Pizza talks when Adam Alexander and his crew show up.

The slices of hot pie become a tool when Alexander and certified peer recovery coaches from Peer Connect put on their volunteer hats and visit homeless camps and other “hot spots” in Colorado Springs where people who don’t have a place to call home congregate.

“You’re gonna create a better connection with some pizza in your hands,” Alexander tells the 15 volunteers that set up shop Tuesday morning near Springs Rescue Mission, the city’s largest emergency shelter.

Cheers and smiles appear when homeless people hear there’s free pizza, and a long line forms.

“It’s a good thing,” said a man who goes by the name of Rasta Rebel.

“We appreciate it, that’s for sure,” chimed in another man, who declined to give his name. “There’s a lot of hungry folks here.”

Along with the food, bottles of water and fresh coffee, the chance for those who are ready to live differently is on the table.

“We can take someone who’s homeless and smoking fentanyl today to not having them sleeping outside tonight and moving into a vibrant life,” Alexander said. “There’s immediate results and maintenance.”

As director of Peer Connect, a for-profit addiction-recovery counseling service that does homeless outreach through its nonprofit arm, the International Coalition of Peers, Alexander’s first goal is to form a relationship with street people.

Pizza is a like a friend, instantly bonding the housed with the unhoused. Through conversation and by creating trust, Peer Connect convinces some of the chronically homeless who are addicted to drugs, alcohol or other vices to enter detox or counseling — with the promise of helping them through every step of the process.

Since opening in Colorado Springs in 2022, the operation has assisted more than 1,500 clients, Alexander said. There are 462 active clients.

The model is expanding to other cities. The Colorado Springs-based business and nonprofit opened a second office in Loveland at the end of 2023, and debuted a third location in Denver on Aug. 1.

In Colorado Springs, Peer Connect transports clients from wherever they are to its office at 112 Iowa Ave. and helps them fill out applications for housing, disability benefits and other income.

“They’ll have funding to move into a sober-living residence and right out of the gate have access to food, donated clothing, job prospects, seeing their children and working through the trauma of being homeless,” Alexander said.

Tanka Lightfoot, who’s 18 and working his way through sobriety, said the program has literally saved his life.

“It’s all right, what they do. It comes from the heart, it doesn’t come from money, and it’s noticeable,” he said.

Peer Connect’s 38 licensed peer coaches in Colorado Springs have been in addiction recovery, and some have been homeless.

“We hire people who were the worst of the worst and became the best of the best,” Alexander said. “These are people who have lived in this environment and experienced these same things — and found solutions.”

People like Chris Revis, an Army veteran of 13 years who saw combat in Iraq as a Calvary Scout 19 Delta. When he left the military, he became homeless for four years, from 2016 to 2020.

Many emotions surface as Revis gazes at the Springs Rescue Mission sign while distributing pizza Tuesday.

“I’ve stayed here multiple times,” he said. “I was in the whole homeless cycle, and once you get into it, years pass and it becomes normal, and you don’t think there’s anything better. A lot of these people lose hope completely.”

Revins said he and other peer coaches offer purpose, guidance and direction.

“We didn’t get this from Harvard. We got this from having the actual experience, and now that we’ve pulled ourselves out of it, we can help pull you out of it, too,” he said.

Alexander had owned a construction company, worked as a mortgage broker and ran a car dealership. He also went to prison on a felony conviction, served four years on a six-year sentence and was released from the penitentiary a little over a year ago.

“I happenstanced on a barbecue this company was doing at Memorial Park for the homeless, giving them food and having group sessions, and I sat in and listened,” Alexander said.

He knew one of the peer coaches from his “previous life,” and that person told Alexander he might have a knack for the work.

“I wasn’t looking to do that. I didn’t know if I could,” Alexander said. “When I saw what they were doing in the community, I wanted to be a part of it.”

Alexander turns into pizza delivery man at least once a week, and his staff are on the streets daily, attending to immediate needs and planting the seeds of dreams that can become reality.

People who say they’re interested in addiction recovery or other mental health assistance are driven to Peer Connect’s office for lunch, a clinician group session and assistance with applying for services and missing items such as identification, birth certificate and other personal property.

While Colorado Springs has what Alexander calls “a tremendous amount of resources,” he says the locations are scattered throughout the community to the point that “it takes substantial effort to take advantage of singular resources.”

That’s why the International Coalition of Peers, which received nonprofit status in March, and Peer Connect are a valuable addition to the region, he said. The organization ties all the needs together, not as a provider but as a middleman of sorts.

“We see people that have had some significant life events that have caused them to fall into a pattern of mental health crisis, and drug and alcohol abuse that have driven them to making choices to where they’ve lost their jobs, home, family and are on the verge of death every day,” Alexander said.

For peer coach Christopher Erickson, who also did time in prison, the work allows him to “give back to the community I harmed.”

“It’s changed my life,” he said.

Contact the writer: 719-476-1656.