DENVER — Walk down the 16th Street Mall in Denver for about 30 seconds and you’ll see it: Poverty, homelessness, mental illness. That’s why Kevin Farrow is here. He is one of 22 missionaries from the Catholic outreach group Christ in the City.
“Christ in the City attempts to respond to the problem of homelessness in a way that I think no other organization can, namely responding to this deeper problem of people not even being able to envision a better life for themselves,” said Philip Couture, task force director for Christ in the City.
For about seven years, Christ in the City has been connecting with the homeless. Young, old, men and women.
“We talk about whatever they want. Some people don’t want to talk about anything at all, and some people are fine,” Farrow said.
He likes to use music to say that first hello.
“I always bring my guitar or ukulele out. It’s a good conversation starter,” he said.
Their mission is not about converting people, but simply connecting with them.
“What we want to do is connect with people. We want to meet the person and where they’re at,” Couture said.
Christ in the City doesn’t measure success by getting the homeless into shelters, but instead, how much love they have offered their friends on the street.