The Interfaith Hospitality Network of Greater Denver's mission is to enable an interfaith and community response to families who become homeless by providing shelter, meals, comprehensive assistance and encouragement toward self-reliance in an atmosphere of warmth and hospitality.

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Homelessness in Our Community Studies report that on any given night there are more than 10,000 people in the greater Denver area that are homeless. The majority of those experiencing homelessness are families—3,500 children in our community have no place to call home.

Why are people homeless?  IHN finds that most of the families seeking our help have lost their jobs and have been unable to afford their rent. Others have experienced serious illness in the family or credit problems.

The cost of housing. Fair market rent in metro Denver is $847 for a two-bedroom apartment.  To afford the average two-bedroom apartment, a family needs to be making more than $16 per hour.  This is more than 300% of the minimum wage (National Housing Coalition).

It’s not just about shelter.  Homelessness is about more than the need for shelter; an array of complex economic, social and health factors must also be addressed.  This is a devastating experience for families, and they pay an ongoing emotional price as they struggle to maintain normalcy in the midst of chaos. The odds are stacked against lower-income families, especially in an area such as greater Denver.

What is IHN of Greater Denver? Interfaith Hospitality Network of Greater Denver is a unique approach to serving homeless families.  Through a partnership with diverse communities of faith, IHN of Greater Denver provides emergency shelter, meals and supportive services to families who become homeless in the greater Denver area.  In addition to providing families with shelter and services, the program enables communities of faith to be involved in a tangible form of outreach ministry that brings communities together to alleviate the tragic suffering of homeless families.  IHN unites people from different communities of faith to work in a collaborative way, but at no time are religious values imposed on our guests.

How the Network Works In partnership with IHN of Greater Denver, congregations provide home-like accommodations, meals and hospitality for up to five families for a one-week period up to four times a year.  Families may spend the day at IHN’s day site, and each evening they are transported to the host congregation.  Each congregation hosts the families from 5:30 p.m. to 7 a.m. during their host week.

Rotations. IHN of Greater Denver operates two “rotations,” each consisting of 14 host congregations. The central rotation (Denver and Arapahoe Counties) opened its doors in 1997.  In 2002, the Network expanded and opened a second rotation to serve families in the west metro area (Jefferson and Douglas Counties). IHN welcomes more congregations interested in joining the Network.

Partner Congregations IHN is unique in that it offers 24 hours of shelter for up to 90 days in one of the only “family-only” shelter environments in the metro area.  Thousands of volunteers invest their time, energy and resources in providing families with warmth and hospitality.  There is a volunteer opportunity for everyone!

Host Congregations. Host congregations create private or semi-private bedrooms for each guest family by using their religious education or meeting rooms (others creatively use fellowship halls or gyms).  Roll-away beds and pillows are transported to the host congregation on Sunday from the congregation that just completed hosting the guests. Volunteers set up the rooms, and for the rest of the week, serve as “hosts” to the IHN guests. Throughout the week, volunteer hosts provide dinner and other food items for the guests. The presence of volunteers allows guests to stay at the congregation’s facilities.

Support Congregations. While support congregations do not use their facilities to serve IHN families, they can be just as involved in the hosting responsibilities as the host congregations.  Support congregations partner with a host congregation to provide volunteers and supplies for the host week.

Day Sites.  The guest families’ “home-base” during their stay in the Network is the IHN day site.  The day site is at Fifth and Lipan in Denver. Here the guests conduct job and housing searches, care for children and meet with their case manager.