Phoenix Noiré — who describes himself as a “vigilante” and dresses like a cat to reflect his “soul species” — is throwing his second annual Easter egg hunt for unhoused people under the banner of Homeless Lives Matter.
On the Saturday before Easter, the 45-year-old and some recruits will hide eggs across the Denver metro. Each egg will contain a hand-written quote from Jesus, a little cash and maybe a gift card donated by a local restaurant.
These are no boring drugstore eggs. Some are decorated with stickers. Others are metallic. A gold egg will contain the grand prize: $25.
Last year, Noiré hid the eggs on buses and trains, in the fountain at Benedict Fountain Park and near encampments.
Easter this year coincides with the cannabis carnival 4/20, and he plans to hide the eggs by 8 a.m. Easter morning. They’ll be in Capitol Hill, Englewood, Aurora and along East Colfax Avenue — but not at the 420 festival.
Where does the money come from?
Last year, Noiré, who recently experienced homelessness for nearly four years after experiencing domestic violence, gave out $75 of his own money in 30 Easter eggs.
At the time, he was living in a halfway house and funding the project with cash saved from his Social Security check. Now, he’s living independently, and $75 is hard to come by.
“Unfortunately, I have bills now,” he said. “I have a home now.”
To make this year’s Easter egg hunt bigger and better — even as he’s shouldered with bills, Noiré asked friends and fellow activists for support. He has a total of $200 to put in the eggs and also plans to include some free meal vouchers donated by Cafe 180 in Englewood.
“I try to make sure they get hidden in places where they're most likely to be found by people who are experiencing homelessness, because that's really who they're for,” he told Denverite.
What Jesus quotes come with the eggs?
Blessed are the poor.
Whatever you do unto the least of my brethren, you do unto me.
For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, but lose his soul?
He used to include this one: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
Now, he finds the quote to be a bit too judgmental — even coming from Jesus.
“I've retired that,” he said.
Let’s say you have a home and find one of these eggs.
Noiré is banking on you being ethical.
Each egg contains a note to that effect.
Depending on the length of the accompanying Jesus quote, he might write something as simple as “Pay it forward.” If he has more space, he explains the egg is for people experiencing homelessness, and the recipient should give it to the next unhoused person they see.
He acknowledges that some housed people might hoard the eggs they find and abuse his generosity.
“That’s no reason not to do the right thing,” he said.
Noiré describes the Easter egg hunt as vigilantism. But he’s no Batman.
“A lot of people, when they think of vigilantism, they think of like beating people up when you disagree with their actions,” he said. “To that, I would say you're thinking of police work. Vigilantism is a direct action public service where you're going out into the world with boots on the ground, seeing things that need done, and doing them.”
Those actions do not have to be violent.
“Say, like, a guy snatches a ladies purse,” He said. “Yeah, that's going to be a violent thing. You’ve got to get the lady’s purse back. But most of the time, it's not. Most of the time, it’s really mundane stuff like picking broken glass up off the streets, helping people get connected to the proper resources.”
His favorite acts of vigilantism are the holiday-themed ones: the Easter egg hunt, or a Halloween action where he passes out handwritten cards with ideas for where people can get help.
“I'm not doing anything that you can't do,” he said. “I was unhoused. I was living in the streets. I was one person with practically no power making a difference. If I can do that from a position of being a nobody, a street urchin, how much more could somebody with privilege and power do?”
