Groups ask for community help to provide space for migrants
DENVER (KDVR) — Many residents of the shuttered Aurora apartments at 1568 Nome St. are looking for a new place to stay after the building was declared uninhabitable.
The city says more than 80 families are looking for a place to stay. Community groups are stepping up to help people find more stable shelter.
“I think the heart of our communities is a big one,” said Andrea Ryall, executive director of the group Hope Has No Borders.
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The group formed after moms in Denver’s Highland neighborhood came together to help migrants find a place to stay.
“From that grassroots movement in our city and just a lot of people doing the right thing, was born our nonprofit. May 1, we launched our official programming. We do in-community housing,” Ryall said. “The heart of the program really is to take a population of asylum seekers, people who are fleeing very dangerous scenarios and hunger. And a lot of kids who really just need a safe place to land while they make their choices on what they want to do next.”
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The group is now trying to help the families forced to leave the apartments. They are asking anyone with extra space to help, offering stipends to folks who sign up.
“So you call 211, you say, ‘I want to be a part of the Hope host home program and you will go through our intake. Likewise, newcomers to our city can also call 211 and ask for our program. They can also say ‘esperanza,’ or hope, and go through our intake in their native language,” Ryall said.
Group leaders believe people with extra space will help meet the need, but the public can also help by donating here.
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Separately, other groups are stepping up too. The city and community groups are trying to find hotels for families to stay at temporarily.
Groups like the East Colfax Community Collective and Housekeys Action Network were on site, helping people who are temporarily seeking hotel shelter.
Housekeys Action Network is collecting funds through PayPal, @HousekeysAction. The donations are meant to support the displaced residents with moving expenses like moving truck rentals and hotel stays for people who did not get access to the travel and lodging expenses the city is paying for.
They ask that contributions include “1568 Nome eviction” or “Fitzsimons support” in the donation description.
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