Despite vocal opposition from residents, a civic association leader, and a city council
representative--and with no input from the women who will use it--the Denver Women’s
Emergency Shelter will relocate to the north Denver neighborhood of Globeville by
January 2015.
The shelter will be run by Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese of Denver, through a contract with the city. Catholic Charities already manages a number of Denver area facilities serving people experiencing homelessness, including the Samaritan House.
Women will make the 2 1/2-mile trip to and from the shelter on buses departing from the
Samaritan House each evening and returning there in the morning. Because of the
distance, as well as neighbors’ concerns, they won’t be able to travel on their own to the
shelter as they do now at Elati. They will receive an evening meal and a sack breakfast.
Their “beds” would continue to be mats on the floor, rather than the cots many guests
had been hoping for.
At a meeting at the church on Oct 13th, many residents expressed strong opposition to
the shelter being located in their neighborhood. The meeting was attended by about 60
neighbors, District 9 City Council representative Judy Montero, four regular Elati shelter
guests, and several homeless advocates. It was facilitated by staff of Denver’s Road
Home, Catholic Charities, and the Denver Foundation.
Community members claimed there were already too many shelters in that area,
expressed their fears that the shelter would increase crime and violence, and asked
why their community, which struggles financially, was chosen rather than a wealthier
community such as Cherry Creek or Highlands Ranch.
“We don’t want you here,” said Globeville Civic Association president Dave Oletski.
“This is the poorest neighborhood in Denver. We are the least able to stand up to you.”
Residents also stated that “You made a terrible mistake picking this neighborhood,”
“There will be hell to pay if you do it,” and “I’m ashamed that I was raised a Catholic.”The neighborhood is home to an adult inpatient rehab program on North Broadway run
by the Salvation Army, in which up to 98 men sleep there and up to 28 women are
housed elsewhere. Catholic Charities also runs a transitional housing program for 15
formerly homeless veterans on Pennsylvania Street.
Several residents insisted that Globeville was a compassionate community that wished
no harm to homeless people, but “We are surrounded by treatment facilities"…"We
have a problem of drug deals and home invasions going on"…"It’s fair for us to ask
about crime.”
Residents asked what would prevent the women guests from leaving the shelter in the
night and roaming around the neighborhood, or from not getting on the bus in the
morning. They suggested that having the shelter there put their children at risk. Denver
Catholic Charities CEO Larry Smith said that a "one-strike" policy would be enforced in
which any woman who does not get on the bus in the morning will not be allowed back.
Residents also asked about drug and alcohol use. Smith explained that the facility is a
“wet” shelter, which means guests will not be breathalized and can stay there as long as
they are not significantly intoxicated. He said all women would be vetted before getting
on the bus to ensure they were appropriate for the shelter and able to manage their own
behavior.
The women from the Elati shelter who attended the meeting spoke out in an effort to
correct what they saw as Globeville residents’ misperceptions about homeless women.
“I understand your fears,” said Loretta. “I grew up in a poor neighborhood myself and I
know the problems you experience, including high crime rates. But we are just poor
women with nowhere to go, and we need this shelter. Many of us are old and sick.”
“We would never hurt you. We are afraid of being hurt ourselves,” added Karen. “We
are economic refugees,” said Mary. “We’re lost in a world that doesn’t want us.”
Carmen, who had her hand up many times, was not called on to speak. About two
hours into the meeting, the women left when they could no longer endure the animosity
they felt directed against them.
Globeville residents and Montero expressed anger and frustration that the city and
Catholic Charities had not talked to them about the plan until it was a “done deal.”
“The decision’s already been made,” said Montero. “You control the agenda and the
ground rules for this meeting. That’s not fair.”“You’ve been holding planning sessions for 18 months and you never came to us,” said Oletski. “How can we trust you now?”
Smith said they were unable to go to the community until they got the approval of the archbishop, which they just obtained. Smith, who ran the meeting, said that there’s a huge need for the shelter, since the current one is about to close. Referring to the mission of the Catholic Church to “reach out and help the poor,” Smith said that “the issue is not whether, but how and where we help (the women).” Smith and Denver’s Road Home staffer Chris Conner explained that the city has been searching for over a year for a new location for the shelter, with several potential locations falling through due to building shortcomings, competition
from other users, distance from downtown, and other factors.
Globeville, along with its sister communities Swansea and Elyria, has long wrestled with
problems of poverty, industrial pollution, and two major Interstate highways (I-70 and I-
25) running through the neighborhood and preventing residents from forming a cohesive
community. A $2 billion Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) proposal to
enlarge a stretch of the I-70 east of the I-25 includes a plan to build the part passing
through this area underground, and to put a landscaped cover on top. While there is
disagreement over how this project would affect the north Denver area, many believe it
could unify and strengthen these communities.
They are also hopeful that the 77-acre Asarco tract of land completing pollution
remediation will spawn industrial development and jobs. “We finally have a chance to
uplift this neighborhood,” said Oletski. “We have so much work to do. We don’t need
this.”
At several residents’ insistence, a non-binding vote of those present was taken, in which
25 people opposed the shelter in their neighborhood, and 15 supported it. Smith and the
other leaders committed to holding additional meetings with Globeville residents in the
coming weeks.
Asked how the shelter got around zoning rules, Smith explained that under a “rights of
use” permit, a building can be used as a shelter for up to 120 days per year. Smith said
he is seeking buildings in two other Catholic parishes, in order to rotate the shelter
among the three for year-round coverage without requiring a zoning variance.
“We are still aiming for a permanent year-round shelter,” Smith said, “but for that
everyone must agree, which is very difficult.”
The True Hero's of the Night
After the four women and I left the Globeville meeting, we stood outside and talked. One
woman we spoke with was Cathy Vannerson, Director of Archdiocesan Housing.
Vannerson told the women it must have taken a lot to hear people say the things they
said against having homeless women in their neighborhood, and to not respond in
anger. She said she considered them “true heroes” and “the bravest people I’ve met.”
I totally agree with Vannerson. In the car on the way up, knowing they would be facing
some hostility, the women agreed to remain calm and to act respectfully toward
everyone, no matter what. They understood that, right or wrong, all the women who use
homeless shelters would be judged according to how they behaved.
These women knew what they were going to walk into, and yet they were willing to go
anyway, because THIS IS ABOUT THEM. They insist that they too have been left out of
the communication loop about plans that will greatly impact their lives and well-being.
They say that’s not right--that their concerns and ideas should be heard and taken
seriously by the planners. (At their request, I asked Larry Smith, CEO of Catholic Charities, to meet with all the women at the Elati shelter, and he has agreed to do so
soon.)
Since that meeting I’ve talked a lot with these four brave women. They shared how hard
it was to hear themselves portrayed in such a negative light. They say they are now
afraid to go to the Globeville shelter when it opens, fearful they may be attacked either
there or on the bus.
And yet, they sympathize with the people of Globeville, whose very real problems have
long been neglected by city officials and who feel--like the women themselves--ignored
and disrespected. They understand that, at the meeting, the neighbors were so upset
with the city and Catholic Charities about the perceived lack of communication that they
were unable to focus on what the women and other homeless advocates were trying to
tell them.
They want to keep interacting with the Globeville residents. They believe that if people
get to know them as individuals, their fears will evaporate and their stereotypes will be
replaced by real understanding.
And they wonder--as I do--what it would take to open a permanent women’s shelter--a
place that would help stabilize women’s lives, reduce their struggles, and support their
efforts to obtain permanent housing. Can it really be that NIMBY-ism (not in my back
yard)--is allowed to thwart every effort to provide shelters, housing and support centers
for people experiencing homelessness? Can it be that the self-centered desires and
preferences of those who would JUST RATHER NOT SEE homeless people around
them ALWAYS get to trump the survival needs of those who have nothing? What will it
take to replace this paradigm with one driven by economic justice?
-------------------------------
IN OUR OWN WORDS
Karen: They (Globeville residents) are looking at the small not the big picture. Those at
the meeting didn’t represent the whole community, just those who were upset and
chose to attend to complain. They weren’t allowing other voices to be heard. The
women started to sympathize but the men wouldn’t let them. It was a bunch of sexist
males blaming women for things. They were blaming homeless women for drug and
alcohol problems and home invasions. Those problems could be coming from their own
neighbors. They were more concerned about their possessions than about us women.
What if the tables were turned and they were homeless? How would they feel? They
were judging us and making assumptions that just aren’t true. Safety works both ways.
Loretta: They were scared because it was something new. The city and Catholic
Charities could have gone to the community first and listened to them. One woman who
lived there 35 years said she didn’t mind (about the shelter coming in). They were
concerned about their kids. They don’t want them to know about the homeless. It could
be their own people doing the home invasions. I want to go back and talk to them. I
want them to see that many of us are senior citizens on fixed incomes.
Carmen: They didn’t give me the opportunity to speak even though I had my hand up a
lot. We’re nothing like the way they were describing us. We’re strangers. We don’t know
them. They made us feel uncomfortable. We were scared for the first time in our lives.
We don’t want to go in there if they feel like that. Will our safety be guaranteed on the
bus and at the shelter?
Mary: We have handicapped, paralyzed, people with canes, oxygen, walkers. We’re not
people who steal, rob, or break into homes. We’re economic refugees lost in a world
that doesn’t want us. I have more to be afraid of than you do. Why are you mad at us?
We didn’t do anything to you. We’re old and just need a little help.
--------------------
After the four women and I left the Globeville meeting, we stood outside and talked. One
woman we spoke with was Cathy Vannerson, Director of Archdiocesan Housing.
Vannerson told the women it must have taken a lot to hear people say the things they
said against having homeless women in their neighborhood, and to not respond in
anger. She said she considered them “true heroes” and “the bravest people I’ve met.”
I totally agree with Vannerson. In the car on the way up, knowing they would be facing
some hostility, the women agreed to remain calm and to act respectfully toward
everyone, no matter what. They understood that, right or wrong, all the women who use
homeless shelters would be judged according to how they behaved.
These women knew what they were going to walk into, and yet they were willing to go
anyway, because THIS IS ABOUT THEM. They insist that they too have been left out of
the communication loop about plans that will greatly impact their lives and well-being.
They say that’s not right--that their concerns and ideas should be heard and taken
seriously by the planners. (At their request, I asked Larry Smith, CEO of Catholic Charities, to meet with all the women at the Elati shelter, and he has agreed to do so
soon.)
Since that meeting I’ve talked a lot with these four brave women. They shared how hard
it was to hear themselves portrayed in such a negative light. They say they are now
afraid to go to the Globeville shelter when it opens, fearful they may be attacked either
there or on the bus.
And yet, they sympathize with the people of Globeville, whose very real problems have
long been neglected by city officials and who feel--like the women themselves--ignored
and disrespected. They understand that, at the meeting, the neighbors were so upset
with the city and Catholic Charities about the perceived lack of communication that they
were unable to focus on what the women and other homeless advocates were trying to
tell them.
They want to keep interacting with the Globeville residents. They believe that if people
get to know them as individuals, their fears will evaporate and their stereotypes will be
replaced by real understanding.
And they wonder--as I do--what it would take to open a permanent women’s shelter--a
place that would help stabilize women’s lives, reduce their struggles, and support their
efforts to obtain permanent housing. Can it really be that NIMBY-ism (not in my back
yard)--is allowed to thwart every effort to provide shelters, housing and support centers
for people experiencing homelessness? Can it be that the self-centered desires and
preferences of those who would JUST RATHER NOT SEE homeless people around
them ALWAYS get to trump the survival needs of those who have nothing? What will it
take to replace this paradigm with one driven by economic justice?
-----
What do you think should be done to help women who are experiencing homelessness
in Denver? Write and let us know! (See the back page for ways to get in touch with us.)
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