The Delores Project

A nonprofit organization

$101,585 raised by 237 donors

68% complete

$150,000 Goal

About

Belonging

Because of federal funding cuts, we’re facing a $325,000 shortfall in 2026. Without new support, we’ll have to reduce the programs that make The Delores Project a unique, affirming, and life saving space for women, transgender, and nonbinary individuals experiencing homelessness. We’re calling on our community to help us raise $250,000 by the end of 2025 to ensure we can continue to meet this moment with strength and compassion.

Every day, The Delores Project is more than a shelter. It’s a community where women, trans, and nonbinary neighbors find safety, care, and a path home. Where someone can take a deep breath, share a meal, and begin again.

This Colorado Gives Day, your support helps keep those doors open all day and all night. It means access to case management, behavioral health care, housing navigation, and the steady rhythm of a place that says, you belong here.

Giving Activity

Mission

The Delores Project builds belonging for people experiencing homelessness through the provision and advocacy of safe, dignified, and trauma-informed shelter for women, transgender, and nonbinary individuals, support services, and supportive housing for people of all genders.

Background Statement

The Delores Project is named after Delores Big Boy, a Lakota woman, and long-time Denver resident who experienced homelessness and died due to complications from physical illness shortly before her forty-fourth birthday. Delores was known for her big heart and desire to nurture and care for others. When Delores was housed, she would often have several people in need of shelter staying in her apartment each night and her mentality was to care for as many people as she could with whatever she had. Delores passed away in 1999 and in the winter of 2000, The Delores Project opened in her name, with her values for hospitality and acceptance of others as the foundation for the new shelter. The staff of Delores wanted to create a space that allowed everyone to have dignity and comfort. A hallmark of the shelter at that time was the use of handmade quilts on each bed. The quilts, crafted and donated by volunteers, were meant to help guests feel at home, as much as possible, during their stay in the shelter. Over the years, hospitality and dignity have continued to be the core values of The Delores Project and the way that Delores's spirit has lived on.

When we opened our new building at Arroyo Village in 2019, we invited Delores' family to the grand opening celebration. Many came from different states and graciously offered a blessing for our building and gifted us two Star Quilts. One is hanging in the Shelter Dining Room and one is in our supportive housing lobby, along with photos of Delores. It is an honor that the family chose to gift these to us in support of our work and our community. The Star Quilt symbolizes the Morning Star - the last and brightest star on the eastern horizon before dawn. The Morning Star represents a link between those who are living and those who have passed away. It also represents the values of honor and generosity. We display them to honor our namesake, Delores Big Boy as well as others who have passed on along the way. They remind us to honor and keep alive the spirit of generosity and hospitality that has always been the Delores way.