Aug 28, 2006 5:22 pm US/Mountain
Denver Marathon Offers Way To Battle Homelessness
By CBS4 Producer Raetta Holdman
DENVER (CBS4) ―
-
-
The first team to sign up for the Denver Marathon Corporate Relay Challenge was a group of Hickenlooper's staff members
CBS
The Denver Marathon is teaming up with the City of Denver to battle homelessness. Marathon organizers announced the Denver Marathon Corporate Relay Challenge on Monday.
The challenge will raise money for "Denver's Road Home," Mayor John Hickenlooper's 10-year plan to end homelessness in Denver.
There are more than 4,400 men, women and children who sleep on Denver's streets any given night and 46 percent of them are women and children, according to Jamie Van Leeuwen, project manager for Denver's Road Home. About 40 percent of those sleeping on the streets are also working.
Hickenlooper said Denver is already one of the healthiest cities in the country but he has a new mission.
"Our goal is to make Denver a city where everyone has a home," Hickenloopers said. "We are beginning to define exactly how we can fix that, how we can solve the issue of homelessness. But it requires people to step up."
And the Denver Marathon stepped up, presenting a program to provide an opportunity for businesses to get involved.
"We are challenging Denver's business community to come out and support the cause to combat homelessness," said Anton Villatoro, the executive director of the Denver Marathon.
Villatoro said offering the corporate relay is a way for the Denver Marathon to give back to the community.
"The vision of this event is to build a marathon which will not only showcase Denver," he said, "but also bring economic and social impact to the city."
Officials said Denver's Road Home is working. Van Leeuwen said since the program began 320 units of housing and 140 units of shelter have been added in Denver.
He also said 156 families received eviction assistance which kept them from becoming homeless in the first place.
Businesses, non-profits, foundations and other groups will be able to enter the relay event of the Denver Marathon.
Mayor Hickenlooper promised to make sure the money raised by the marathon is well spent.
"We'll make sure that we can get people off the streets and back into living lives that are self-sustainable and stable where they can actually enjoy a higher quality of life," Hickenlooper said.
In addition to paying the regular registration fee, those runners will also be required to raise at least $500 for Denver's Road Home.
The first team to sign up for the corporate relay challenge was a group of Hickenlooper's staff members.
Additional Resources
(© MMVI CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
