New Jerusalem Baptist Church, the first and only Denver church to shelter homeless women every night during the cold winter months, has inspired its Curtis Park neighbors. “What little they have, they are going to share it,” said neighbor Sue Glassmacher. “It’s an incredible lesson for us all.”
The tiny 38-year-old church, which started taking in homeless women a few months ago, has always lived hand-to-mouth.
“We don’t have any money,” said the Rev. Calvin Kelly. “Any dime that comes into the church goes back out into the community.”
Lack of funds shuttered its bus ministry, in which a van would pick up kids and take them to church or on fun trips. “But the van got messed up, so we have no van,” Kelly said.
“A lot of people don’t have cars,” the pastor said. “Even mine blew up, so I’m hitching to work. But it’s amazing how everything comes together.”
The church, which receives no funding for the shelter, has about 25 adult members. Only 10 or so have jobs with paychecks. Still, they manage to provide hot meals for the women. Male volunteers provide security patrols outdoors at night, while women staff inside.
The church, which opens its doors to as many as 25 women nightly, has changed life dramatically at the Delores Project, a shelter for unaccompanied women.
“We have not had to say to anyone, ‘Sorry, there are no other options for you tonight,’ ” said Delores Project executive director Terrell Curtis. “We know that the women are cared for in a really lovely way. Some people call and ask to go there first.”
There are about 125 beds in metro Denver for solo women. Last year’s survey of the homeless population counted 834 women.
“We’re full every night of the year, even in mid-July,” Curtis said. “I give a lot of credit to this church to be willing to do this. They are meeting a real desperate need.”
In the church kitchen Monday night, Katherine Burston was warming a pot of vegetables — cauliflower, carrots and string beans — on the stove. Two roasted chickens were on the counter, ready to feed about 20 women. The youngest was a teenager, the oldest 74.
Burston, who volunteers in the kitchen almost every night, had been one of the homeless women who sought shelter here.
“I was tired and wore out,” she said. “This place put life back into me. It keeps me out of trouble and helps me give back.”
A crack addict for nearly 25 years, she hit bottom in October. She had a sleeping bag and slept outdoors, but always on the property of different churches because they made her feel safer.
One night she slept in the snow — and a foot got frostbite. When she arrived at New Jerusalem, she could barely walk.
“Since walking inside these doors,” she said, “I’ve been clean and sober.”
The Rev. Maxine Bolar, who runs the shelter program, goes beyond just giving the women a meal and a bed. She tries to find them more permanent housing and gives them job leads and training in practical skills.
“The younger women don’t have life skills,” she said. “They don’ t know how to cook. We teach them to clean and do other things so when they get their own place, they’re not stuck like chucks.”
Back in the fall, when the church held a meeting with Curtis Park Neighbors to talk about their plans for a temporary homeless shelter, there was no burst of enthusiasm.
“To hear about this homeless thing was pretty tough for the neighborhood,” said Glassmacher. “We already have so many homeless services in the neighborhood. You just go, ‘Oh, no, enough already.’ “
But then she realized something.
“They are standing on their faith,” she said. “I couldn’t get mad at them and say, ‘We don’t want you to do this.’ “
Instead, the neighbors have banded together to help the church, including seeking grants to help pay its utility bill, which has doubled since being open each night, because of running the furnace. The church is trying to find carpenters and contractors, and has been collecting things to help the women: blankets, sheets, towels, underwear.
“You build community,” Glassmacher said. “Our whole idea is to show people there’s nothing to be afraid of by having (a shelter) in your community. It’s not going to wreck your neighborhood, but improve it in more ways than one.”
Denver zoning codes allow churches to provide emergency homeless housing for 120 days, so New Jerusalem’s last night will be at the end of April.
Seven other churches are considering an overnight shelter rotation, which means “each church would provide one night of overnight shelter for about 20 women,” said Jamie Bradley, spokeswoman for Denver’s Road Home. “Our faith community is still discussing the possibility of this trial run, which would enable them to learn how to effectively operate an overnight shelter.”
For the Rev. Zina Parrish, the experience has been “awesome.”
Her husband died in December, just before a candlelight vigil for the homeless who died on the streets.
“One woman said, ‘I’ve got something for you,’ and she gave me a candle she got there,” said Parrish, once homeless herself. “That meant so much. These women have been a total blessing to me.”
Colleen O’Connor: 303-954-1083 or coconnor@denverpost.com
Women are accepted at the New Jerusalem Baptist Church shelteronly by referral from the Delores Project or the Gathering Place.
For more information and to donate, call the Rev. Maxine Bolar at 303-704-5572.
