|
 Surveyors
find
chronic cycle of
homelessness
By Mary Barron
A point-in-time survey, conducted statewide Aug. 29,
revealed a pattern of chronic homelessness in southern Teller
County, said Mary Bielz, executive director of the Community
of Caring Foundation.
As one of 12 people conducting the survey in the county,
she mainly questioned people in short-term living arrangements
in the City of Victor. Their answers indicated that
homelessness in the area is chronic for many.
Asked the number of times they had been without a permanent
place to live in the last three years, many survey
participants checked five or more. Asked how long they had
been without a permanent home this time, many indicated more
than a month but less than a year, Bielz said. While she
concentrated on people living in places like the old Victor
School and apartment houses, other volunteers visited
campgrounds and the county jail, surveyed victims of domestic
violence, and spoke to people picking up food from the Aspen
Mine Center’s monthly Commodities program.
The survey’s results, when fully analyzed, could bring
focus and funding to the problem, Bielz
said.
Aspen
Mine Center Coordinator Ted Borden helps board up a
house.
Habitat for Humanity needs help
Volunteers with Habitat for Humanity of Teller
County, along with some out-of-area volunteers, have
been hard at work on the Cripple Creek Special Housing
Project on Porphryry Street between Galena and Pikes
Peak Avenues. The area is known as Church Hill. Much
more volunteer labor will be needed there over the next
three years.
Three local low-income families have been chosen to
become the buyers of the restored homes at special loan
rates in return for their own labor as part of the
project. Four donated homes, badly in need of repair,
were moved to the site this summer, and plans call for a
duplex to be newly constructed there as well.
Volunteers from outside the area, known as
Care-A-Vanners, stayed for two weeks this summer at the
Hospitality House and Travel Park in Cripple Creek,
enjoying reduced rates from owners Stephen and Bonnie
Mackin, to help with the Teller County group's projects
in Cripple Creek and Divide.
As summer turned to fall, two of the old houses were
being boarded up for winter while work continued on
foundations for additions to the others. To volunteer or
donate, call the Habitat office,
687-4447. | 
