Tag: westside cares
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‘The least we can do’: Public memorial service for people who died while homeless in 2025 set for night of winter solstice
The calendar’s shortest day and longest night known as the winter solstice is often cold and wet. But even on days like Sunday, when a high of 55 degrees is expected, being outside when temperatures start dropping to near freezing can be uncomfortable. That’s the feeling the Longest Night Memorial captures, in remembering those who…
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Empty stocking fund: WestsideCARES bolsters a variety of services
WestsideCARES’ roots in the Colorado Springs community run deep. The nonprofit has operated for more than 40 years, helping neighbors in need, according to WestsideCARES’ website. Today, the organization employs 10 part-time staff, some having served as long as 20 years, said Kristy Milligan, WestsideCARES’ chief executive officer. They reach 10,000 residents a year from…
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Colorado Springs pantries feeling the crunch even before food stamps go dark
Some people wanted to talk turkey in the days leading up to the nation’s food stamp program going dark on Nov. 1 because of the ongoing federal government shutdown. Pastor Jayme Pezoldt-Justice, who leads Pikes Peak Biker’s Church in Colorado Springs, said she’s already getting calls. Will there be turkeys for Thanksgiving at her church’s…
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Yearly Point in Time homeless census begins Monday in Colorado Springs
“Where did you sleep last night?” An uninhabitable place like a tent, the underside of a bridge or in a vehicle? A homeless shelter or a warming shelter? On a friend’s couch or in a transitional situation? About 100 volunteers, many of whom work at agencies that provide services to homeless people, will be on…
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Homelessness decreases in El Paso County this year, new data shows
After being delayed by months, data collected for a single night in January and released Wednesday shows that the homeless population in the Colorado Springs area appears to be on a downward trajectory in several key categories. Most notably, the number of “unsheltered” people who live on the streets and sleep in vehicles, under bridges,…
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Westside Cares marks 40 years of helping low-income, homeless residents in Colorado Springs
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save What began in 1984 as a small collective of churches that came together to help people displaced from the shuttering County Poor Farm has become a lifeline for low-income and homeless residents on the westside of Colorado Springs, where million-dollar homes occupy the same block…
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Westside Cares marks 40 years of helping low-income, homeless residents in Colorado Springs
What began in 1984 as a small collective of churches that came together to help people displaced from the shuttering County Poor Farm has become a lifeline for low-income and homeless residents on the westside of Colorado Springs, where million-dollar homes occupy the same block as affordable housing. Forty years later and now assisting 10,000…
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Annual count of Colorado Springs-area homeless population expands hiring street people to assist
For the second time, a yearly census to determine how many homeless people are living in El Paso County on a given night will hire helpers who are familiar with life on the streets to do the counting. Debra Stilen will be among those conducting the Point in Time survey that begins on Monday, a…
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NEWS | Community and family honor life of man who died on sidewalk in Colorado Springs
Community members and family, including staff and volunteers at Westside Cares, gathered for a memorial service for Steve Soete, a 62-year-old houseless man who died in July of 2021. Soete, a community member who frequented Westside Cares and The Sanctuary Church, died on a sidewalk in Colorado Springs on July 20 of health complications. (Video…
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Colorado Springs agencies intend to continue expanded rental assistance programs
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save These may be the “good” times. While many El Paso County residents who don’t have enough money to pay their rent are receiving aid from local agencies at this stage in the pandemic, a pressing concern is that the real need is just beginning. The…