For Those on the Margins, The Refuge Provides
Compassion and Connection By Kristen Beckman
There are many people in communities everywhere who feel like they don’t have a place where they belong. In Broomfield, The Refuge strives to provide a place of belonging. The Refuge is a Christian community and mission center built on the shared values of presence, engagement, transformation, welcome, creativity, and celebration. Founded in 2006, The Refuge focuses on community members on the margins and those who are in need, including single moms and their kids, retirees, LGBTQ+ community members, people with disabilities, people whose housing situation is unstable, and others in need. The Refuge offers a variety of services and fills many needs for community members, from hosting recovery support groups and art classes to providing a place to take a shower and have lunch among friends at the Refuge Café. The Refuge also reaches outside the walls of its facility on Quay Street to help individuals in need wherever they are. “The Refuge fills a niche in Broomfield and the surrounding North Metro area as a community where people are welcomed and offered hospitality and invited into a community in which all are called to give and receive – it’s really a journey that everyone who is part of the Refuge is on, because we’re all God’s image-bearers, we all have our own stories and pain and trauma and triumphs,” said Marrton Dormish, Minister of Community Engagement at the Refuge. During the COVID-19 crisis, the Refuge was instrumental in addressing some of the immediate needs vulnerable members of the community faced. Members of its clergy were able to raise $10,000 from local churches to provide hotel vouchers for individuals with nowhere else to go.
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Our Broomfield™ Magazine | August 2020
“When the statewide “stay-at-home” order went into effect, we knew we needed to do something, because you can’t stay safe at home if you have no home, and since Broomfield has no full-time shelter, the only viable alternative was to put people up in local hotels,” said Dormish.
