Welcome to Jenny’s Closet! So, who is Jenny and why do we care about her closet? Good questions. You see Jenny was my daughter. She died suddenly in January of this year. Jenny was homeless. If you know anything about me you would think that this story couldn’t be real. But it is very real and you could probably find similar stories like this one all across our city. For about the last two years m
y very lovely, intelligent, and accomplished daughter was homeless. This came about after experiencing a great loss in her life that she never was able to recover from. It led her into a deep depression, which affected her employment, friendships and her relationship with her family. Despite constant support offered by her brother and I, Jenny became more and more alienated. The only friends she had were those who were going through exactly what she was… homelessness. She wore a heavy, red coat and three layers of clothes underneath. You see when you sleep along a creek or on a shipping dock in December the chill never leaves you. She had a small backpack that was stuffed with her few belongings. A cup that she would bring to 7-11 to get some hot water to mix up a Cup O’ Soup or oatmeal pack, one pair of extra shoes she could wear on warm days, a plastic shower curtain as a tarp, a bag of dog food for her dog Sirius, a thin blanket and her small beat up purse with her ID and some pieces of paper that she would write on. Jenny was a writer.
“I don’t sell drugs and I am not a prostitute”, she proudly told me once when I got to see her. She said that so I wouldn’t worry. Jenny worked the swing shift part time at Wal-Mart. She left her dog with a friend while she worked but was never sure that she would see him again. She new if the managers found out she was homeless they may fire her so she tried to look as clean as possible. She washed her clothes in the sink at Wal-Mart before her shift and wore them wet as she worked. Her stuffed backpack couldn’t fit in the lockers at work so she would hide it outside only to often find it gone at midnight when she got off work. Everything get’s stolen or bartered for on the street. Are you like me? I complain some mornings at the thought of going to work. I awake from sleep in a comfortable bed; I have a closet full of dry, clean clothes, and plenty of food. My car gets me to work in total comfort. I have never had to worry if my toes were going to freeze at night. I’ve never been concerned I would go to jail for indecent exposure while urinating outside because the out door bathrooms were locked after 9pm. Jenny did have a lifeline, a place that understood homelessness. She told me that she could take a shower there, see a nurse and get a large zip lock bag of food that could keep her alive until tomorrow. That place was Ecumenical Social Ministries (ESM) downtown. After Jenny died I wanted to go to ESM to thank them for being kind to my daughter. I was warmly welcomed by Ann Steiner Lantz, Executive Director who explained to me that human dignity was the lynch pin that supported all their services. She explained that ESM had touched more than 20,000 people last year by offering services to low-income and homeless people. They help with jobs and housing as well as daily emergency needs such as prescriptions and transportation as well as clothing and showers. ESM is the only place in Colorado Springs where a person on the street can get a shower. She asked me why I had shown up at their front door. I pulled out Jenny’s picture and said, “This is why. This is my daughter Jenny. She died five weeks ago. She came to ESM for help because she was homeless.”
I explained that before her death Jenny told me she wanted to be an advocate for the homeless. She was determined to bring to light the struggles of homeless people and to find solutions. One such issue she said that needed addressing was to find somewhere safe that people could leave their personal belongings when they went to work. Ann got a sparkle in her eye and said that ESM had this very issue on their plate for some time. “We could name it Jenny’s Closet!” she said smiling. “We even have a location within the building that we thought would work.” I melted thinking Jenny would be thrilled. Ann went on, “We could have individual bins of different sizes to meet each persons need.” I was overwhelmed with how God works through people. And that is how Jenny’s Closet began. Thinking about my friends and all their friends I wondered if we couldn’t raise the $2000 it would take to prepare the space, seal the walls, build the shelves and purchase the bins? Another project that ESM is working on simultaneously is Spin Cycle. They are currently fundraising to purchase four washers and four dryers so people could wash their clothes (another need that is not offered anywhere else in town). Perhaps you have wanted to help the homeless but wasn’t sure how to go about it. Jenny’s Closet and Spin Cycle are very tangible projects you may want to participate in. If so, could you pass this need on to your friends and if you would like to contribute to either of these projects you can go to ESM’s website: http://www.ecusocmin.org and click the red DONATE tab to explore the many options you can participate in and learn more about the incredible work ESM is doing. On behalf of Jenny and all the homeless women and men, thank you from the depth of my heart,
Karen Hays
