The Unsinkables of Capitol Hill aren’t exactly what you’d call mysterious or discriminating.
The group has no official membership guidelines. No dues. If you attend one of their meetings, or walk with them one night on patrol or even simply call, you’re considered a member.
How about money? Well, Kathi Anderson, president of the Unsinkables, claims that she has “calluses on her knees from begging.”
Most of the funds, around $5,000 in total, come from local businesses, and almost all the money is earmarked to hire off-duty officers to help the group patrol the neighborhood.
They also pick up trash, help put on Halloween parties and, more importantly, shine a light on Capitol Hill’s pervasive crime problem.
“Sometimes I feel like we’ve been successful,” explains Anderson, who’s been with the Unsinkables for more than a decade. “But then other times, I look back 10 years and I realize that we’re fighting the same exact battles. Sure, there are lots of arrests, but any cop will tell you you’re just driving these drug dealers someplace else.”
For the most part, the group has maintained a harmonious relationship with the Denver Police Department and local politicians.
“Mayor Hickenlooper left his security people one time, and he walked with us for two hours,” Anderson recollects. “He was there for anyone in that group to talk to; actually anyone on the street who wanted to talk to him could. I really admired him for doing it.”
These days, though, the Unsinkables have a bone to pick with Hickenlooper and the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless over the city’s offer of “subsidized apartments” – a friendly euphemism for free housing – to 30 homeless people recovering from alcohol and drug problems.
Typically, homeless shelters are strictly zoned. The Capitol Hill project, however, does not require any special zoning designations.
“Because this building is not a residential care unit,” explains Anderson, “it’s just considered a regular apartment building. Basically the neighborhood doesn’t have any say.”
Though we all hear a lot of ostensibly compassionate rhetoric, fact is, not many Denverites are going to want this sort of project in their backyard.
My guess is, even with the latitude the city has in providing free housing for approximately 3,000 homeless, not many of these folks will be showing up at the local grocery store in Cherry Creek or Hilltop.
Nope. Capitol Hill, already struggling with crack dealers and violent crime, a neighborhood working hard to revitalize, is the perfect spot.
“We have some concern about what this project is going to turn into,” Anderson says of the apartment building, at 1205 Washington St. “What will the screening process be for residents? What will the rules be for residents? Are they going to sign leases? Even after meeting with the Coalition for the Homeless, we still don’t know the answers.”
Anderson points out that only Lower Downtown beats this Cap Hill neighborhood when it comes to liquor stores. And no one beats Cap Hill when it comes to drug dealers.
“You’re putting them into a frying pan,” Anderson goes on to explain. “They can walk out of their building and buy their drug of choice. My concern is that the drug trade here already preys on vulnerable people, and they will certainly prey on the residents of this building.”
As for this neighborhood in Capitol Hill, Anderson wonders if residents could handle any more crime. Conversely, she wonders if this is a stable and sheltering enough environment for those looking to recover.
Not that she, or anyone in the neighborhood, has much say in it.
“This was made very clear to us,” says Anderson. “The way the coalition explained it, they took over the whole building. It’s not a shelter; it’s permanent housing. I don’t know. I’m going to sit back and see what happens.”
What else can they do?
David Harsanyi’s column appears Monday and Thursday. He can be reached at 303-820-1255 or dharsanyi@denverpost.com.
