There’s a lot that goes with being homeless.
No phone. No mail. No change of clothes. No shower. Nowhere to store your gear.
The St. Francis Center has become that home for many during the day.
“This place is heaven-sent,” said Larry James, 56, who frequents the center at 2323 Curtis St. in downtown Denver. “It’s great to be able to go someplace and get a shower, some clothes and go out for work.”
St. Francis Center, named after St. Francis of Assisi, who took a radical vow of poverty, was created in 1983 by the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado. It is open from 6:30 a.m. to about 4 p.m. most weekdays, with a shorter schedule on Sundays.
Its daytime operating hours make it a magnet for hundreds of men and women. A large open room is filled with tables at which people sit, talk, read or doze. On bitter cold days, it’s standing room only.
“Some people think we’re enabling people to remain homeless,” said Tom Luehrs, who has been executive director of the center since 1994. “Nobody who has other choices would be homeless. Our intent is to help people become independent of us. We fill the daytime gap.”
For 18 months ending in May, St. Francis Center also operated as a temporary overnight shelter, taking in 200 people at night who couldn’t be accommodated at other shelters in the city.
That overnight program ended by agreement with the city and the Curtis Park community.
The guiding principle at St. Francis is hospitality, said Andrew Spinks, development coordinator at the center. That starts, he said, by referring to “guests” rather than to “the homeless” or “clients.”
St. Francis provides an array of services on site: a nurse, a mental-health counselor, a social worker and an employment specialist. There are 120 volunteers and 28 paid staffers. The annual budget of $1.6 million is mostly funded by grants, with corporate and individual contributions providing the rest. The agency is seeking funding from this year’s Post-News Season to Share campaign.
“These people, they care about you here,” said a man named Anthony, 46, who said he became homeless last year after serving time in jail for a drunken-driving charge. He said he has worked since he was 14 and is seeking employment in a warehouse or as a general laborer.
St. Francis provides “contact points,” Spinks said.
Guests can receive mail at the center. They can make a local phone call free of charge and pick up messages. They can take a shower, and they can get clothes from a clothing bank after doing chores. There’s a storage room with big, dark plastic bags filled with the personal belongings of those from the street who call St. Francis Center home during the day.
Season to Share
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 this page, call 888-683-4483 or visit seasontoshare.com.
