In the early 1990s, Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, a large Catholic parish in Denver’s Northside that’s a hub for local Latinos, faced a crisis. Nearly every day, people come to the office asking for help with medical or mental health, the pastor at the time told the parish council, and we don’t have anything to offer. Is anyone willing to take the lead on this issue? Jim Garcia, attending his first meeting of the church’s leadership group, raised his hand.

Back then, Garcia worked for Tim Wirth, a Democratic U.S. senator from Colorado. “It wasn’t like I had a health care background,” Garcia says. “But I did have an understanding of the issue from the policy level…. It turned out to be a lot more than I imagined.”

The church owned a run-down two-bedroom, 800-square-foot bungalow in the Highland neighborhood that could potentially serve as a free clinic, but bids to renovate the century-old house came in around $150,000. Garcia’s budget was $10,000. So, he stood up at a Sunday service and asked for volunteers. “More than 100 people showed up,” Garcia says. And they kept showing up, often working construction jobs by day and laboring at the clinic into the night.

DENVER – Mayor Michael B. Hancock honored a dozen projects during the 2022 Mayor’s Design Awards ceremony tonight at the Studio Loft of the Ellie Caulkins Opera House. 

• Denver Beer Co. – South Downing, 2425 S. Downing Street 
• Improper City, 3201 Walnut Street 
• Burwell Center for Career Achievement, 2190 E. Asbury Avenue 
• Chicano/a/x Murals of Colorado Project, La Alma Lincoln Park Historic Cultural District and 2895 W. 8th Avenue  
• Milo Luxury Residences, 4109 E. 10th Avenue 
• Citizen West 10, 140 W. 10th Avenue 
• Colfax Is Colfax, Colfax Avenue from the Colorado State Capitol to East High School 
• Platte Street Plaza, 1553 Platte Street 
• Viña Apartments, 2121 E. 48th Avenue 
• Warren Residences, 1630 E. 14th Avenue 
• Platte Fifteen, 2375 15th Street 

• Denver Art Museum – Anna and John J. Sie Welcome Center and Martin Building Project, 100 W. 14th Avenue Parkway 

About six years ago, the Urban Land Conservancy purchased a six-acre industrial lot, that spreads from 48th and Race to 48th and Gaylord, in the Elyria-Swansea neighborhood.

The real estate nonprofit asked residents what they’d like to see on the site and the answers were unsurprising:

• Affordable housing — need in an area poised for gentrification;
• A grocery store because the area has been a food desert for decades;
• And more access to healthcare.

A quick Google search of healthcare providers in the 80216 zip code doesn’t have many results, but at the top of the list is one place that’s been providing the neighborhood with healthcare needs since 1995: Tepeyac Community Health Center.

So, when the ULC was looking for something to anchor their new development, while also keeping in mind residents’ request, Tepeyac made the cut in 2018.