Denver women's safe house run by monks seeks help with repairs
A historic Colorado home has been turned into a place of refuge for women in need. But after more than 100 years, it's starting to fall apart.
The house just outside of downtown Denver looks like an ordinary home. But, inside, a pair of female monks are making sure it's a safe haven.
"This is one of the four units here in the project," said Didi Ananda Kalyanmitra, who helps run the Ananda Marga Women's Welfare Department Project.
They provide low-cost housing for women during times of transition.
"Any woman that finds herself in a different difficult spot that needs a place to stay for either a short while or a long while just to be able to balance herself and find a safe space."
Didi Ananda Kalyanmitra has given up her old way of life in Italy to serve others as a monk and joined the mission in Denver a few years ago. Since then, she's helped fix up the house built in the 1800s.
"The house is a good home, but it's an old house. So, there is some work that we can't afford because every dollar that we get from the project goes back into the project."
Deteriorating conditions inside the home, including issues with 135-year-old windows, have become impossible to ignore. So they've taken to crowdfunding for help.
The total to replace six original windows in one of the four units is $7,000. As of Sunday, they raised nearly $5,000. They're selflessly working to replace windows for guests, even though they have the same issue in their space.
"With this condition of the windows, it's not possible to keep the cold out," she explained about the situation during the winter.
The money they've raised has mostly come from their spiritual community, but they'd love to get the word out in Denver.
"Sometimes we have women coming from difficult situations, family situations, so we try to keep it as low-profile as possible, but we would love to have some response from the Denver community."
The hope is that more awareness in Denver will create more opportunities to help others.
"The community is welcome to step in and join us and help us in any possible way they can."
