The Bridge Emergency Shelter ended our seventh season in April this year. We closed on a high note with individual success stories and hope for many of our guests. As our programs expand, we can say confidently that we are more than a meal and a bed. We are serving as a bridge to better living for those who come through our doors between mid-October and mid-April.
We have come a long way since the first partial season from January through March in 2006. Our essential mission to keep folks warm and safe during the winter has not changed, and we have learned the value of helping folks meet needs beyond basic shelter. To this end, we added the Day Labor Center as a program three years ago, and at the shelter last year, we instituted the procedure of separating intoxicated and sober guests. This year we have been able to focus time and energy on informal case management.
Through our collaboration with other rural shelters in Alamosa and Grand Junction, we are participating in the AmeriCorps program. One of our AmeriCorps members, Kristen Tworek from Michigan, has been invaluable in coordinating meals among Grace’s and Hope’s Kitchen and community members to assure we had hearty food for our guests. Our pantry is well-stocked and organized, thanks to her. Christy Janiszewski, from Pennsylvania, has developed an effective approach to informal case management. Both of them worked intake and overnight shifts and got to know our guests. They have had a meaningful impact for our guests and they have brought incredible energy and innovation to our organization.
Summary statistics show that we sheltered 233 unique guests, up a bit from last season. Other figures include 81 percent of guests were male, 19 percent were female. We averaged 25 guests a night with as many as 40 staying with us several nights in March. Sixty three percent of our guests identified with either the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe or the Navajo Nation. We had 36 volunteers who were actively engaged in serving meals during our intake shifts and we served over 10,000 meals thanks to the tireless dedication of cooks at Grace’s and Hope’s Kitchens.
Our AmeriCorps members were instrumental in helping us create a sense of normalcy and camaraderie in the shelter with their fun nights once a week. They arranged a paper airplane contest, putt-putt golf, shopping cart races, a March Madness contest. They introduced guests to s’mores, tie-dyeing T-shirts and making snow angels. Our guests introduced them to some card games, dominoes, and the Navajo and Ute languages.
Many of our guests have been on the fringes of society for a long time and they have lost the sense of social normalcy and stability. At the shelter, they have a place where routines are known and where wholesome fun happens. This sense of stability for our sober guests has allowed them to focus on solving problems about how to move forward. To hear the laughter and good humor in the shelter this year was uplifting for all of us here.
A significant change this year was the decrease in numbers of our intoxicated guests, down by six percent from last year. It is noteworthy that some guests were able to attain and maintain sobriety this season, enabling us to move them to quieter rooms on the “dry” side of the house. Our consistency with rewards for acceptable behavior and consequences for poor behavior showed resulted in having no need to call the Police Department during the entire season because of unmanageable guest behavior.
About 25 percent of our guests were returnees from last season. The implementation of informal case management led to many of our returning guests being able to make headway towards living independently. Helping someone get an ID so they can apply for various programs can be a long process when the starting point is obtaining a birth certificate. Trusting relationships are vital to being able to help our guests clear the necessary hurdles of paper work and supporting documents to apply for diverse programs. The casework that Kristen, Christy and staff have been able to provide had a direct impact for 30 individuals this season, with positive, tangible results.
I am so proud of our staff, our volunteers and of our guests who are working so hard to better their lives and regain their independence and self-sufficiency. They are confirming that we are so much more than a meal and a bed!
With summer here we have some fun events coming up. Our yearly “Night Out” fundraiser is set for July 19. Watch for posters popping up around town soon. We urge everyone to eat out early and often that day at participating eateries that will be sharing a portion of their proceeds that day with the Bridge.
The Rockslide Music Festival is scheduled for July 27, with 12 hours of music in the amphitheater at Parque de Vida. This great local band will share benefits of the festival with the Bridge and Pinon Project. We need volunteers to help out that day in a variety ways. Call the shelter at (970) 565-9808 if you can help out for a couple of hours in return for free entrance to the festival.
On Aug. 17, we will host our first Homeless Awareness Walk. It’s being planned by Kristen and Christy to celebrate the caring support of the community and to educate everyone about the issues of homelessness locally as well as in Colorado and across the nation. There is no charge for participating in this event, which will conclude with a barbecue. Watch for more information.
Our policies of treating everyone with dignity and respect are proving the truth in my favorite quote by Goethe: “Treat people as if they are what they ought to be, and you help them to become what they are capable of being.” My staff, along with the board of directors, are determined that the Bridge will be much more than a meal and a bed!
Donna Boyd is manager of the Bridge Emergency Shelter.