In 2006, The Gathering Place received 62,139 visits from women and children in need of support, caring and hope.
73% of women and children using services and programs of The Gathering Place are homeless. They stay with family and friends, in shelters or motels, in their cars or on the street.

The Gathering Place Children’s Area offers a safe environment where kids can play, learn and develop while mothers are taking advantage of other programs and resources. In 2006, the Children’s Area received nearly 5,500 visits. Because we require that school-age children be enrolled in school, most of the kids we see are under the age of 6.
 
    Community Needs—Community Solutions
 For many of us, the booming economy in Colorado brings with it growing
employment opportunities, world class shopping and other economic benefits.
For others, this boom has contributed to a severe lack of housing that is safe
and affordable. More and more of our neighbors are surviving paycheck-to-
paycheck; a situation in which a car repair or illness can push a family into
real crisis. For those who already own a home, the incredible increase in
home values in 2001 can be a windfall. But for many Denver families,
already struggling to maintain their housing, increases in rents and home
values are pushing them into homelessness.

Women may find themselves without a place to live for a variety of reasons. Inability to pay a rent or mortgage and unemployment are the two major causes for homelessness among women who come to The Gathering Place. Domestic violence, mental illness and substance abuse also adversely effect the housing stability of women and the children in their care. On any given evening in Denver, over 9,000 people have no place to sleep.

Most homeless families in Denver are headed by women. Homelessness among children in families continues to be one of the fastest growing segments of the homeless population in the Denver metropolitan area. The number of homeless children in families has grown from 1,931 in June of 1998 to 3,261 in January of 2006—an overall increase of 69%.†

The Gathering Place exists to offer women shelter from harm during times of homelessness or poverty. When a woman has the opportunity to take care of her most immediate and urgent needs, she can find the time to draw from her inner resources. At that point, she is ready to make positive life changes for herself and her children.

For more information on homelessness in Colorado, visit the Colorado Coalition For The Homeless:   www.coloradocoalition.org

For more information on the affordble housing crisis both locally and nationally, read the Out of Reach report published by the National Low Income Housing Coalition at   www.nlihc.org/oor2006

For more information about a potential solution to the housing crisis, visit The National Housing Trust Fund Campaign website at   www.nhtf.org




†Tracy A. D’Alanno, ed. “Homelessness in the Denver Metropolitan Area: The Changing Face of Homelessness—7th Annual Point in Time Study”, January 23, 2006. Colorado Department of Human Services, 2006.





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