COMMERCE CITY —Before the doors to the in Commerce City opened for the day, there was a line of people waiting to get donated clothes, food and hygiene kits.
Inside the center, about 10 volunteers cleaned shelves, hung clothing, packed boxes of food and laid out giant plastic “shopping bags” for the people lined up outside.
“It helps a lot,” said Consuelo Hernández, 31. “I came here two or three times last year to get school clothes for my two kids. My son (who is 4 years old) can play while I pick out clothes. It’s great.”
The center is a bright, well-let collection of rooms in the basement of the Adams 14 School District building at 5291 E. 60th Ave. Each room holds an inventory of clothes, food or personal products from which transient families in the school district and throughout the community can select items.
The nonprofit began in 2007 to make sure students had school supplies, bus passes, backpacks and food for their families.
In Adams 14, there are about 7,500 students, and 72 percent of them qualify for free or reduced lunch.
Mary Ann Mosquera, a Title 10 liaison with the school district who has overseen the center since 2009, said of those 7,500 students, about 17 percent are considered homeless or in transitional housing.
“We do a lot for families — we just need to identify them first,” Mosquera said. “So, I interview each of them and talk to them and try to find out what we can do to better support them so their children can continue coming to school.”
When people come to the center, they first go into an intake room where Mosquera and her team of volunteers create a case profile. From there, clients get shopping bags and wander through an adjacent room that has been arranged to look like a clothing boutique.
Clients choose from the clothes on the standalone racks and are able to select three outfits for every family member. They also get a box of food (which comes from the Food Bank of the Rockies) and hygiene kits, if they want them.
About 18 months ago, another nonprofit called formed in Commerce City specifically as an auxiliary funding and organizing arm of the center.
Its executive director, Keely Thompson, met Mosquera in the community and knew she could bolster the much-needed program, which had become too busy for Mosquera to continue juggling on her own.
“We came in and took over managing the fiscal piece,” Thompson said. “We brought in the volunteer base, helped get donations and manage the day-to-day operations in the center … Since then, we’ve nearly doubled the amount of people we’ve served.”
In fall 2013, the center served an average of 100 families a month. As of last fall, there are about 150 who come each month. And last year, 715 families were served by the center, which has between 10 and 20 people come through the doors each day that it’s open.
The center is open three hours every Wednesday and Thursday, but Mosquera will take appointments for emergencies any day. The building is a former jailhouse, so there are even showers in the back room if clients request them.
“There are so many families that qualify for Title 10, but there’s a huge population of families that are just on the cusp,” said Breanna Deidel, spokesperson for Adams 14. Community Uplift Partnership “can really swoop in and help with that preventative piece, to keep them moving forward and not back.”
Megan Mitchell: 303-954-2650, mmitchell@denverpost.com or twitter.com/Mmitchelldp
Donate
What: Food, clothing and hygiene products
When: Between 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays
Where:Hope Family Resource Center, 5291 E. 60th Ave., Commerce City
Email: donations@cupcolorado .org
