Photo by: Michael Furman
Approximately 600 DU students, staff and Denver community members volunteered on Friday, offering services to 800 homeless at the seventh bi-annual Project Homeless Connect (PHC7) in Denver.
PHC7 is put on in partnership with DU, Mile High United Way and Denver’s Road Home, the city’s 10-year plan to end homelessness. This event offers the homeless in the Denver community the opportunity to seek assistance with basic needs.
The event was held at the Ritchie center and offered services hroughout the morning including basic medical assistance, housing, financial, identification such as birth certificates and driver’s licenses, legal services, and child support.
Lunch was provided.
Individuals charged with petty crimes and misdemeanors were given the opportunity to participate in homeless court.
This court is offered to the homeless and accelerates the judgment process so that the men and women can move towards stability.
One man who found this service helpful was James Theil, who was issued a ticket on the RTD Light Rail.
Due to his circumstances he was unable to take care of this ticket and if he were to plead guilty in court he would have a theft on record.
Theil said, “With this court I was able to have this incident amended. I was surprised to find all of this help.”
According to volunteers, the most utilized services throughout the day are medical services, applications for food stamps and requests for new identification documents. Over 60 community organizations were represented at the event.
“In order to make this a success it takes the cooperation of many people and companies. We work with the university. The attorneys, the medical personnel and everyone offering services, all are donating their time. This is a true community effort,” Shari Lawson, who volunteers for Mile High United Way and served as an area leader on Friday said,
This is the second time that PHC has been hosted at DU.
Denver’s Road Home is a project to end homelessness in Denver in 10 years. The plan was enacted in 2005 when it was approved by Mayor John Hickenlooper and the Denver City Council in 2005.
According to the organization, there are more than 3,900 homeless men, women and children. The city spends more than $70 million on services for these individuals, such as food and shelter.
