Five downtown churches—Central Presbyterian, St. Paul’s Lutheran, First Baptist, Trinity United Methodist, St. Paul’s United Methodist—saw a growing need in the community and hoped to offer a mode adequate and professional response. We begin in Central Presbyerian Church on 17th and Sherman, and later move to Travelers Aid on 14th and Pennsylvania, where we hire our first full-time staff.

Staff and volunteers began monitoring food stamp officers in Denver. In three months, we helped 5,000 people who were illegally denied food stamps receive their benefits. We recommend creating a watchdog program and lobbying group. 

This requirement added unnecessary red tape to make it more difficult for people to get their deserved benefits.

After a year in the basement of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, CDCS leases space at 730 21st Street from St. John’s Episcopal Church for $1 a year. The space is more accessible to physically disabled people. At the time, 22 local faith organizations supported the organization.

With an unchanged mission, the new name highlighted our goal to provide a “ring of care” to those in the Denver metro area. We add programs to assist with utility bills, prescriptions, identification documents, transportation, infant needs, toiletries, household linens, and kitchen items. We also begin helping people navigate social services and refers people to resources available at Baby Care/Kid Care, Kids in Need of Dentistry, and Planned Parenthood.

Staff present to members of their faith-based partners, asking employers to pay their workers a living wage and landlords to maintain decent, affordable housing. We also join the Colorado Coalition on Hunger and Food Policy and the Utilities Taskforce. 

The building was in need of repair which JHL Construction, Inc. brought to life. Saint John’s Cathedral offered a $200,000 challenge gift and Gil Horn’s Memorial Fund made a down payment to make the move possible. 

Colorado Senate Bill 059 School Breakfast for All Kids passes. 

Hunger for Justice: Interfaith Voices Against Poverty hired their first part-time advocacy director, who worked with us at Metro CareRing. One of their first successes was advocating for School Breakfast for All Kids, which gave free breakfast to students who previously qualified for reduced-price school meals.

The new building includes the new Fresh Foods Market to expand the previous market. Executive Director Lynne Butler writes, “While you may miss the ‘ring,’ Metro Caring has no geographical boundaries and served families from 113 different zip codes. There are tremendous possibilities for the future, as we work toward the day when no one in Denver goes hungry.”

We also begin our Kidz in the Kitchen and Diabetes Self-Management classes.

We sponsor 59 garden plots for individuals or families to adopt a garden bed and grow food for their home, furthering our mission of helping community members to access and eat nutritious and fresh foods.

We increase our food purchasing budget by 3,000% and prepare culturally relevant bags for holidays like Lunar New Year and Ramadan. We also partner with Bondadosa to offer food delivery during lockdowns.

SNAP Emergency Allotment benefits are slashed. 

CEO-Integrator Erik Hicks writes, “The SNAP cuts are taking power away from families to decide what they need, where they want, and on their own time.” Read the full article.

The Indoor Garden opened in the spring to share free plants, seeds, and other materials—like pots, worm compost, and soil—with our community.

After a successful pilot at Metro Caring, the City of Denver begins trialing Universal Basic Food to guarantee access to nutritious food for all, regardless of people’s income.