DENVER: The winter of the old is taking its toll on ovens, water pipes and cars, but the misery that is palliated compared to that experienced by those living outdoors.
Homeless people in Denver struggle to keep warm.
Demand for shelter space is increasing, so the city is transporting people to an overflow shelter installed at the La Alma recreation center on 11th Avenue West.
But not everyone wants to stay in a shelter.
Several people living in a tent town near 10th and Bannock stay in the position.
“People can die here and sting frostbite,” Ruben Cordoba said. “I’m going to a motel.”
Córdoba says he had previously been out in the cold and was miserable.
“I burned paper or plastic just to stay warm and sometimes I didn’t even have it,” he said.
While a Denver7 crew was visiting Ruben, an army of volunteers from four different groups withdrew.
A group of good faith-based Ohio Samaritans handed out peanut butter sandwiches and popcorn.
“We are affiliated with Jesus Christ,” Lakeya Thompson said, after handing out the sack lunches.
Pastor Daryl told Denver7, “It’s so cold it can freeze to death and you need some food, some food to prepare it.”
Another group, the Capitol Hill Outreach Medics, brought supplies.
“We carry sleeping bags, tents, whatever the needs of the community, we try to meet them as best we can,” said Asher Crowne, an MSU student who is studying to become a human rights lawyer.
A third group of volunteers brought more food, including bananas.
And a fourth group, community health nurses, handed out hand warmers and told residents they were on the lookout for freezing symptoms.
“Your fingers turn white at the tips and you don’t get good blood flow,” Audrey Goodman said. “We see it a lot with our customers.”
Several of the volunteers had been out all day, catering to the needs of the city’s homeless people.
“We had a dislocated shoulder,” said a volunteer named Cricket. “Someone had a bike accident. We had another individual with open stitches in his leg.”
Cricket lamented the frequent sweeps of homeless people.
“We make connections with these residents,” he said, “and every time they move, we can’t connect with them.”
Goodman said, “These are our human companions and we need to take care of each other.”