The vision of Denver's Road Home was born out of the belief that together as a city we could combine compassion with accountability to end homelessness within ten years.
Now in Year 8 of the 10-Year Plan, Denver's Road Home has transformed the way service providers deliver services, the way public and private sectors collaborate, and the way our community views homelessness. Denver has become a national model emulated by other cities.
Elaine lived on the streets for over a decade before finally being connected to housing and resources last year through Denver's Road Home and the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless. Elaie is thankful for the people who have not given up on her and most importantly, by providing resources to live in permanent housing.
As Elaine looks towards the future, she plans to continue to meet her case management requirements, which will enable her to remain housed, and hopes to reconnect with her daughters whom she has not seen for a while. She has an American Bulldog named Stinker, who she claims 'saved her life' and continues to give her comfort and a reason to keep moving forward.
Linda, her husband Brandon and their nine children were days away from being evicted from their home. Brandon had recently lost his job as a security guard. Through Temporary Assistance to Needy Families and support from Denver's Road Home, they were able to maintain their housing. Linda now has a job at Wal-Mart and Brandon, who recently passed his oral exam, will start training at the Denver Police Academy in January.
James is a Korean War veteran with multiple health problems. He was living in his vehicle, SSI payments his only income source. He was paying for an overnight parking space as well as a storage unit, but unable to save enough for a security deposit and first month's rent. Thanks to support from Denver's Road Home, he located housing and received deposit and rental assistance.
Kevin had been employed at Home Depot and stably housed for five years. However, a cancer diagnosis left him in the hospital for many months, which made it impossible to work. He needed help with rental assistance to get back on his feet. After 6 months of assistance, Kevin has recovered, returned to work and is now leading a life of self-sufficency
Lisa was unemployed, homeless, and living in a church with her four children when she sought assistance from Denver's Road Home. Soon after she suffered a stroke. With the help of Denver's Road Home and community partners was able to obtain housing on Christmas Eve. Now, her health recovered, she is working as a grant administrator for a non-profit organization and remains stably housed.
The vision of Denver's Road Home was born out of the belief that together as a city we could combine compassion with accountability to end homelessness within ten years.
Now in Year 8 of the 10-Year Plan, Denver's Road Home has transformed the way service providers deliver services, the way public and private sectors collaborate, and the way our community views homelessness. Denver has become a national model emulated by other cities.
The vision: to address the root causes of homelessness and to bring an end to homelessness in Denver within ten-years. This vision created a plan called Denver's Road Home. Many thought that ending homelessness in Denver was unrealistic. Fortunately for our community, a group of 41 commission members, 350 community volunteers, key political leaders, and philanthropic supporters, did not think so.
These leaders knew that Denver was spending over $70 million each year on shelter, health care, and other services to support the homeless, and yet the number of individuals and families experiencing homelessness was on the rise.
These visionaries understood that Denver needed a coordinated effort to strategically use resources to tackle the root causes of homelessness while providing immediate and sustainable improvements to the current system.
Denver's Road Home brought together the resources and talent of the public, private and non-profit sectors to offer a synchronized approach to addressing the issues of an undersupply in very low income housing units, lack of income growth for the working poor and the deficit of funding for services directed to the poor and chronically homeless, including medical, mental health and substance abuse services.
Denver's Road Home created leverage to utilize limited resources to provide a coordinated effort and long-term response that is both fiscally responsible and saves taxpayer money. While working in conjunction with existing resources, organizations and institutions, Denver's Road Home created a new funding stream to help fill the gaps in housing, training and services in order to make a deeper, lasting impact on this issue.
The seemingly unrealistic plan on ending homelessness in Denver is now realistic. From the beginning, the citizens of Denver were promised a plan with achievable and sustainable goals with measurable action steps. This plan also would emphasize collaborative efforts and accountability from all people of the Denver community. The plan would balance service delivery such as housing, treatment services and job training with the expectation of responsibility from those who received services. Denver's Road Home has delivered and continues to deliver on those promises.
Thank you for your vision of what Denver can be and believing that the seemingly unrealistic could be achieved. We hope you will continue your support in moving individuals and families off the streets and into housing.
Organization name
Denver's Road Home - BECAME FISCALLY SPONSORED
other names
DRH
2005
Category
Housing & Shelter
Address
Administration 1200 Federal BoulevardDenver County, CO, US
Other
720-944-2508
Other
720-944-1007
Other
720-865-9027