Mile High Magazine Podcast

Guest: Dr. Bruce Waldholtz

Smokers and vapers, its your chance to begin to quit smoking for your better health and for those around you by participating in the Great American Smoke Out, with the American Cancer Society on Thursday November 21. 1,200 Coloradoans will die of lung cancer this year alone.

Guest: Major Nesan Kistan

The Salvation Army has been around since 1865 but has been in the Denver area since 1887.  They are the largest shelter provider in the United States.  Major Kistan has been seeing an increase of young people that are homeless this year. Denver is facing an increase in homelessness like it has never seen before.  The Salvation Army is looking to address the addiction crisis and as well as mental health issues.  They offer addiction recovery program that are free.  The program helps with recovery, mental heath and also helps them to find a job.  The Salvation Army recognizes that loneliness is also a problem so they will have a seat for people to come and have a meal for the holidays.  Salvation Army will have the Angel Tree to help make sure every child gets a present for Christmas.  If you are looking to donate a present, just go to your local Wal-Mart and pick out an angel.  The annual Red Kettle is about to kick off and it is the Salvation Amry’s biggest fundraiser, 86 cents of every dollar raised goes to those programs and the money stays in their community.  There is a virtual red kettle on their website you can donate to or if you see someone outside of the store at a red kettle, you can also do Kettle Pay, just scan the QR code and you can by with Apple Pay, Google Pay, Venmo and PayPal.  The Salvation Army is looking for volunteers to help ring bells this year, and you can register at registertoring.com.            

https://denver.salvationarmy.org/     

Guest: Kate Johnston Chief Operating Officer

Project Angel Heart was created in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic when a small group of people saw that neighbors who were living with HIV/AIDS were isolated and not getting the nutrition they needed.  Their vision remains that all Coloradans living with severe illness have access to nutritious food that supports their health and well-being.  Every week, they prepare, package and deliver more than 14,000 medically tailored meals to Coloradans living with cancer, heart failure, kidney disease, HIV/AIDS and other severe illnesses.  They deliver meals from Pueblo to Fort Collins and this year they will serve over 750,000 meals.  Project Angel Heart has been planning for Thanksgiving.  Most of their clients live alone or are too sick to go to gatherings.  They have organized their largest ever meal delivery on Wednesday, November 27, calling it Gobble Gobble Give.  More than 400 volunteers will be delivering Thanksgiving meals along with a week’s worth of medically tailored meals to their neighbors, for a total of 13,000 meals that week.  Project Angel Heart is looking for financial donations, but they also need volunteers.    

https://www.projectangelheart.org/

Guest: Charles Gilford III, Chief Executive Officer and Sadaf Khalid, Chief Dental Officer

November is recognized as national veterans and military families month.  There's limited accessibility through the Veterans Administration Office for dental programs and dental benefits, specifically in Colorado.  Inner City Health support Veterans with their oral care and ensure that they get the healthcare that they need.  Colorado has 340,000 veterans who live here which is the 17^th largest in the country.  Oral health is an impact on your whole health.  Bad oral health can have an impact on heart disease, even for pregnant women it would impact the health of the baby.  Inner City Health does not just serve veterans, they help everyone from the under insured to people who have no insurance.  They do not also just help with dental, but they also offer medical and mental health resources. 

Guest: Eileen Doherty Executive Director Senior Answers

In late summer Colorado Older Adults receive another Blue Book from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services outlining the changes and new rules in each program for the next year. However, understanding the information is a real challenge. In October/November the organization Senior Answers conducts a series of events, Medicare Mondays, to assist seniors with these too often complex changes.

Guest: Alyssa Putzer Communications & Media Relations Manager

Tails on the Tower is a brand-new fundraiser, it gives pet owners the opportunity to see their pet face up in lights on the Daniels and Fisher Tower during the 9 News Parade of Lights on December 7th.  It is limited to 150 pets; all you need to do is make a $200 donation per picture.  People can submit their pets’ photos from October 15^th-November 15^th.  The pictures will start showing on the tower from the time the sun goes down and it will run continuously until around midnight.  The donations will go directly to their programs and services that serve pets in our community.  Also discussed on this episode is the adoption process and the need for volunteers.       

dfl.org

Guest: Michelle Sie Whitten, Co-Founder, President & CEO

Michelle started Global Down Syndrome Foundation because when she was pregnant with her daughter, she discovered that Down syndrome was the least funded genetic condition by our National Institutes of Health.  People with Down syndrome are born with three copies of chromosome 21, they're really highly at risk for certain disease, like Alzheimer's and autoimmune disease.  They're highly protected and it is very rare for a person with Down syndrome to get a solid tumor cancer or certain kinds of heart attack and stroke.  Global Down Syndrome Foundation is an international non-profit and one of their biggest successes has been the lobbying in Washington D.C.  They work with three affiliates, one being the C Center for Down syndrome Children's Hospital Colorado. They also support over 200 scientists between Anschutz Medical Campus and the University of Colorado Boulder through our Crnic Institute.  Coming up is the Be Beautiful Be Yourself Fashion show.  This year they are giving away two Quincy Jones exceptional Advocacy awards, one to Sophia Sanchez, she was in the prequel to the Hunger Games and the other is Woody Harrelson for his work in Champions.  The local ambassador this year is Zaya Biel.  The event is on November 16^th at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel.

 https://bebeautifulbeyourself.org/

Guest: Eileen Doherty Executive Director Senior Answers

In late summer Colorado Older Adults receive another Blue Book from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services outlining the changes and new rules in each program for the next year. However, understanding the information is a real challenge. In October/November the organization Senior Answers conducts a series of events, Medicare Mondays, to assist seniors with these too often complex changes.

Guest: Jason Hopcus, President/CEO of NAMI and Connection Project

NAMI has partnered with Bonneville Denver on a campaign called Nobody’s Perfect.    There will also be podcast as well as a digital online hub of resources that are clinically approved for those struggling with mental health.  The name Nobody’s Perfect came after working with youth and a common thread was they all said they was the need to be perfect.  Things happen in our lives that we go through and get stuck in our head and believed that we're the only person who's ever had that experience and don't feel comfortable sharing with other people.  People need to know that they are not alone, and everyone is going to ups and downs.  The first step is saying I want a better life, be willing to take that next step and choose your next adventure.

https://www.nobodysperfect.community/resources/

unstuckbook.com

Guest: Henry Sandman Co-Executive Director

Since 2002, the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, a group of immigrant, labor, faith community and business organizations has been assisting to improve the lives of refugees and immigrants in the state, while raising awareness regarding the social economic contributions and issues surrounding immigration.

Guest: Laura-Elena Porras Health Policy and Coverage Program Director

Doctors Care helps people get health insurance and help them navigate what type of insurance is available to them based on their income.  In 2025, Cover All Coloradans will expand to cover more residence regardless of their immigration status.  Doctors Care works with people of all ages and work with communities that have been underserved and populations that have not been represented in the healthcare program as well and individuals switching from Medicaid to private insurance. Doctors Care has a safety net clinic, they provide healthcare to the under served.  They offer sliding fee healthcare to those who do not have insurance, they also take Medicaid and CHP as well as Anthem private insurance.   

Doctorscare.org    

Guest: Johanna Spille Executive Director

 Covered Colorado helps survivors of trafficking heal and become self-sufficient.  They run a residential safe home called Covered House, helps them with everything, starting with identifying information as well as medical and dental and gets tome into therapy.  They work with people in Covered House for about a year.  Colorado is now #10 in the nation for human trafficking cases.  What makes Covered Colorado different is they have people on the staff and board that are survivors if human trafficking.  As mall percentage of people who are trafficked are taken, a lot of times they are being trafficked by their family.  Covered Colorado is opening another house in March of 2025, right now they need monthly donors.

coveredcolorado.org           

Guest: Henry Sandman Co-Executive Director

 Since 2002, the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, a group of immigrant, labor, faith community and business organizations has been assisting to improve the lives of refugees and immigrants in the state, while raising awareness regarding the social economic contributions and issues surrounding immigration.

Guest: Wilson Christner Co-Owner

During the fall in Colorado people need to be careful of wasp or other stinging insects, as it cools down, their life cycle shortens and they're aware of that and they become more aggressive.  People think that also when it is cold you will see more mice and other rodents.  They are not coming in because of the cold, they are coming in to look for other food sources.  It is pumpkin season but they are a natural food source for some animals.  One thing that can help with the animals eating them is the placement and another is moisture.  Protecting the cut edges of the pumpkin with some sort of petroleum jelly, letting it get dried and it doesn't start to decompose, also placing them in a place that wildlife is going to be less likely to come.  Once the pumpkin does start to soften it is time to get rid of them.  If you have small issues, you would be fine with products you can buy at the store to help with any rodent or inset problems but if larger problems it is best to call a professional.  They will come out and lay put out any pesticide or chemicals plus they will do that on a recurring basis.       

https://www.whitmorepestcontrol.com

Guest:  Katie Johnson Development and Events Director

Be The Gift provides home repair assistance to single mom families and also for widows at no charge to the families.  To apply, you can visit their website and fill out the form, after that the staff will go over the projects and send someone out to do an assessment.  The information goes back to Be The Gift to see if that is something they can help with and if so then they will reach out to set up a project day.  The project days are for five hours one day a week.  The big restriction they have for people to qualify is they need to own their home and they need to be a single parent or a widow.  Be The Gift is also looking for volunteers and you can sign up on their website.  Be The Gift has a big fundraiser every summer that is a Cajun boil.        

 ttps://www.bethegift.com/

Guest: Chuck Altvater CRR & Education Branch Chief

Every year the National Fire Prevention Association sponsors national fire prevention week, that week is always the week of the Great Chicago fire that happened in 1871.  Every year they have a theme and this year’s theme is Smoke Alarms, Make them work for you.  If smoke alarms do not work, then they will not work for you.  Due to technology, smoke alarms are getting better, and the batteries will last 10 years.  Smoke alarms need to be replaced every 10 years.  If you cannot afford smoke alarms, go to your local fire department and they will help you find affordable smoke detectors.  You should be testing your smoke alarms every month, which is also a good time to talk to your family about a fire escape plan.  It is recommend everyone's sleep with their bedroom door closed and latched at night, it creates a barrier to the person sleeping in the bedroom.  A hollow core door buys you about 20 minutes of protection from even raging fire on the other side.       

Guest:  Marnie Kamensky Director of Development

Domestic violence is a pattern of abusive behavior in any intimate relationship that's used by one partner to gain or maintain power control over another intimate partner.   One in four women, one in seven men will experience intimate partner violence in their lifetime, and one in 15 children are exposed to intimate partner violence in their lifetime.  More than 20,000 calls are placed to national crisis hotlines daily Gateway Domestic Violence took almost 4000 crisis calls in 2023.  Gateway Domestic Violence is the only 24-hour shelters in Aurora and they are one of a few shelters that will take in pets.  It is hard for people to leave, statistics show it takes an average of seven times for somebody to eventually leave their abuser.  Gateway Domestic Violence offers emergency and extended stay shelters as well as some non-residential programs.   

www.gatewayshelter.org

Guest: Paul Lopez Denver City Clerk

Summary: With ballots being mailed to voters, its election time. On this program we review the composition of the ballot, election administration (support for older adults and foreign languages), security, vote center locations, processing of ballots  and the series of workshop presentations being conducted by the Denver City Clerk’s office in three locations in Denver County to help people to vote.

Guest:  Sheila Van DeGraaph Executive Director

YouthRoots provides opportunities for youth to build their voice and leadership skills while engaging in real-world impact through philanthropy.  The programs give the youth a unique opportunity to give back to their communities.  One of their programs is called Youth Scan, one of the biggest problem the youth are sharing with us is the mental health, they don't know how to handle it and they're asking adults to help them.  Other problems the youth are recognizing is racial injustice, the economic inequality, social injustices, as well as gun violence.  Another program they offer is Youth Camp Project, there is a 90-minute session that is anonymous, and they share the issues they're facing unique to their environment, unique to their where they are in school, in their house and they are also sharing in the solutions.  They also have the Grant Making Program; it is a three step process.  They first need to identify the community needs, they then need to fundraise and after they raise the money, they grant funds to non-profits.  Since the program started, they have raised $1,000,000 given 100 grants to 162 nonprofit organization.  They work with the schools, and they work with youth from 13-24 and the programs are free to the youth.   

www.youthroot.org    

Guest: Amira Watters Executive Director

SpayToday’s mission is to eliminate animal overpopulation, neglect, and homelessness through spay and neuter services, as well as keeping companion animals healthy in their homes with the people who love them.  They do approximately 30 surgeries a day Tuesday through Saturday on dogs, cats and rabbits.  The services are low cost or no cost.  One female cat and her offspring over the course of seven years, can produce up to 21,000 kittens.  Coming up on October 17^th is their annual fundraiser.  The event is called Spayghetti and No Balls, it is a big spaghetti dinner and there will be meatballs. 

https://spay.today/

Guest:   Bianka Emerson CBWPA President

The Colorado Black Women for Political Action centers their efforts on bringing important issues to the African American community, getting results through active participation, to training future leaders. The CBWPA is one of the most influential organizations of non-elected, political influencers in the state.

https://cbwpa.org/

Guest: Kelly Moran Senior Executive Director and Dwight Howard Prostate Cancer Survivor

September is prostate Cancer Awareness Month.  Prostate cancer is a type of cancer that can affect anyone with a prostate.  Since COVID they have been seeing a rise in prostate cancer.  In 2024, they expect a little more than 299,000 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed with 4500 of those men in Colorado,  Sadly, 35,250 of them statistically will pass away from prostate cancer, that's enough to fill up 2 basketball stadiums.  At age 50, is when men should start talking to their doctor about it, and 55 to 69 is really want to make sure you're doing those screening.  There is now a PSA blood test, your doctor can help you interpret that score to see if you need further screening or checks.  Dwight shared his story and why early detection was important.

www.cancer.org/prostatecancer

www.cancer.org