Jennifer Lopez, 23, has 2-year-old Yuridia and 5-year-old Daisy in tow, heading from the Family Room to the Dining Room for the 3 p.m. meal at The Gathering Place. Today it’s hamburgers, but the kids are more interested in tasting and toying with the little plastic containers of ranch dressing.
Beyond mealtimes, the schedule is loose at The Gathering Place, Denver’s only daytime drop-in center for women and children who are experiencing homelessness or poverty. All ages are welcome for however many hours they need. The goal, beyond providing a safe refuge, is to offer resources for self-sufficiency.
To that end, the computer center is buzzing, while a class for the GED (general educational development) test is in session, and a gaggle of preschoolers keeps day-care staffers busy down the hall.
Lopez has been using the services for three months, leaving her kids in the day-care area while she studies for her GED.
“I dropped out at 15, got a job. I was not a successful student,” Lopez says. Pregnant at 16, she made it through ninth grade in Denver Public Schools. “Without The Gathering Place I wouldn’t have gone on with my GED,” she says. Her goal now is to a pursue a career in medical coding and billing. Her husband works six days a week as a roofer.
Through Betsy’s Cupboard, an emergency food bank, the facility provides nonperishables, clothes, books, diapers and toiletries to those in need. Pro bono legal services, along with vision and hearing testing, are available.
The agency has applied for funding through the Post-News Season to Share campaign.
“Today is my first time here,” says another woman, 19, who was pleased she could drop her 3-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son in day care while she works toward her GED. She aims to take the test before her third child is due. “A lot of places you have to pay for the GED; here it’s free.”
The Gathering Place serves as many as 300 women and children a day. The atmosphere is of a caring community, down to the “brag board,” where women boast of newfound jobs and achievements.
“People notice if you’re not there,” says Terrell Curtis, director of communications.
“It’s only women here,” Lopez notes. “It’s a welcoming environment.”
Some 68 percent of Colorado’s homeless are families, the vast majority headed by women. With more families surviving paycheck to paycheck, a car repair or medical bill can push a family into crisis.
The Gathering Place is temporarily housed in the Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church in Park Hill while the High Street headquarters on Capitol Hill is expanded and rebuilt. The new facility is due to open next summer and will be almost three times the size of the original.
TV critic Joanne Ostrow can be reached at 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com.
How to help
Post-News Season to Share, a fund of the McCormick Tribune Foundation, gave more than $1.73 million to 56 agencies last year serving children and people who are hungry, homeless or in need of medical care. Donations are matched 50 cents to the dollar, and 100 percent of the donations go to the charitable agencies. To contribute, please see the coupon on Page 4B, call 888-683-4483 or go to seasontoshare.com.
