Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper snagged a $1.5 million contribution to his homeless initiative as a summit on the issue with 13 other mayors kicked off Thursday.
Rick Schaden, founder of the Quiznos restaurant chain, announced the contribution during a speech Thursday night at the Denver Art Museum.
The money is coming from the Schaden Family Foundation. The contribution is the largest private donation so far for Denver’s “Road Home” program, an initiative aimed at tackling the problems of the homeless.
In an earlier interview, Schaden said the money would be leveraged to attract additional private capital and would finance construction of housing for 60 to 100 homeless families.
Schaden said the issue had affected him personally. A member of his wife’s family was homeless at one point, he said, and an aunt of his also became homeless.
“It touches your heart,” Schaden said. “It could happen to anyone.”
Hickenlooper, in a speech at the museum Thursday night, said he hoped the summit participants would commit to core principles for addressing homelessness, an issue he has made a priority during his tenure as mayor.
“You can’t preside over a city and build new airports and new sports arenas and beautiful museums and wonderful facilities and yet not similarly dedicate yourself to building the infrastructure around the people that need help the most,” Hickenlooper said.
Schaden said he hopes his contribution will serve as a model for other philanthropic initiatives to address homelessness.
“The government partnering with private capital can be a huge solution for community problems,” he said.
Schaden said the plan is to build the housing close to public transportation and other facilities, such as restaurants, so those served by the housing aren’t isolated.
Christopher N. Osher: 303-954-1747 or cosher@denverpost.com
