Samuel J. Aquila, archbishop of Denver, talks with Catholic Charities official Geoff Bennett inside the donated-clothing room at the Samaritan House in downtown Denver on May 29, 2012. (Andy Cross, Denver Post file)
Re: “What Catholic Charities is doing for Colorado’s homeless,” Nov. 29 Q&A interview.
Thank you so much for Vincent Carroll’s excellent interview with Larry Smith regarding Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Denver’s extensive programs for Denver’s homeless and the fact that the need is growing by the month. One population that was not noted in the article is the critical growth of families who are homeless.
When I did research on the homeless in Chicago’s skid row the 1950s and since, the population had no families. When in recent years I worked as a client service chaplain at the Denver Rescue Mission, a large proportion of those I provided with vouchers for food and clothing (and furniture as they found housing) were families. I know that conditions have now grown worse and the number of homeless families is still growing.
Children who grow up in homeless and transient families sadly learn a dehumanizing lifestyle which many of them will carry throughout their lives.
Beyond providing Thanksgiving meals and such, when will we wake up to develop the enduring help, such as “affordable housing” and, in many cases, “living wage jobs”? These two services have proved that they will answer the needs and provide vital self-esteem of many who now are falling between the cracks of our affluent society.
Ron Vander Kooi, Arvada
This letter was published in the Dec. 6 edition.
