How Our Front Porch Helps

Guest Blogger: Paxton Leibold, Our Front Porch 2017-2018 Intern

Every person in the United States faces struggles on a daily basis. From running out gas, to losing a credit card; the human race struggles in every aspect of life. But what happens when a natural disaster hits and you lose everything you own and love? Would you be able to pick up and move on, know what to do, or be able to function soundly? I know in my personal life, I would not be able handle the most basic of everyday tasks. People are resilient and can handle so much, but sometimes they need help in this crisis period. I say this, because this is what I do in my internship: I help individuals who have lost everything due to a natural disaster.

Natural disasters take away so much from people; homes, photo albums, identification cards, family members, pets, but it also takes away the hope that people have for a better life. And that’s when Our Front Porch steps in. We are able to help the individuals in the first steps after losing their homes. Whether it be finding housing, utilizing resources in the community, or conducting crisis counseling, we stay with our clients from the beginning through all the different steps of rebuilding their lives. But when working with individuals who are in crisis, we face many difficulties at Our Front Porch – the most frustrating one being when our clients disappear off of our radar.

Individuals who are in crisis live one day at a time just trying to make it through. Talking to us isn’t their number one priority which is totally understandable, but becomes a problem when we are trying to get a hold of them for an important reason. That is why having the house that Our Front Porch is trying to build would help these individuals who are struggling in crisis. Having the clients live in the same house as our office would make the communication a thousand times easier and in return we could help the clients more effectively. This would fix our second largest problem: finding housing for our clients. Real estate in Denver is a bubble of complexity for a renter or homebuyer. Finding housing for clients who have a low budget because of circumstance can be hugely disappointing for the client and us as a company. We want to help these people, but in order to do so we need help. We need help from landlords who would be willing to cut down deposit costs, help from investors who believe in our cause, and help from the community as a whole to spread the word about what we do so that we can make a bigger impact and help more individuals.

So this begs the question, are you willing to help?

 

~ Paxton Leibold, Our Front Porch 2017-2018 Intern