Homeless sleeping in rec center draws sympathy from Denver moms (and a clothing drive)
Stefani Bender-Przybylski at first recoiled when she heard the city was holding a neighborhood meeting about the decision to locate a homeless shelter across the street from her northwest Denver home.
“I thought, ‘Oh, no, it will be another mission, like Denver Rescue Mission, right in front of my house,’ ” she said.
About 100 people jammed an emotion-filled meeting to hear officials from the mayor’s office explain that the shelter would be temporary and that the men there would be screened, bused in during the night and bused out before the break of dawn.
Suddenly, Bender-Przybylski had a change of heart.
“We went to the meeting and found out that it was a busing situation and very controlled,” she said. “We thought, ‘Hey, this is a great opportunity to take this not-so-great situation and turn it into something good.’ ”
Now, she is leading an effort to help clothe and aid the homeless men who every night come into her Highland neighborhood to sleep on mats on the center’s floor.
Bender-Przybylski and others with the Highland Mommies online social network along with Denver Councilwoman Susan Shepherd have launched a clothing drive to collect new pairs of underwear and socks and items for gift baskets to give to the homeless men on Christmas Eve.
“We have turned this into something big,” Bender-Przybylski said. “We have schools getting involved, Boy Scout groups, a church group in Boulder. Our goal is to collect 3,000 items.”
Drop boxes have been set up at the Scheitler Recreation Center at 5031 W. 46th St. and the Denver Police Department’s District 1 substation at 1311 W. 46th St.
“I am glad that some folks can take a bad situation and turn it around,” Shepherd said. “Within 24 hours, (Bender-Przybylski) decided that we couldn’t fight it and the best thing to do is to figure out a way to make these men feel welcome.”
Last spring, Denver enacted a law forbidding homeless camping but promised that anyone who needed a place to sleep would be given one.
Fast-forward half a year into the cold-weather season. The city’s shelters have filled up, and the city in November began busing men nightly from the Denver Rescue Mission to recreation centers around town. Every 30 days, a new location will be used.
It started with the Martin Luther King Jr. center in Park Hill. And this week, the Highland Rec Center at 28th and Osceola is the latest temporary shelter for about 90 men a night.
“They are awoken early before the center opens, and then they are bused back to the Rescue Mission,” Shepherd said. “There is no food. They are being fed at Rescue Mission before they come. People are not allowed to walk up to the rec center. You can only get there through intake, and there are no in-and-out privileges. That was people’s concerns, that people would be loitering.”
Shepherd voted against the ordinance and said she believes the city has a responsibility to provide shelter after banning homeless camping.
“This is the best possible outcome to a less-than-ideal situation,” she said. “This is the season of giving. … It is a transformational response.”
What is the city doing to provide shelter for homeless women?
The last I heard, they were rotating a small number of them into different churches. However, there were still many who were without shelter on a given night.
Women, married couples and families are growing segments of the homeless population, and are also under-served.
Denver is rather pathetic when it comes to housing. I recently spent 9 months looking for a decent, affordable apartment in a halfway decent neighborhood. It is EXTREMELY difficult to find anything under $650/month for a 1-bedroom! Rent prices have continued to soar, while wages have remained stagnant for years. How someone making minimum wage is supposed to use 2/3 of their income just to keep a roof over their head and still be able to eat and pay basic monthly expenses, is Mission Impossible. There is very little affordable housing in this city. It’s no wonder the homeless population is so large. I have no idea what people are supposed to do. There are lots of jobs that pay WalMart wages, so if this is all you can get you’ll be living with your parents/family, or a roommate situation, the rest of your life because there is very little affordable housing anywhere in the metro area. If you can’t find a way to make at least ten or eleven bucks an hour and get 40 or more hours a week, you’re pretty much screwed and you can forget about having your own apartment.
This describes every city worth living in. Nice neighborhoods tend to be nice because they price out certain elements. It sounds crass, but it’s not a Denver problem, it’s a life problem. If you don’t have $650 to spend on a 1br in Wash Park, then get a 1br in Aurora, or find a roommate and share a place.
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Re: Article Discussion: Homeless sleeping in rec center draws sy
Postby Barron on Yesterday, 10:53 am #2787178
all American wrote:We should help the people in need. Not the professional homeless who endlessly leach off of us…
This is the attitude of people who haven’t got a clue about what causes people to be homeless. I don’t believe anyone chooses to be homeless. Many, and probably most of the people that you see out there suffer from mental illness. Mental illness can manifest itself in someone rejecting society mores, because they are tired of being rejected. It can also make people abuse substance in an attempt to get just a little bit of comfort. Nothing “professional” about that.
I look forward to the day when people who call themselves Christians (because they claim this is a Christian country, right?) extend their love and compassion beyond their own front door and personal needs, and learn how to truly love one another. We will all come out better.
I couldn’t have said it better, Dina. Seems “mr. all american” doesn’t really care too much about Americans and our homeless issue.
I applaud the Highlands residents who show compassion to the homeless, but temporary shelters of whatever sort do not solve the problem. The problem is in the “temporary” of these kinds of shelters.
I realize that the majority of homeless people have probably been in various kinds of rehabilitative programs at some time in their lives, but for whatever reason — and there are probably dozens of reasons — homelessness continues to be a way of life for them (and opinions to the contrary, I know that SOME homeless people ARE homeless by choice). In my opinion, the “permanently homeless” need to be housed in very basic, no frills housing with basic decent food. This would be better for them and better for the community. Perhaps, in return, for those that are able, they could do some kind of low-sikilled community service work, such as graffit removal or litter clean-up if hey are not capable of anything requiring more skill.
And for those who are not homeless by choice, but by bad personal choices or bad luck or a combination of both, there should be REAL help available in finding them jobs with adequate pay and affordable housing.
Rent prices are going up because Denver is a rapidly growing city, and has become a desirable place to live. It is a reflection of demand, and I think that it is a good thing.
As far as your comments about stagnant wages and minimum wage jobs goes; people need to stop making excuses for settling for those jobs. You can improve your situation-either by going back to school, learning a trade, or even just by constantly proving yourself capable of handling more responsibility at your current job while updating your resume and looking for better jobs. That is what people are suppose to do.
Also, as a 28 year old, I can tell you first hand that a lot of people my age and younger are lazy and self entitled. I have no shame in saying that. Even the ones that go to college get a liberal arts or communications degree and then wonder why they aren’t handed a middle class job upon graduating and have to move back into their parents’ basement. Many of them haven’t grasped the concept of earning what they want. No wonder there are so many people taking minimum wage jobs.
Nice, feel-good story. A difficult topic for sure but kudos to her for trying to make their lives a bit better.