Family gets shelter, time to rebuild with Denver Rescue Mission
Temperatures have been too bitterly cold to live outside, but many couples feel that is their only option in order to stay together. Denver Rescue Mission has a transitional housing program that allows families to stay together while they do the work to rebuild their lives. It's called the Bridge Program.
Jessica and Darwin are in the Bridge Program with their son, Devon.
"He's just a cool little boy. He's about to be three-years-old, and just carefree and happy all the time," Darwin said about Devon.
Devon's happy to be in the loving care of his parents. The couple has come a long way in the last year.
"We were living in our car with our one-year-old, on fentanyl, in denial, thinking we had everything together," Jessica explained.
Everything fell apart when arrest warrants caught up with the couple. Jessica and Darwin both went to jail.
"It was horrible. I was panicking, crying, trying to call everyone I knew to pick up Devon. It felt like we just lost everything," Jessica remembered.
"Just knowing that my son was not going to be with us or any family members, basically in the state's care," Darwin said of his own worries that day.
Getting their son back became a major motivator for the couple. They got sober and cleared their warrants. But when they got out of jail, they didn't have anywhere to live. Jessica went to Samaritan House, which serves single women. There was no room in the shelter for Darwin, and no place they could be together.
"She didn't want to leave me out in the cold, so we stayed in the cold together," Darwin explained.
They stayed together by camping behind some dumpsters.
"We were sober too at that time when we got out. Just cuddling up next to each other, like freezing, saying, 'This is horrible. We don't want to do this anymore. How could we have done this to our child?'" Jessica said.
After several months in sober living, the couple got a place in the Bridge Program and is staying at The Crossing.
"This place truly has been a blessing and has saved us in every which way we can think of," Jessica said.
They meet with a case manager regularly. They are both working and saving money. And, most importantly, they've got full custody of Devon.
"From a year ago, I did a complete 180 in life," Darwin said. "This is like a stepping stone toward building our foundation back up, with our family, sober, through Christ, and we're doing a good job."
The couple works every day to provide the best possible home for Devon. They want other people to know it's possible to spread the warmth.
LINK: Spread the Warmth
The Denver Rescue Mission is helping families come in out of the cold and rebuild their lives. You can support that work through our Spread the Warmth Campaign.
