Denver’s 10-year plan has accomplished a lot since it started in 2005, but can it keep up with growing poverty?

by Tim Covi
photographs by Ross Evertson

Looking at him now, you can still vaguely make out the silhouette of Bruce Wright’s youth. He sits in a dimly lit chair in his homey ground floor apartment, shadows rolling across the walls from passing cars. Barrel chest, heavy hands, his history of work and wander is etched subtly into him like a living tattoo. A hoarse cough shakes his body for a minute and pulls us out of his story about the past. He has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He sips water from an old plastic coke bottle and regains composure. His eyes are meek and honest as he takes us back to Arizona, California, Oregon.

  Bruce Wright photo by Ross Evertson "I was living off and on in hotel rooms, just kickin' it around wherever I could, you know. I spent quite some time sown at 11th Avenue Hotel. I started out at $10 a night just for the bed."