Our Vision
Mean Street Ministry was born out of the vision of a few people who saw the unaddressed need to help the homeless, and ultimately to help these families get into their own decent apartments.
Our Mission
Caring for and assisting the homeless and the poor.
Who we are
Mean Street is a multi-denominational Christian outreach ministry, with volunteers from a variety of churches and groups.
Our Clients - The Working Poor
Our clients are the most desparate of the working poor. They are families stuck in the motel cycle or in housing projects increasingly riddled with drugs.
In any city, large or small, there are people who are homeless. Sometimes, however, these homeless are not in the streets or sleeping out in the open as most might imagine, but living in the crowded rooms of older motels that line our well-traveled urban streets, or in sprawling housing projects that attract a seedy element.
What we do
Over the course of each week, Mean Street deploys 40 to 50 volunteers to give out around 600 meals, and various other item such as diapers, toys, children’s books, Bibles, blankets, coats, caps, gloves, school supplies.
Mean Street also passes out hundreds of copies of a comprehensive, up-to-date resource guides containing contact information for numerous agencies and ministries that help with the many different needs of the homeless and poor.
Mean Street volunteers talk with each individual or family about their needs, gives them sandwiches/burritos, and encouragement. They also can call the Mean Street staff during the week for follow-up help, such as large food baskets, clothes, and mentoring & prayer (if requested), delivered to them.
Every Monday & Tuesday evening, since the year 2000, volunteers from Mean Street Ministry hit the motels, shelters, and housing projects along West Colfax Avenue and, since 2002, East Colfax on Thursdays or Mondays. Thursday is food day at a trailer park at 17th and DePew.
Partner Organizations
In synergy with other programs for the homeless, such as Denver Rescue Mission, United Way, Volunteers of America and other secular and non-secular organizations, Mean Street volunteers reach out to the homeless right where they live, offering help and hope on the spot and for the long term.
Our Budget
Mean Street is working to break the cycle of the homeless in motels and projects, one family at a time -- and helping put these families on the road to hope. The Ministry operates on a shoestring, and needs donations of cash to be able to help with apartment deposits, resource guide photocopies, insurance costs, transportation, and storage space. Also, donations of food items such as meals in a can, coats, caps and gloves, are always appreciated.
“Please, Sir, I want some more.” … Oliver, asking the cook at the workhouse for more gruel.
Oliver Twist,
Charles Dickens
Weekly Mean Street ministry continues since poverty takes no holiday and winter can be very hard.
