Church in Denver to open as overnight shelter for migrants
Many migrants arriving in Denver have never experienced cold temperatures like what Colorado will see over the next week. However, beginning Wednesday night, a local church will open its doors overnight to migrants new to the community.
It's a grassroots effort led by local pastor Keith Reeser.
Denver Friends Church will now open as an overnight emergency shelter for migrants on evenings when temperatures are expected to drop below freezing. In the gymnasium inside the church, up to 29 migrants can sleep overnight.
About two months ago, it was a neighbor of Reeser, who brought the migrant crisis to his attention.
"I started praying and I started asking local church leadership, should we consider something some type of a response and what would that look like," said Reeser.
That's when Reeser recognized that the growing migrant population needed the church's help.
"We are getting a ton of people, and each one of these is a life that it should be valued," said Reeser.
The church then held three town hall meetings to talk about solutions like providing meals to migrants and a warm place to sleep. Reeser said the meetings were well attended, with up to 50 or 60 people each.
"We were able to gather people and rally them around the idea of 'what should we do? How can we help?' From those questions, there we went into this beautiful next season of, 'I think this is happening,'" he said.
It's taken a few weeks to get the gym up to code to house nearly 30 people. The fire department and city also inspected the church to ensure it was a good fit to operate as an overnight shelter.
Men will sleep in one area, while women sleep in another. There's also a designated area for migrant families to sleep.
"We dream beyond tonight, to get them so they can get landed on their feet. They can get out into this world, and they can have a decent shot at life," said Reeser.
The plan has even gotten support from the city and law enforcement. The city also provided mats for the migrants to sleep on.
The church estimates it'll cost about $500 every night to run the overnight shelter. Plus, volunteers and funding are still needed. Reeser believes they'll need resources until at least March.
"The doors have opened, and this has been made available for us to serve," said Reeser. "We're ready for this evening, as ready as we can be, and we're excited to be able to serve the community."
Reeser recognizes they're a small church but are still making a big impact. He hopes that other congregations and communities catch on.
"I want to inspire people to look at this situation," said Reeser. "The fact that we are doing something, and we believe you can do it too."
The church will operate as an overnight shelter from 7 p.m. to 8 a.m. the next morning. Migrants will be given dinner when they arrive and then the next morning, migrants will also be able to take breakfast to go.
Some volunteers will be responsible for cooking and preparing meals, while other volunteers will be responsible for staying overnight and assisting the migrants with their needs. Other volunteers will be responsible for cleaning up the area the following morning.
Reeser also added that at some point, they would like to pursue offering an overnight laundry service.
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