A chain-smoking ad executive turned Diocesan priest still inspires service to the poor in Denver 16 years after his death.
Stories about Monsignor Charles Woodrich caused laughter and tears at Wednesday’s opening of a new shelter at West Seventh Avenue and Lipan Street – Father Woody’s Haven of Hope.
Gov. Bill Ritter dedicated the shelter by remembering a priest who, 35 years ago, turned his downtown Church of the Holy Ghost into a shelter for the cold and hungry. By his example, and within a year, the Samaritan Shelter would open.
“If you could suffer the second- hand smoke, then you were pretty close to a saint,” Ritter said of Woodrich. “The Gospel message, attend to the poor – it was such a simple thing in his mind.”
Woodrich died in 1991, but his unflinching devotion to the poor lives on at the haven.
The Franciscan Friends of the Poor, with donations from 1,600 individuals and foundations, built the 5,700-square-foot day-use shelter for about $1 million, spokesman Dan Hopkins said.
Homeless people, who for years lined up for food at outdoor tents and got haircuts on the porch even in frigid weather, have moved next door – to a building with a spacious kitchen, handsome dining hall and a half-dozen private showers.
Shonna Perrymond, 32, of Denver, one of the haven’s guests who was asked to cut the ribbon Wednesday, said the hoopla has been fun.
“It’s a nice place. We needed this. It was getting cold,” Perrymond said.
For more information, call 303-607-0855 or go to .
Electa Draper: 303-954-1276 or edraper@denverpost.com
This article has been corrected in this online archive. Originally, due to a reporting error, it incorrectly identified the religious order of Father Woody. He was a Diocesan priest who was instrumental in opening Denver’s Samaritan House for the homeless, which is run by Capuchins.
