Brandy Kazmierczak thought she’d have a place to live
when she, her mother and young daughter moved to
Colorado from Connecticut.
But after their plans to move in with a friend fell
through, Kazmierczak found herself homeless, dialing 211
and scurrying for a place to sleep.
What she found was Growing Home, a Westminster nonprofit that helps some 4,000 families in the north-metro area each year.
Founded in 1998 as the Adams County Interfaith Hospitality Network, the group has expanded beyond its initial mission of providing shelter for homeless families to offering an array of services from food, rent and utility assistance, to affordable housing and educational programming — all with a focus on stabilizing the lives of homeless families.
“Homelessness is less visible in the suburbs, and it tends to be families with kids,” said Teva Sienicki, Growing Home’s executive director.
The group — which comprises 27 churches, one synagogue, a university and a hospital — changed its name in 2005 to reflect its expanded mission. The organization is one of the many agencies applying for funding from this year’s Season to Share campaign.
Growing Home took Kazmierczak, her mother, and her daughter Tatyana, then 3, into its community-based shelter.
The shelter rotates weekly through the group’s member organizations, providing nightly meals, beds, breakfast and sack lunches for clients who spend the day working, seeking jobs or utilizing the services at Growing Home’s separate day shelter.
“It was probably the worst day of my life,” Kazmierczak, 23, recalled of the day in May 2008 when she first sought Growing Home’s assistance.
Today she describes the group as her “second family.” After two months in the shelter, Kazmierczak was accepted for a spot in Growing Home’s transitional housing program.
Today, she is working toward a degree as an ophthalmic medical assistant. Tatyana, now 5, is enrolled in a nearby charter school, and Kazmierczak’s mother lives nearby too.
Though Growing Home counts
Kazmierczak among its success stories, the organization is struggling to keep up with demand for its services as the economic downturn leaves more families without a paycheck, Sienicki said.
In the first six months of this year, Growing Home has seen a 405 percent increase in requests for its food bank, compared with the first six months of 2008. Overall assistance requests are up 20 percent.
One telling detail: Growing Home’s monthly budget for rent assistance used to last through the 10th of each month. Now, the fund is exhausted moments after the phone line opens on the first of each month.
“It’s gotten to be like a radio call-in contest,” Sienicki said.
As a result of the foundering economy, foundation and corporate donations are down, and the group had to close its food pantry 12 times last year when it ran out of food. This year, so far, the pantry has remained open, thanks to grants and special funding.
“We are on the front lines of the economy,” Sienicki said.
Growing Home
Address: 3489 W. 72nd Ave., #112
In operation since: 1998
Number served last year: 4,000 households, 10,000+ individuals
Staff: Eight full time, eight part time
Yearly budget: $775,000
Percentage of funds directly to clients/service: 90 percent
