For Randy Smith, the new year was a time to remember two community members lost to preventable accidents. Smith is the founder and head of Bridging Over, a nonprofit focused on keeping the homeless community safe on the street. On Dec. 24, he led a vigil at West Colfax and Teller with a handful of people who came to remember two homeless wheelchair users in the Lakewood community.
According to Smith, their deaths occurred in an area known to be unsafe for pedestrians and also something the city is aware of.
“It’s called the West Colfax safety project,” Smith said describing the Lakewood project to address the safety of pedestrians in the area. “It’s between Sheridan and Teller, a 1.5-mile section. That’s the most dangerous part of Colfax.”
Bridging Over has been handing out safety kits to the homeless community along West Colfax and other high-traffic areas around Lakewood.
“On October 31, 2022, the reflective vest project came to life. We’ve distributed a little over 200 reflective vests between our events last year,” Smith said.
The recent deaths of homeless pedestrians in wheelchairs prompted Smith to offer reflectors for wheelchairs.
“I did some research on it and the chairs don’t come with reflectors,” Smith said. So, he and his team at Bridging Over designed and printed reflective stickers. They spent fall 2023 installing them on wheelchairs.
However, that is not enough. Smith said the most recent death involved a big truck.
“The driver said he didn’t see her,” Smith said referring to the victim in the December accident. Now, Bridging Over is offering flags for wheelchairs in their safety kits.
Smith believes the need for safety gear is increasing with the amount of construction happening and planned in Lakewood. This demand was evident in the number of safety kits that he handed out during the Christmas Eve vigil.
“We usually serve about 65 people on any given day,” Smith said. “Christmas Eve, it was within an hour and a half, we served 70 people alone. And that’s not including the camps that I went to afterward.”
Smith visited eight homeless encampments after the vigil to distribute safety kits.
The kits are given free of charge, but Bridging Over does pay for them. And the nonprofit needs your help.
“The goal is to raise enough for the first 100 safety flags and waterproof safety stickers for wheelchairs,” Smith said. “Of course, we want to raise more.”
To do so, Smith will be announcing four upcoming fundraisers. Find out more on BridgingOver.org.
Smith left a temporary memorial at the West Colfax and Teller, the site of the most recent incident. He hopes it remains all winter to remind drivers to be vigilant of homeless pedestrians, walking and in wheelchairs, in the area.
For more information, visit BridgingOver.org.