It’s a lot.  The system, the approaches, the services, the financing, the grants, the vouchers, the behavioral health, the primary health, the dental health, the housing, the integration and collaboration of organizations and housing authorities, and the politics all help individuals out of homelessness.

Even after ten years at the city, creating affordable housing and services to support homelessness, and after ten years before that working in public health, and years before that in affordable housing, I still keep learning the nuances of this work.  We hear a lot from the community about the ingredients above.  However, there is one ingredient that is often overlooked, and that is the individuals who do this work every day, helping unhoused individuals make their transition out of homelessness.

Last week, I had the opportunity to sit down with four members of the All Roads staff who work every day to support, care for, and listen to their clients, and to work on solutions to create stability and exits out of homelessness.  Rob, Roberta, Brian, and Yarleny have all been with All Roads for many years, and they shared with me the values they bring to this work, the relations they build with clients, and the years of persistence that it sometimes takes to help a person reach the independence they need to be successful in a home.  They all came from different backgrounds: as educators, working in affordable housing, construction, and other professional careers.  They all shared similar stories of coming from these careers that were moderately fulfilling to a place that filled their hearts, and now they know they are in the right place.  Their journey started from being naïve about the work and the challenges they would face, to now understanding how to pace themselves and support each other for a resilient staff culture.  They stated, “All Roads is an organization where you have to support each other and look for people who are close to burn-out.”

They spoke with excitement and enthusiasm about the changes with programs and partners over the last sixteen months since the opening of Day Services.  With some eighteen different community organizations providing a variety of services at different points during each week, clients have multiple opportunities to connect with what they need. The All Roads staffers indicated that, “With Day Services we are closer to all the other organizations in town and the level of collaboration in helping people is at an all-time high.”

“What can the community do to help?”  The first response was a description of the vast number of volunteer hours that are needed to run a facility open almost 24 hours a day, the thousands of breakfasts, lunches, and dinners provided, the hygiene kits handed out, and the important hours of simply engaging with people and listening.  They recognized the “incredible CU students who come regularly for four years and the retirees who come every week until they physically can’t anymore.” The second response was an appreciation of community donations to this foundational community service, and the hope that the support will continue.  And the third was an overall concern that housing options, which are critical to this work, are dwindling.

I stepped away from this conversation with deep gratitude for the staff at All Roads and the impact they make.  I had a mentor tell me years ago, “There are lots of ideas out there to change the world for good, but without the burning souls to drive the work, the good ideas will remain just that.”  The collection of people at All Roads and throughout our community who show up every day to help are the burning souls we need to address the challenges of our most vulnerable community members. 

I hope you can join me in supporting them.

Kurt Firnhaber