DENVER — Many Colorado churches are stepping in to help new immigrants by offering temporary housing. That includes Denver Friends Church, where the immigrants have shown their appreciation with volunteerism.
Keith Reeser, pastor of the church, said the church acts as an emergency shelter for immigrants from Venezuela and surrounding countries. The new immigrants are provided with food, clothes, showers and mattresses.
Reeser said a ministry service group called Co-Mission — mostly college students — visited from Texas this week to serve in various capacities around Denver. He said the group contacted him a few months back and wanted to help.
"I said, 'I've got some projects for you,'" Reeser said.
Alongside the group, Reeser said he was also able to hire some of the new immigrants to help prep the flooring inside the church and pay them for their work. They ripped out old carpets and leveled the floor, he said.
"Little did I know that we'd have the shelter and all the other things happening," Reeser said. "And then because of this, they're able to bless our building and really make it an incredible opportunity to love on the building that has served so many people through the years."
The changes will help the church serve more people in need, he said. It will also help serve the church's children's ministry, which has needed an update.
"It's just such a blessing when we work so hard in our community and serving a lot of different people that they want to serve the people that we're serving," he said.
Josh Kitchens, a contractor who owns a business in Texas and came to Denver to lend a hand, said the church looks very different than before.
"I have the skillset to come down here," he said. "I have the tools and the knowledge. It's just a good thing to do."
He said he is impressed that college students have given up their spring break to help in this way.
The church will now help reach more people, Kitchens said.
