The Delores Project turns to fundraising amid canceled grants

DENVER — The Delores Project, Colorado’s only overnight homeless shelter for women and transgender people, faces a 10% budget loss following federal grant cuts. As a result, the organization is relying on donors to keep its 24/7 doors open.

“What’s really at risk for us if we lose this funding is having to go back to that overnight emergency shelter model where people have to leave during the day,” said Emily Wheeland, The Delores Project CEO.

“That would be really traumatic for the people we serve,” Wheeland said.

The Delores Project receives annual grants from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of Health and Human Services for its case management as well as food and mental health support services. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law in July, slashed those grants. 

Now, the organization will lose 10% of its overall budget, about $325,000, in 2026, when the grants cut in the Big Beautiful Bill will take effect. To close the gaps in government funding, the shelter is ramping up its fundraising efforts, Wheeland said.

Organizers for the shelter launched a fundraising campaign in July to “bridge the gap,” and raise $250,000 of the estimated loss. Lucas Land, Delores Project director of development, said the organization started with $250,000 as a more attainable goal than the entire $325,000.

“The campaign needs to raise a lot of new donors and that is the hardest thing to do in fundraising,” Land said.

Like other nonprofits, The Delores Project has always accepted donations. However, the bulk of its funding comes from government grants.

The Delores Project currently provides 50 beds in a 24/7 emergency shelter in Denver’s Sloan’s Lake neighborhood. 

The Delores Project started 24/7 access in April 2020. For its first 19 years of operation, Delores Project residents were required to leave during the day and return by a nighttime curfew. Several shelters in Denver — including The Samaritan House, The Salvation Army and Denver Rescue Mission — follow the nighttime-only model.

The Delores Project also refers clients to the Arroyo Village apartments, which are managed by Rocky Mountain Communities, a Denver-based nonprofit that builds affordable housing units.

The Delores Project is part of a housing project called Arroyo Village, which includes the organization's 24/7 shelter, 35 supportive housing units for people living at or below 30% of the area median income, and 50 unites for residents making 50% below the Denver median income, which would be about $49,000.

To be eligible, residents need to have experienced homelessness for at least 12 months and also have a physical or mental disability.

Unlike other shelters in Denver, The Delores Project only serves women and transgender people. 

It also serves as a long-term solution rather than a one-night bed, said Cam Carpanzano, director of programs and impact for the service. Those who stay in the shelter receive support navigating housing, jobs and social services systems for as long as they want, even after they leave the shelter.

“We don’t want this to be a quick fix,” Carpanzano said. “We really want people to be able to thrive and maintain housing, health care and a job.”  

Other nonprofit service organizations in Colorado face similar funding shortfalls. Village Exchange Center in Aurora, which provides food assistance, legal aid and job training to immigrants and asylum seekers, lost $2 million in federal funding for supporting “illegal aliens.” The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless also lost $240,000 from the federal government for two positions, as well as a FEMA grant it used to provide hotel and motel vouchers for families.

If The Delores Project doesn’t cover the grant shortfall, it will likely need to cut six staff members and return to its roots as a nighttime-only emergency shelter, Wheeland said.

The comprehensive services it adopted in 2019, including mental health support, food and help navigating legal situations, housing or education, would be cut. Those living in the Arroyo Village apartments would still get to keep their apartment however.

“It’s all very stressful because there are just so many unknowns and we’re really counting on the generosity of the community,” Wheeland said of the shelter’s precarious situation. 

Although the 85 Arroyo Village residents will keep their housing, they’re in danger of losing mental health support and regular meals the shelter provides.

“I’ve had amazing success here, and it would be a huge shame to see some of these programs go,” said Lauren King, a 42-year-old resident at the complex where she receives mental health support, among other services. 

In 2018, King quit her job at a domestic violence shelter in Longview, Texas, after she became addicted to methamphetamine. For a change of scenery and a chance at sobriety, King and her boyfriend bought a one-way bus ticket to Colorado, where they rented a cheap room in Boulder. Weeks after their arrival, King’s boyfriend was arrested for methamphetamine possession and King was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. 

Three months later, King moved to The Delores Project emergency shelter after receiving a referral from Denver Health, where she was seeking treatment for the lymphoma. 

“I can’t imagine what it would mean for the community here if staff were cut,” said King, who secured her Arroyo Village apartment with the help of a Delores Project case worker. King has been sober from methamphetamine for six years now and earns her living as a dog walker for her neighbors. 

Kara Gesica, 48, entered the emergency shelter at The Delores Project in 2014 after living in her car for weeks. She said she was kicked out of her parents’ home in Greeley when she came out as transgender and that The Delores Project helped her create some stability in her life.

“If you put in the effort, the people here will match it and you can get your life back,” Gesica said.

Once she had secured a shelter spot, Gesica became a campaigner for Colorado Sen. Mark Udall and eventually landed a job at Barnes & Noble that she said brought her a newfound sense of stability.

Her Delores Project case worker then helped get Gesica on a priority list for a Denver Housing Authority voucher that moved her into the Ballpark neighborhood apartment where she still lives. Now an IT manager with the city, Gesica no longer needs the voucher.

“I finally felt like I could really succeed in life,” she said. “I can honestly tell you that I would not be where I am today if it wasn’t for The Delores Project. It saved me from being dead or in prison.”