of the criteria that were within the CALC grant,” Kazenske said. “So that’s how we got the idea for it [the block party], and I was like, ‘What the heck? Let’s just apply and see!’”
The Coalition gives grants to individuals and businesses “in support of walkability, bikeability, or access to safe and healthy spaces for physical activity,” according to CALC’s website. Individuals, organizations and businesses that are based in the city and county of Denver are eligible to apply for the grants.
With help from the micro-grant, organizers were able to create a block party lined with tables full of people talking and eating. Neighbors sat on their lawns with their lawn chairs as community members took turns playing guitar and singing. Kids were running around playing with sprinklers and sidewalk chalk. Attendees had name tags on and some people put what street they lived on to create a quicker connection.
“We never met the people that were right behind us,” said Alex Frank, who had been living in the neighborhood for a year. “Here at the block party, [we] ended up talking to the lady who lives right behind us.”
Paul Baca had the same experience, despite having lived in Sunnyside for 40 years. “I’m not very active [in the community],” Baca said. “In fact, most of the neighbors here I don’t know.” When asked if he will continue to be more connected to his neighbors due to the reintroduction of summer block parties to Sunnyside, Baca thinks so. “At least I’ll know some names,” he said.
The landscape of Denver has changed dramatically in recent memory. Since 2010, the population has increased by over 100,000 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. With so many new people moving into established communities, it can be difficult to connect. Events like the block party aim to break that barrier.
Katie Collins attended the event with her mom, who used to live in the neighborhood. “She didn’t move too far, but I think she misses the people that she met here, especially on this block.”
The block party gave the family an opportunity to revisit memories and create new ones with those who were new to the area. While CALC’s micro-grant sparked the conversation, only time (and possibly more block parties) will tell whether these connections last.
“It’s nice to know who that neighbor is, certainly, and it’s really if I see any of these people around,” Frank said. “It’d be nice to continue talking with them.”
To apply for a CALC grant, visit the website and fill out a form that asks questions about the event you are planning to host. Individuals are awarded $500, while organizations and businesses are awarded $1,500. After the money is awarded, it can be used for anything for the event that is being planned.