ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Justin Barton had reached his breaking point when he walked into a Littleton crisis center last spring.
“I was alone, I had nobody, I had zero people,” said Barton. “I was homeless, and I had nowhere to go.”
That pivotal moment connected him with Bridge House Tri-Cities, which had recently opened in Englewood. The program offers sober living and meals in exchange for work, with the goal of helping participants get back on their feet.
"I didn't really want to be around anymore, just generally. And this place, you know, they helped me find structure and purpose," Barton said.
Adria Iraheta reports on the impact of Bridge House Tri-Cities in the video below.
Barton said the community he found inside Bridge House made a lasting impact.
"It was like something really heart-filled. It wasn't just a bunch of strangers. I felt like all these people were my family, are really close friends," Barton said.
The 50-bed facility and program has served 82 people in its first year.
Barton was among the first 10 people to enter the program and is its first graduate.
Scott Shields, Bridge House interim CEO, said the staff's personal experience plays a key role in the program's success.
"There's a strong contingency of lived expertise and lived experience with that with the team here, so they walked in their shoes, they're really able to be peers in this," Shields said.
The Tri-Cities Homeless Navigation Center next door, which includes 20 short-term shelter beds and immediate resources, served more than 500 people in the same time frame.
Of those:
- 72 moved to a sober living facility
- 65 proceeded to one of three Ready to Work programs
- 24 were reunited with family
- 16 moved to a shelter
- 16 moved to a medical facility
- 15 obtained housing
- 6 transitioned to another work program
- 1 transferred to a youth program
County leaders said the Ready to Work house and Tri-Cities Homeless Navigation Center are both moving the needle on homelessness in Arapahoe County.
Arapahoe County's latest Point-in-Time Count shows a 35% drop in unsheltered homelessness compared to last year — and for the first time as far as county leaders can remember, no families were found sleeping outside on the night of the count in January.
“I can't say that the Bridge House program and the Navigation Center, in particular, are taking credit for that, but obviously with this program here during the past year, that has to have provided a notable change in terms of the numbers of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in Arapahoe County,” said Shields.
Barton now has a new apartment, is starting a new career, and is putting the finishing touches on a poetry book — sharing his story to inspire others.
"I want more people to succeed like I did," Barton said. "I want them to find this place and do what I did, because I was not supposed to be here, and I am so grateful for them.”
