Red Cross Shelter Generates Circle of Kindness

Written by Rita Bowers, Redcross.org

A wall of sunflowers graces the outside of the shelter's Children's Enrichment Center.

Defenseless and hungry, a homeless mother with three children is stranded on the streets. Since her eviction, she uses the concrete as a resting place and the awning of a local barber shop for shelter. Once she buys food for her children, her money will be gone and she will have nowhere to turn for help.

The R.J. Montgomery Emergency Homeless Shelter, which is part of the American Red Cross Pikes Peak Chapter (located in Colorado Springs, Colo.), wants to give homeless people a safe place to turn. The shelter provides 260 men, women and children with housing and food, so they can achieve stabilization and self-sufficiency. To be admitted into the facility, people need valid picture identification, and they cannot have a history of violence, sexual offenses, destruction of Red Cross property, drugs or have a second alcohol violation at the shelter. The shelter also provides a Children's Enrichment Center, which is a colorful and inviting facility with a nursery and a play area where kids can release some of the burden of homelessness.

"After being with the Pikes Peak Chapter for almost two years," said Mary Frances Kerr, Deputy CEO of the shelter, "I moved to the R.J. Montgomery Emergency Homeless Shelter program and the Community Services area because of its unique fulfillment of the Red Cross mission and humanitarian values. This kind of services can be done successfully and with dignity. Our program is proof of that."

The shelter opened on May 14, 1984 as an emergency homeless facility, and on its first night 34 men took shelter there. During the first year, the shelter moved to a large warehouse, which had a capacity of 300 people. By the early 90s, the shelter was exceeding capacity on a regular basis and expansion loomed large. Not only was there a need for beds, but ten years of experience delivering this service the Red Cross knew that the need was changing. By 1992, the number of women and children was becoming a significant percentage of the population. By 1997, women, children and families made up almost 50% of the program's participants.

A loft provides a cozy place and an easel allows young artists an opportunity for creative expression.

In addition, the Red Cross had learned that shelter alone was not enough, and that with services like case management and community referrals, people could succeed in getting back on their feet. In 1992, the Children's Enrichment Center, adjacent to the shelter, was built and in 1995 it received a statewide award for excellence in the area of programs for youth and children from the El Pomar Foundation. The shelter developed a respite clinic program for those who needed limited nursing care with the Community Health Centers, and offered space for Pikes Peak Mental Health services. In 1997, a kitchen was added to serve meals to residents. In addition, that year the Red Cross added half walls and just this year added bunk beds specially designed enclosed on three sides to improve privacy in the sleeping area.

The beds were designed by a former resident who now runs a carpentry and design firm. "I realized the benefits of this program and the people we serve when a former resident had his business design a partially enclosed bunk bed to improve resident comfort and privacy," said Kerr. "It was built more economically than any other bed commercially available. The former resident, who is now a very productive member of our community, helped us. This is just one example of the circle of kindness that I get the privilege of seeing every day."

Kerr witnesses plenty of success stories like that one everyday. Many residents who leave the shelter write letters of thanks and praise to the staff like the one from John. He was stranded in Colorado Springs, Colo. while en route to Florida. Recently divorced, he was penniless and stayed at the shelter. In a letter of gratitude, he wrote, "One cannot possibly understand the difficulty of the fine work they do -- often under extremely trying circumstances -- until experiencing it firsthand. Neither can anyone begin to estimate the value to society of the services provided by the Red Cross through the tireless efforts of fine people like these."

Robin and Larry Brown, originally from Alamosa, Calif., shared John's sentiments and are grateful the shelter helped their family of three children ages five to 10 during a hard time. The couple moved to Colorado after Larry was laid off. Robin is unable to work because of a debilitating disease, making Larry the sole breadwinner. Without his income and any job prospects in Alamosa, the family moved to Colorado Springs to live with her mother. The living arrangement was tumultuous and the last unresolved conflict led her mother to evict them. They found the shelter in the phone book and moved into the facility.

"It is very stressful not knowing where you are going to be with kids," said Robin, who became severely depressed during this time. "[The shelter] has kept my family together because the Department of Human Services would have taken the children if we had been living in our car."

During their stay, the children have attended the Children's Enrichment Center where they received tutoring and new clothes for school. The family helped in applying for Medicaid benefits and Robin received counseling for her depression. She said she is doing "90 percent better" and the family is doing 100 percent better. "My husband has found a general labor job at a construction company," Robin. "After two and a half months, we saved enough money for a deposit on an apartment. I am thinking of going back to school."

"Over 30 percent of the people who leave our program go on to a house, an apartment or a housing program," said Mary Frances Kerr, Deputy CEO of the shelter. "This result gets our fellow citizens and neighbors who need our help back on their feet and back into our community's mainstream."

American Red Cross Pikes Peak Chapter

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