AURORA —An unrelenting snowfall recently pushed Aurora’s only homeless shelter to max out its resources when the kitchen ran low on food and there weren’t enough beds for all the people seeking shelter.
Officials with the Comitis Crisis Center in north Aurora reached out to its neighbors in the city and on the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and asked if they could get the word out about an emergency food drive.
“When the temperature drops and we get snow, people will come in overnight and stay the next day and the next night and the next day until the cold snap ends,” said James Gillespie, spokesperson for the Comitis Crisis Center. “So, we (were) providing three times the amount of meals that we typically do, multiplied byFmvga the number of days that we’re on (cold weather) alert. We were in desperate need of food.”
Gillespie said the shelter received at least three tons of food and about $12,000 in cash donations during that one drive.
So many gallons of milk were donated that Comitis staff started storing them in the snow outside, referring to the approximately 2,000 jugs as “milk mountain.”
Now, organizers on campus and with the city are working to create programs and partnerships for Comitis that will prevent such a shortage.
“One of the fundamental missions of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus is community,” said Don Elliman, Chancellor at CU Anschutz. “The Comitis homeless shelter is next to our campus, and part of our community. When a neighbor needs help, you help them. I’m so proud of the many faculty, staff, students and hospital employees who offered and provided assistance.”
In addition to the avalanche of food, the Aurora Police Department granted the center use of a large community room in its District 1 station. Officers rolled in cots and created an overflow space for 38 people who were sleeping in folding chairs along the hallways of Comitis during snowstorms.
Though Comitis has been adjacent to the CU Anschutz Campus at 2178 Victor St. for several years, there has never really been a cohesive, cooperative relationship between the university and the center.
“For many years a lot of people didn’t even know it was there or know what it does,” said Robert McGranaghan, director of the CU Anschutz Community Campus Partnership, which is an organization designed to foster community relationships among the university staff and students, and the dense concentration of residents around the campus.
“But recently, I think there’s been a spontaneous outpouring from all over the campus — not just from our efforts, but from word of mouth — to help (Comitis) with donations, with volunteers,” McGranaghan said. “And I think now the campus realizes that this organization is so close by. To me, this is an example of how the campus can be a really good neighbor.”
One of the main objectives of the Community Campus Partnership is trying to connect and train interested members of the community with entry-level jobs on the campus. McGranaghan said that project is ever evolving, and could eventually include a special program for Comitis clients looking to work at CU Anschutz.
McGranaghan also works with a number of campus-based organizations built around community service projects. One of those is a volunteer student group called Bridging Research and Aurora Neighborhoods for Community Health (BRANCH). He said he’s working with the group to try and create interest in an active partnership with Comitis, whereby the volunteers could potentially serve as auxiliary staff support for when the shelter is packed.
The city, too, is making a concerted effort to address the needs of the Comitis Center. Aaron Gagné, Aurora’s interim neighborhood services director said the city recently completed a building needs assessment for Comitis, which is housed in a former barrack unit and has received little to no maintenance since it became a homeless shelter.
“We’re working with the Comitis team to address areas of highest concern and highest need to preserve and protect that facility,” Gagné said. “It wasn’t perfect when we got it, and it has required a certain amount of investment and repair, but that’s necessary to ensure the long-term viability.”
Megan Mitchell: 303-954-2650, mmitchell@denverpost.com or twitter.com/Mmitchelldp
