“Home is the place where, when you have to go there / They have to take you in.” — Robert Frost in “The Death of the Hired Man”The Delores Project is west Denver’s shelter for women who, when the sun heads down toward the mountains, have no place else to go. About 50 of these women turn up every night. More would stay, if they could, if there were more beds. But The Delores Project is built to take in 50 “guests.”
Not clients. Always guests.
“The life circumstances of these women are not so different than mine,” says executive director Terrell Curtis, who has been at the shelter since 2007. “I always had strong family support, and that’s what these women are lacking. I just don’t give up hope on them. This is an organization that believes in the strength of the women it serves.”
It is most important for Curtis and the army of volunteers who staff and maintain this house that they continue to give dignified shelter to these women who have so few resources. All are welcome with three caveats: You are a woman. You are alone. You exhibit safe behavior to be here.
They don’t ask a lot of questions at The Delores Project, one of a number of local agencies applying for funds from this year’s Season to Share campaign. A woman doesn’t have to show her ID, as she probably doesn’t have any.
Women can come in at 5:30 p.m. and must leave by 8 a.m. They make reservations at the shelter during the day, on the phone, so they don’t arrive with nothing but hope. They get a hot dinner, a bed in a safe dormitory, breakfast, a kind word, encouragement.
“On any given night,” says Curtis, “there are 1,600 women on the street. And there are fewer than 150 shelter beds for women.”
Patricia, 45, has been here for a few months, trying to get her ID and her Social Security card and her divorce decree. Trying to get it together.
“It’s pretty nice for a shelter,” she says. “I don’t think the men’s shelters are this nice. I like it here. You don’t feel like you’re locked up. It gets you motivated to better your life. It’s your choice. We all come here scarred. I flipped out about five years ago. I’m here out of my own stupidity.”
By stupidity, she says, she means doing heroin and crack cocaine. “It’s really hard, once you dig that hole, to climb back out when you’re living on the streets.”
During the day, many of the women go to the Gathering Place, a daytime shelter for women and children. Sometimes, Patricia goes there.
“Lately, I’ve been taking care of what I need to take care of,” says Patricia. “This place (Delores) gives you a roof, so I don’t have to stress about that all day.”
Each night, the dinners are provided by volunteers. The security is provided by the Delores Project.
At least until tomorrow morning.
The Delores Project
Location: West Denver
In operation since: 2000
Staff: 20
Yearly budget: $750,000
Percentage of funds directly given to clients and services: 85%
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