Denver homeless find winter clothes lovingly hung on trees

A Denver woman and dozens of helpers repeated an annual ritual of hanging out winter clothes on trees in Civic Center park Sunday, continuing her “Take This and Keep Warm” campaign to help the homeless despite a tragedy that almost caused her to quit.

When Nicole Uriona began the campaign three years ago, she was inspired by her father, Craig Uriona, who had been homeless for 13 years.

The idea was to help him and others on Denver’s streets as temperatures dip and public space shrinks. She used Facebook, soliciting donated clothing and rallying volunteers — there were 80 this time — and then draping items on tree branches. Nicole A name Uriona tag-sized note attached to each piece of clothing read: “I am not lost. If you find yourself stuck out in the cold, please take me and keep warm.” The volunteers this year also prepared packs of personal care items such as soap and toothpaste.

“I knew his struggle, how it was,” said Uriona, 33, a structural designer for a Denver engineering firm. “He was in a shelter when I started it.”

An estimated 300 Denver residents struggling to get by, most of them homeless, benefited Sunday. Down coats went fastest, followed by the hygiene kits. Knit scarves and gloves also proved popular, even if the gloves didn’t match.

It was one of a growing number of small-scale aid efforts happening in Civic Center park, where Denver police say heroin use is rampant. Two officers patrolling the park Sunday checked an elderly man slumped against a tree trunk, aiming a small flashlight at his pupils, to make sure he didn’t need emergency attention. A park ranger also patrolled.

Church groups sometimes hand out food near the art museum and library, but Uriona said her effort is not part of any religion, just an effort to make sure people like her father stay warm and safe.

Homeless residents of Denver say they often can’t find space in shelters, in some cases because they are alcoholics or drug users and the shelters have rules. Some say bed bugs have infested shelters. Some say they prefer sleeping in parks, not wanting to share their stories and be judged.

Diabetic day laborer James Jacks, 29, said he was stunned when he saw the tree branches adorned with red, yellow, white, green, blue — decorations that when he got closer turned out to be garments.

“You don’t find this, typically,” said Jacks, from Louisiana, who works through the Readyman Labor program. He grabbed a blue hoodie and put it on immediately. He grabbed socks. He grabbed the personal care kit.

“I didn’t know if somebody might be throwing a party. Then I find out this is for the homeless. My heart just stopped. It is a blessing,” he said.

Difficulties of getting by on the streets intensified last year for Craig Uriona. He lost his place in a shelter due to a conflict. Nicole Uriona had just run her second annual event, inspired by him, drawing about 150 people with help from a dozen volunteers.

Two nights later, on Dec. 19, snow hit and temperatures plummeted. Craig Uriona tried to stay warm on a grate in the alley between 16th and 17th streets, behind the YMCA, by a bank.

But he couldn’t withstand the cold. He slipped away in the darkness, a victim of hypothermia, Nicole said.

“It is hard. I didn’t want to do it this year,” she said as the sun set and volunteers were starting to leave.

“And then, I was like, maybe we should to it — and dedicate it to him.”