For those who don’t know, our Colfax Ave BID office is right at the 15 bus stop near Colfax and Franklin – next door to where Bourbon Grill used to call home. As you can imagine, we see quite a bit out of our front window, including those who regularly ride the 15. This is how the Colfax stars aligned and we met Eliza.
Eliza introduced herself one morning and was interested in what we do here at Colfax Ave. At the time, we were gearing up our search for a new writer for our blog, Characters of Colfax (a fact unbeknownst to Eliza). She told us how she’s heard so many incredible stories on the 15 and asked if they’re something we’d be interested in. Surprise! We were very interested and are even more excited to formally introduce Eliza as our new Characters of Colfax writer and photographer.
Make sure you follow Characters of Colfax on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter! Eliza’s first piece will be published over the next couple of weeks. I’ll let her take it from here.
Dear Colfax Ave Family,
I am excited to come aboard as the new writer and photographer for Characters of Colfax. I’ve always been interested in the ways art and stories can come together to make us think and I look forward to learning from you all about what Colfax means to you. I am excited to interview community members, write pieces that will hopefully spark discussion, capture the beauty of Colfax through photos, and serve as an advocate for this iconic street.
I moved to Denver nine months ago from Carrboro, North Carolina. For Denver to feel like home, I knew I had to make it feel smaller and that I had to introduce myself to the people around me. I was surprised and happy when I found a community within a community on my daily commute on the 15 Bus along Colfax Avenue. Colfax truly felt like home when everyone on the bus serenaded me on my birthday! The Characters of Colfax are steady in their habits and generous with their stories, so I was able to get know some of them pretty quickly. I want nothing more than to keep meeting the people that make this area so special.
In the past, I have done research about opioid use disorders, HIV in prisons, and diabetes. Through my job at the Colorado School of Public Health’s Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health, I work with American Indian Tribes who are implementing community-based injury prevention programs. In many ways, Colfax and the campus feel like very different worlds—the tall glass building of the Anschutz Medical Campus looming over the neighborhood is a stark contrast that I see and think about every day. But I see a tremendous amount of overlap between my hopes for Characters of Colfax and my goal to one day be a physician: to succeed, I will need to listen, ask informed questions, and think deeply about how to communicate complicated ideas to my community. Plus, like medicine, writing this blog is all about collaboration—I’ll need your help to find the stories that matter.
Know a Character of Colfax you think I should feature? Drop me a line at eliza@colfaxave.com!