Park Safety Improvements to End Gun Violence

Written By Jenny Whitcher (she/her)

Denver Area Invitation: Sat, 11/23, 10:00 - 11:30 am

Activate Southwest Garfield Lake Park Tour

This Fall, Juniper Formation UCC’s Rev. Dr. Jenny Whitcher organized neighbors and collaborated with city officials to address a long-time gun violence hotspot in Southwest Denver.

This Saturday, 11/23, 10:00 - 11:30 am, the collaboration of leaders is hosting a tour of the area to share our story with the wider community. We’ll show what improvements have been made, what is still coming, and talk together about our collective hopes for the future. 

Join us at the Garfield Lake Park entrance at the intersection of West Arizona Avenue and South Newton Street in Denver, to celebrate with a free burrito breakfast and tour. Spanish interpretation and personal devices will be available. Rev. Dr. Whitcher will emcee the event and the following leaders will be present to help tell the story and host community conversation:

  • District 3 City Councilwoman Jamie Torres and Senior Council Aide Daisy Rocha Vasquez

  • Community Resource Officers from Denver Police Department District 4 and Program Manager Pearl Lopez

  • Gordon Robertson, Denver Parks and Recreation Director of Planning Design and Construction

Have you ever wondered what Juniper Formation UCC does with our funds as a digital church? If you’ve grown up in and/or are a member of a traditional brick and mortar church it may be hard to understand what a digital church is and how funding is used. Here is an opportunity to come learn what it looks like for a digital church such as Juniper Formation UCC to take the lead on organizing within a local community, of which Pastor Jenny is a resident, to address a serious community safety issue.

One longtime neighbor and retired public school teacher mentioned at the Denver Police Department District 4 monthly Commander’s Meeting last week that the past three months have been the most peaceful she’s experienced in the 37 years she’s lived in her home.

Our organizing has focused on building relationships, improving infrastructure, and creating an inhospitable environment for gun violence. And it has worked. 

We’ll be sure to share more of the story soon. For now, we hope you will join us this Saturday if you are in the Denver Metro area, or even up for a longer drive!

Our organizing efforts are funded by a Community Support Mini Grant from the Denver Economic Development & Opportunity’s division of Neighborhood Equity & Stabilization (NEST), in partnership with the Denver Foundation.

The collaborating partners who have put in the work include: Activate Southwest Garfield Lake Park neighbors, Juniper Formation United Church of Christ, Westwood Community Action Team, SouthWest Denver Coalition, Bucu West Development Association, District 3 Councilwoman Jamie Torres and Senior Council Aide Daisy Rocha Vasquez, Denver Police Department District 4, Denver Parks and REcreation, and the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure.

Jenny Whitcher (she/her)

Rev. Dr. Jenny Whitcher is the Minister of Prophetic Formation and founder of Juniper Formation, an entrepreneurial and ecumenical faith community of the United Church of Christ (UCC), with the mission of "prophetically reimagining the Church from the margins."

She is a pastor, entrepreneur, community organizer, artist, public scholar, and theologian committed to liberation and social justice.

Her areas of expertise include: professional, personal, spiritual, and organizational formation and leadership; religion and public life; democratic culture, leadership, and pedagogy; community organizing; and social change theory and practice.

Whitcher previously served as the faculty Director of the Office of Professional Formation and Term Assistant Professor of Religion & Public Life at Iliff School of Theology, after serving as Iliff's Director of the Master of Arts in Social change (now M.A. in Social Justice & Ethics) and Director of Service Learning.

As an interdisciplinary public scholar committed to social justice and human rights, Whitcher bridges fields of religious, theological, and civic studies within local, national, and international contexts. Prior to working at Iliff, Whitcher served as Associate Director of the Center for Community Engagement & Service Learning (CCESL), where she taught Community Organizing and Denver Urban Issues and Policy courses; created and led student civic development curricula; trained faculty in public scholarship and pedagogy; led local and international Immersion Programs; and was the creator, editor, and contributing writer of the "Public Good Newsletter" at the University of Denver for five years.

Her career in higher education started in 2004 at the University of Denver's Office of Internationalization Study Abroad Program. Whitcher transitioned into higher education from the nonprofit sector where she worked locally in Denver with populations experiencing homelessness and globally on affordable housing with Habitat for Humanity International where she was also the "Advocacy Alert" columnist for Frameworks Magazine.

Whitcher's publications include book chapters, articles, and public resources on civic and spiritual development and formation, relational community organizing, experiences of organizers and public life, and democratic education. She is co-author and co-editor of the first and second editions of the Community Organizing Handbook (2009, 2010).

Whitcher's public scholarship, teaching, leadership, and ministry have included work with various local congregations and denominational leaders across the U.S. and across denominational, faith, and spiritual identities. In addition, she has worked with various nonprofits and foundations, including, but not limited to:  WorldDenver, La Academia at Denver Inner City Parish, Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), Interfaith Alliance of Colorado, Diyar Consortium, Everyday Democracy, Colorado Progressive Coalition, Puksta Foundation, the Kettering Foundation, El Centro Humanitario, Denver Public Schools, American Commonwealth Project, Urban Peak, and Habitat for Humanity International.

Internationally, Whitcher has travelled and partnered with local leaders and communities in Palestine, Israel, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Hungary, Italy, and Spain.

She is the recipient of the Peacemaker Award from the Rocky Mountain Conference of the United Church of Christ (2006) and the Young Philanthropist Award by Women in Development of Greater Boston (2004).

Ordination: Metro Denver Association of the Rocky Mountain Conference of the United Church of Christ (UCC).

Education:

B.A., New York University
M.A., University of Denver
Ph.D. Iliff School of Theology & University of Denver

https://www.jennywhitcher.com
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