Working to end homelessness

Kimberly hit “rock-bottom” a few years ago when she found herself in a situation she never expected: homeless and alone. A single mother, the Aurora resident anguished over being unable to provide for her two young children after losing her restaurant job. “I didn’t have the money to go anywhere,” Kimberly says. “There was a lot of crying, a lot of sleepless nights.”

After bouncing around for two years, doubling up with relatives or living in a motel, Kimberly sought help from a local homeless shelter. Her journey eventually led her to a home of her own, with the help of an initiative known as Denver’s Road Home. The public-private partnership aims to end homelessness in the city just a decade after its launch. It was established by the City of Denver in 2005 in partnership with the County of Denver and Mile High United Way. The annual cost of quick fixes, such as emergency shelter, health care and law enforcement, had topped $70 million. The city needed to take a radically different approach to get an estimated 10,000 people off the streets and into permanent housing. But first, the city had to find ways to finance the plan. Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper turned first to Colorado’s foundation community to serve as the catalyst for the sweeping project. Once he lined up that critical local leadership, he knew he’d have a far easier time persuading others to pitch in. Almost $50 million has been raised so far, with 31 local foundations contributing.

Indeed, all of the money that paid for writing the plan for Denver’s Road Home and hiring its first staff person came from the foundation community. The Cydney and Tom Marsico Family Foundation made one of the largest investments in the ambitious program.

In the first four years since the launch of Denver’s Road Home, the number of chronic homeless people on city streets has dropped 36 percent. Panhandling along the 16th Street mall has plunged 83 percent. The program has created more than 1,500 new homes, helped 3,300 people get jobs and prevented more than 2,300 families from becoming homeless. Supported and encouraged by a team of mentors from a local church congregation, Kimberly, now 40, and her kids have moved into their own three-bedroom duplex near the Lowry neighborhood. She hopes they’re home for good. “My oldest son James brought home his report card and for the first time in years, he has two A’s and one B,” she reports. Kimberly herself recently received a scholarship award for outstanding achievement from the college she now attends.

Denver’s Road Home foundation partners have embraced the Mayor’s strategy because it enables homeless individuals and families like Kimberly’s to regain control of their lives.

“None of this would be possible without Denver’s Road Home. My family is living testimony to what can be achieved if given an opportunity. We have turned a horrible situation of being homeless into a positive example for other struggling families.”