The Estes Park News originally published this article, From Estes to the City: Loving our Denver Neighbors, in the Friday, October 11th, 2024 edition of the Estes Park newspaper (see pages 36-37).
I grew up running around the streets of Estes, climbing on the rocks, going to the library, working at Miller’s Indian Village. After graduating Colorado State University, I moved out to the East Coast where I worked in finance then as a pastor. I never thought I would return to Colorado, but just a few years ago our family moved back and I began working at a local nonprofit called Providence Network.
I knew I wanted to do something to help our most vulnerable neighbors in Denver, but I’m not a licensed professional counselor, not a caseworker, and can’t live on site (as many of our staff do). But I can tell people about our work and share stories of changed lives. That’s how I got into development (a.k.a. fundraising). Over the last two years I’ve been giving tours, hosting lunch and learns, and driving thousands of miles to spread the word.
As of the January 2024 Point-In-Time (PIT) Report by the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative (MDHI), there are 9,977 people experiencing homelessness in Denver. About 25% struggle with substance use, 10% with domestic violence (half are women), and 23% with mental health. And yet, there’s good news! Providence Network, along with other great service providers in Denver, are providing compassionate and thoughtful care to our most vulnerable neighbors.
What makes Providence Network so special is that we enable healing from the inside out, getting to root traumas that so often lead to addiction. We do this by providing transitional and long-term affordable housing, a healthy community, addictions counseling, holistic wraparound services, and 24/7 staff support. We are a Christian faith-based transformational housing organization where people are thriving, many for the first time in their lives. One of our recent graduates writes:
“Providence Network allowed me to find my inner strength, through God and community. After graduating I was able to continue my healing and recovery by moving into the sober-living apartments, where I was able to reconcile with my wife and daughter. Words can never express the amount of gratitude and joy that fill my heart. I have 5 and 1/2 years of sobriety and recovery. Now I get to give back to my community.”
If you know someone who could benefit from our recovery program, send them to providencenetwork.org/gethelp to apply.
While I’m no longer an Estes Park resident, others in town are getting involved. Erik Stensland of Images of Rocky Mountain National Park, located just off of Bond Park, has contributed several of his beautiful photographs of RMNP to our recovery homes. Beauty matters for recovery. What we see every day, whether it’s a garden or a photograph, makes a difference in sustaining long-term flourishing. Thank you, Erik, for partnering with us to enable lasting recovery!
Providence Network is a $2.6 million organization that relies on the generosity of individuals, families, foundations, churches, businesses, and organizations to make this work possible. While about 30% of our expenses come from resident program fees, we fundraise the rest. If you would like to learn more, subscribe to our newsletter, The Providence Post, or to donate, please visit providencenetwork.org.
If you would like a tour of our homes or want to connect next time I’m up in Estes, you can email development@providencenetwork.org.
Thank you and may you flourish!
– Jonathan Romig
