OUR HISTORY
Sacred Heart House of Denver helping homeless families and single women, was founded by Catherine Bevanda in 1980 after she learned the convent next to Sacred Heart School in lower downtown Denver had closed. Catherine, who came to Denver to study at Loretto Heights, supported herself by working at an orphanage and at Marycrest Convent, which was operating a skeletal homeless shelter at the time.
Thinking she could expand on that idea in the abandoned convent, she opened its doors to those people in Denver, who, for one reason or another, found themselves homeless.
In 1982, Susanna Kennedy of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth from nearby Annunciation Parish became director. Under her guidance, the mission to serve those who wanted to become self-sufficient developed.
Within a short period of time, this self-sufficiency program gained attention, respect and financial support from the Denver community.
In April 1991, Sacred Heart House of Denver was incorporated in Colorado as a nonprofit corporation to assume the programs and activities of Sacred Heart House of Denver, as well as its assets and liabilities.
Sacred Heart House of Denver offers a continuum of services to homeless families, specifically mothers with children, and single women through its In-House Stabilization, Follow-Up and Transitional Housing Programs. Its purpose is to help these women and their families achieve and maintain self-sufficiency.
Over the past four decades, the programs at Sacred Heart House of Denver have become focused on meeting the needs of Denver’s most vulnerable population:
Single mothers with children and single women experiencing homelessness.
Here are a few articles that have discussed our history:
The Continuum of Services provided through the In-House Stabilization, Follow-Up and Transitional Housing Programs enables them to move to stable housing and achieve and maintain self-sufficiency.