The wait for the shower will be much shorter now that the Franciscan Friends of the Poor opened the doors this morning of a new 5,700-square-foot Father Woody’s Haven of Hope near downtown Denver.
The homeless, who for years lined up for food at outdoor tents and got haircuts on the unheated porch of the tiny one-bathtub house at West Seventh Avenue and Lipan Street, moved next-door — inside a beautiful new dining hall and shelter with half a dozen private showers.
No more queues — the turkey and pumpkin pie on today’s menu was served to those seated at banquet tables. The spacious new kitchen can provide a hot lunch to as many as 200 people a day.
The shelter will serve breakfast to 150 each day and do more than 300 loads of laundry a year.
Gov. Bill Ritter dedicated the daytime shelter and kitchen by remembering the man whose name it bears — a chain-smoking ad executive turned Capuchin priest, Charles “Woody” Woodrich, who devoted his life to serving the poor.
Woodrich died in 1991, but recollections of his single-minded mission brought tears to the eyes of those gathered to celebrate the new shelter and the priest’s legacy.
“If you could suffer the second-hand smoke, then you were pretty close to a saint,” Ritter said of Woodrich, who presided at Holy Ghost Church. “The gospel message — attend to the poor — it was such a simple thing in his mind.”
The shelter was built with contributions, said Don Gallegos, president of its board. About 1,600 donors, individuals and foundations, provided the almost $1 million needed.
It took 16 years to honor Woodrich’s passing by building the shelter he had dreamed of, Gallegos said.
The priest had probably grown impatient, he added. When Woodrich saw a need for another shelter, Gallegos said, the priest would say, ” ‘Just build it. The money will come.’ ”
Shonna Perrymond, 32, of Denver, one of the shelter’s guests who was asked to cut the ribbon this morning, said the opening hoopla has been fun.
“It’s a nice place. We needed this. It was getting cold,” said Perrymond, who has been homeless for a couple of years since losing her clerical position.
“It is in this space that lives can be transformed,” Franciscan priest John Lager told the crowd.
The shelter offers “spirituality through osmosis,” according to its list of services.
Electa Draper: 303-954-1276 or edraper@denverpost.com
