A Boulder nonprofit is ‘changing homelessness because it changed us’
BOULDER, Colo. — At Feet Forward, the motto is always ‘changing homelessness because it changed us.’
Every Tuesday, the nonprofit organizes in Boulder’s Central Park bandshell to provide outreach for people who need it the most in Boulder County — those experiencing homelessness.
“This is one of the only welcoming spaces that people experiencing homeless in Boulder actually have. We’ve been in this park for three years every week in the worst weather,” explained founder Jen Livovich.
Livovich started Feet Forward in 2020 when she decided to give socks to people when the weather turned cold, and her desire to help comes from her own lived experience.
“I’m a big believer in not forgetting where you came from, but also while I was out here passing out socks literally no one was coming. This park has been here since the beginning of time and it’s centralized. It’s a significant place for people experiencing homelessness. They set up memorials every single year here. No one was meeting people where they were at,” she added.
Among the services provided by Feet Forward are hot meals, weather-appropriate clothing, haircuts and support to find housing. Livovich was homeless herself for almost five years; she feels that helps the people she’s trying to serve have confidence in her and trust the organization.
“I mean there were nights when it would be me and three other people with a blanket going ‘I hope we wake up.’ These are types of loyalty that develop out here, so it can be a hard struggle for people when they transition inside and one of the things that we help to do is give inspiration we are realistic role models we are trusted by this community,” said Livovich.
According to a 2020 "point in time" count from Boulder — the most recent data on the city government's website — nearly 700 people are experiencing homelessness in Boulder. A majority of them reported staying in emergency shelters or transitional housing. The number of unhoused people in Boulder has trended up in recent years, according to that same report.
As the city's website says, "homelessness is primarily an affordable housing issue." In Boulder, the median price for a one-bedroom rental is nearly $2,300/month. The city said "at minimum wage, a one-person household would need to work 139 hours/week or 3.47 full-time jobs (40 hours/week) to not be cost burdened" in Boulder.
Feet Forward says it served 5,200 hot meals last year and that the nonprofit distributed more than 3,000 pairs of socks. The nonprofit also said it helped more than 150 people get onto waitlists for housing.
But Livovich feels that emotional support is often just as important as material support.
“When you transition from homelessness into a housing setting you know you can grapple with a form of survivors guilt and I remember when I moved into my apartment thinking I could fit like 40 people on my floor," she said.
Livovich said Feet Forward will continuing showing up for this vulnerable population of people as long as she possible can, not only to help them with various services but also to erase the stigma of what it means to be unhoused. “For me personally, and organizationally, it’s important that we treat every person like they are valued; they are human beings and they are valued.”
Brian Willie is the content production manager at Rocky Mountain PBS. You can contact him at brianwillie@rmpbs.org.
Dana Knowles is a multimedia journalist at Rocky Mountain PBS and can be reached at danaknowles@rmpbs.org.