Hundreds of volunteers await homeless clients on the steps of the Ritchie Center at the University of Denver.
Project Homeless Connect 2009
April 24, 2009
Regis University/Loretto Heights nursing student Megan Huxford gives an eye exam to client Don Beachem in the Gates Field House during Project Homeless Connect 2009.On a sunny spring morning, hundreds of volunteers in yellow, red and blue t-shirts gathered at the University of Denver's Ritchie Center and Gates Field House to provide medical exams, haircuts, clothing and help with job searches and resume-writing for an equally large number of Denver's homeless.
I covered the event for Mile High United Way, also as a volunteer, as a way of giving something back to the community. But in volunteering, as is usually the case, I got paid back many times over – by the images I was able to capture, and by the chance to connect with the stories of interesting people.
Such as Tristen Amador,
Volunteer Brett Hearn gives Victor Perez a haircut in the Gates Field House during Project Homeless Connect Seven.a professor of Health Services Administration at Regis University, who was guiding Shalon Bowens and her three kids through the health exam process.
And Radina Vassileva, a DU student who was helping Terry Rogers prepare a professional résumé. And Brett Hearn, who filled in as a volunteer barber and hairstylist.
Tristen Amador, a Health Services Administration professor at Regis University, helps Shawn Boyd, 5, fill out a health history form, as Shawn's mother, Shalon Bowens, fills out her own form in the background.