More than two months ago, I wrote about the courtyard near Colt and Grey in the South Platte neighborhood. One of the photographs I wasn’t able to use in that post was this detail from the courtyard.
If you turn your back on the tree, cross the bike ramp, and peer over the fence, you can find this little haven under the bridge.
Do you ever feel anxiety when you’re coming home? Do you ever worry that today you’ll walk in and find your home has been robbed? Well, imagine leaving your belongings under a bridge.
There were about 10,000 homeless people in the Metro Denver area as of 2006 (I’m sure that number has grown in the past year). To help get them off the streets, try giving to one of the organizations listed below.
Boulder Shelter for the Homeless is my favorite organization. It helps people without imposing religion on them.
I’ve also given money to the Denver Rescue Mission, but I stopped because it spends so much money on marketing and also because it does mix religion with charity. Then again, if it didn’t exist, many more people would be spending nights on the streets.
Catholic Charities runs Samaritan House, located across Park Avenue from the Denver Rescue Mission.
If you’re interested in statewide outreach, try the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless.
You can also help those who still have homes but can’t pay all their bills by contributing to Energy Outreach Colorado.
And if you’re struggling too much this holiday season to mail in a check, try putting a few dollars in the Salvation Army bucket. At least in Broomfield and Boulder Counties, the Salvation Army is in need of donations this year, and every little bit helps.
I struggle with giving to the salvation army and didn’t for many years because of their anti-gay stance. But they are a successful charity that uses 89 cents of every dollar donated actually HELPING people. So, we put a
few dollars in their pails. But it’s more a lesson in charity than actual useful donation, the anti-gay is just too much for me to ignore. We do adopt-a-family every year. It used to be that you could go to flatiron crossing mall and a nice secular organization was running a toy drive. Now it’s the salvation army. I paused because on the one hand I want my kids to participate in giving but on the other hand I know that none of the kids’ names on the tree come from a gay parent family.
My son’s school had a food drive this month and becuase of it I learned that that Adams county food bank is housed at Immaculate Heart church. That causes some cognitive dissonance. I assume religious institutions
step up where the government falls down.
Yeah, I had forgotten that about the Salvation Army. I feel kind of small-minded when I make remarks like that about religion and charity, because religious organizations do so much to help people. On the other hand, I’d rather that charity and religion were kept separate. Or, at most, a chapel on-site at a homeless shelter.
.-= Beth Partin´s last blog ..Don’t Forget Them =-.