Borodkin Bill Cracks Down On Human Trafficking
State Representative Alice Borodkin, D-Denver, is the House sponsor of legislation that would make human trafficking a class three felony. Recently, the House State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Committee passed SB 207 on a 10-1 vote. SB 207 will be up in the House Appropriations Committee in the near future.
Unlike human smuggling, which is usually a criminal transaction between two willing parties, human trafficking often subjects victims to sex acts, involuntary servitude, debt bondage or slavery. It involves the exploitation of people through force, coercion and threats. According to the U.S. government, approximately 18,000 people are trafficked into the United States annually.
MDHI Survey Denver Homeless
More than 9,091 people in the seven-county Denver metro area did not have a permanent place to live the night of Jan.23 according to the 7th Annual 2006 Point-In-Time survey conducted by the Metropolitan Denver Homeless Initiative (MDHI) and Mile High United Way.
Many families and individuals are vulnerable to economic disaster in many forms and are becoming homeless because of increasing housing costs, difficulties in obtaining health insurance to guard against a healthcare crisis, job loss or inability to find work at a livable wage.
This year, MDHI administered its seventh Point-In-Time survey at more than 150 service agencies and locations across the metro area, asking homeless people specifically where they stayed the night of Jan. 23, as well as questions regarding the nature of their homelessness. Survey findings include:
- 58 percent of respondents without permanent housing were part of a family with children.
- 36 percent are working in either a full-time, part-time or day labor position.
- 3,261 children and youth did not have a permanent place to stay on Jan. 23.
- 19 percent are homeless for the first time and for less than a year, nearly three-quarters of whom are families with children.
- Respondents cited the loss of a job as the number one factor contributing to their homelessness.
For more information, visit www.mdhi.org. Anyone who needs help or wants to volunteer, call United Way 2-1-1, or visit www.unitedwaydenver.org.
Hispanic Appointed Dean Of Sturm College
The University of Denver announced the appointment of José Roberto (Beto) Juárez, Jr. as the new dean of the Sturm College of Law, effective July 1. Currently, Juárez, the first Hispanic dean in the history of the DU law school, is a professor of law at St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio. The appointment concludes a nationwide search that attracted close to 40 applicants.
Juárez has been at St. Mary’s since 1990, and served as associate dean for academic and student affairs from 1997 to1999. In that role, he administered academic programs, prepared the proposed law school budget and was responsible for student academic and disciplinary appeals. He supervised the law school staff, chaired the bar examination committee and directed a bar examination passage study.
$1,000 Community Service Grant Available To Increase Literacy
Youth Service America and Lionsgate offer the "Bee" The Change Community Service Grant for literacy. This grant opportunity offers $1,000 to one young person to implement a sustainable community service project that increases literacy in their community and uses the movie, Akeelah and the Bee as inspiration. The "Bee" The Change Community Service Grant is open to all young people in the United States between the ages of 5 to 25. Projects should be youth-led and created, and must have a portion take place on National and Global Youth Service Day (April 20 to 22, 2007). Mailed applications must be postmarked no later than Friday, June 9. E-mail applications must be received no later than 5 p.m. EST on Friday, June 9. For more information and to download the application, visit: www.ysa.org/awards. |
