June 30, 2010

Homeless shelter marks five years helping women and children

By John Gleason

For five years, the Father Ed Judy House has been helping to change the lives of women and children who find themselves without a home. On June 25, Catholic Charities honored the Denver home with an open house as the facility celebrated its fifth anniversary. 

On hand for the event were well-wishers, past and present residents of the house, administration, staff and other supporters of the project, which has served to get many families back into mainstream society. 
Special guests included Catholic Charities Executive Director Jonathan Reyes, Chief Operating Officer Stephen Carattini and Denver City Councilwoman Jeanne Faatz. 

Reyes delivered a brief address and several past residents of the facility shared reflections on how the home helped them.

Wendy Oldenbrook is the program director for the house.  As she watched residents give tours of the house, she told the Denver Catholic Register that the home is a place where women come for hope, not to simply fill out forms and be processed.

“Here there is no 30 days and you’re out,” she said.  “Right now we have nine families and seven staff.  That means we have a lot of time to sit and listen and build relationships.  And when families leave it’s not like we close the file and put it away.  We’re still a part of their life; it makes for a big difference.”

Melissa McDaniles was one of the volunteers who helped with the open house.  Once a resident at Father Ed Judy House, she told the Register she jumped at the chance to be part of the celebration in gratitude for the love and support she and her children received when they were residents at the facility.

“This place becomes your home,” she said, “a place where you feel safe and have people to talk to.  No one judges you here.”

The Father Ed Judy House is a temporary shelter set up to accommodate up to 30 people who find themselves with no place to go. It’s named for Father Ed Judy, O.F.M. Cap., a staunch advocate for the rights of the homeless, who was director of Samaritan House for 11 years before his death in 2003.

The average stay for a resident is 120 days. Those who wish admittance must complete a screening process which includes a referral from a local shelter and must come with a desire to improve their situation. While at the Father Ed Judy house, residents can avail themselves to programs which assist them in life skills including making a budget and dealing with landlords, parenting skills, completion of their GED—areas in which the residents can become more independent and take control of their lives.

During his brief talk Reyes reflected on his first year as head of Catholic Charities and, in that time, how he’s had the opportunity to visit and see and hear firsthand the success stories that have come out of Father Ed Judy House.

“This place is something special,” he told the audience, “and I think we should acknowledge the hard work that Wendy and her staff have put into the success here.”

Also on hand to share her story was Kristina Wolff, a 33-year-old mother who was a resident of the Father Ed Judy House in 2009.

“Homelessness isn’t a lifestyle that someone seeks,” she said. “My parents were both college graduates.  I did well in school and had good grades. By the time I was 22 I was an alcoholic; by 28 I’d been hospitalized several times for alcoholic-related seizures and nearly died.  I was in a living situation I had almost no way to get out of.”

But at Father Ed Judy House she found a place where people wanted to help, not judge her.  She eventually found a permanent place for her and her daughter to live and today has returned to school and is currently working on a pharmaceutical degree.  Asked to sum up what the Father Ed Judy House does for its residents, Wolff said it’s a place where people hold the ladder so that families in crisis can begin to climb up.

“The Father Ed Judy House makes obstacles manageable,” she said, “and the path to the other side climb-able.

For More Information
Contact the Father Ed Judy House by calling Samaritan House at 303-294-0241 or by visiting online the Catholic Charities Denver website, www.ccdenver.org. Click on “services” then on “homelessness.”