Rev. Tom Rossi
My journey with The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless began in May of 2006; I had become homeless due to methamphetamine addiction. I was living on the streets by day and on a two-inch mat on the floor of a church basement by night. I attended a health fair at a local church and after several diagnostic tests they sent me to Stout Street Clinic for immediate treatment. They not only attended to my immediate medical crisis but placed me in a respite care facility and enrolled me in Substance Treatment Services.
Within two months, a case manager of mine invited me to join The Consumer Advisory Board for the Coalition and I was later elected to Chair of that Board and subsequently named to the Board of Directors for the Coalition.
The mission statement of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless is “Creating Lasting Solutions,” through our full Holistic approach to Individuals and Families who are experiencing Homelessness. Housing, Medical, Mental Health, Benefit’s Retention, Substance Abuse and many other programs are designed NOT to give us our lives BACK, but rather to begin a NEW LIFE for those we serve. Certainly I live today as an example of just that!
Today I live in my own home, serve my community and my Church with much purpose, bringing to the table a myriad of experience that would not have been possible without the incredible care and support I have gratefully received from the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless.
The question asked was “Why did you choose to become a member of CCH’s Board of Director’s?” My answer is twofold. First, my Christian faith teaches me; “To whom much is given, much is required,” secondly… How could I not?