BOULDER — It was snowing in Boulder on a gray, cold Friday, and in a brick house facing an alley just down the street from the tony Pearl Street Mall, homeless men and women sipped coffee, lined up for hot dogs and chili, and tapped on computers.
Boulder Carriage House is a warm sanctuary, a place to grab a shower, check voice-mail messages, or find a job.
“It’s a cool little haven for people,” says Joy Eckstine, the center’s director. It’s also one of the few places in Boulder where homeless people can relax and chat without fear of being judged.
“People feel so much shame,” she says. “They know they are looked down upon. That eats up a lot of time and energy. And they are afraid.”
As the snow fell, volunteers toiled in the kitchen, homeless men sat around a big table reading newspapers, and upstairs, just outside of Eckstine’s office, they waited their turn for a chance at the computers. Plastering the walls throughout the miniature center are paintings and drawings done by Carriage House clients.
Carriage House is usually open only during the day, although the organization recently received grant money to open for 15 nights during the winter when the temperatures dip dangerously low. The organization is seeking funding from Post-News Season to Share.
The days are full. Staffers and volunteers hold weekly classes in art, crafts, computer skills, healthy relationships, job searching and addiction recovery. People learn the ins and outs of receiving benefits and finding housing, and every other week they can come to Carriage House for acupuncture.
About 116 people a day visit the location. With most of them, Eckstine says, one of the goals is helping them find jobs and get back on their feet, a series of achievements that often are difficult for people who frequently don’t have the proper clothing for job interviews, who have never written a resume, and who live outside, without vehicles.
“We make the assumption that if we help to remove obstacles, people will move forward,” Eckstine says. “I feel privileged to get to know people and to understand what they have been through. People are so strong, in so many ways.”
Douglas Brown: 303-954-1395 or djbrown@denverpost.com
Boulder Carriage House
Address: 1120 1/2 Pine St., Boulder
In operation since: 1996
Number served last year: 2,000
Staff: 4
Yearly budget: $215,000
Percentage of funds directly to clients/services: 85 percent
Post-News Season to Share, a fund of the McCormick Tribune Foundation, gave $1.79 million to 62 agencies last year serving children, the hungry, homeless and those in need of medical care. Donations are matched at 50 cents for each dollar; 100 percent goes directly to the agencies. To make a donation, see the coupon in today’s paper, call 888-683- 4483 or go to .
