When Michael Engfors, a homeless man in Aspen, won five hundred thousand dollars on a scratch off ticket last fall his newfound fortune made national headlines. Months later, the longtime local is still utilizing the services of the Aspen Homeless shelter. Its services go beyond a warm place to sleep at night, as shelter director Vince Savage explains.
Michael Engfors doesn’t have a home, he doesn’t have a job, he doesn’t have a driver's licence and he is struggling with addiction. Dr. Vince Savage is the director of the Aspen Homeless Shelter where Engfors has been a client for the past 5 years. While Savage is well aware that Engfors hit the jackpot - he drove him to the lotto offices in Grand Junction to get the check - he does not believe cutting off the shelter’s services is the right thing to do.
“We know there is more going on than just our basic mission but sometimes we need to be reminded of it and this case has reminded us of that. I have told Michael we are not going to throw him out just because he was unfortunate enough to win the lotto.”
The primary mission of the shelter is to make sure no one freezes to death at night, and to provide a least one meal a day year round across town at the day center. A secondary aspect is helping shelter visitors address the issues that got them to the point of needing assistance in the first place. For that reason, they do not screen the financials of those who turn to them for help.
“His case is reflective of a lot of people we deal with, in that we are there to help support them in terms of self-concept, sociability, job hunting skills and just like anybody else, trying to figure out what he wants to do with their life.”
Savage knows eyebrows may be raised when someone with a three-hundred-thousand dollar savings account sits down for a free meal. But if it was anybody else who won, would they be expected to stop hanging out with their friends and family? Engfors moved to Aspen in 1963 when he was 8 years old. Is it really fair to tell him to leave the valley and go buy a house somewhere more affordable?
“It seems a little ridiculous to us to prevent him from coming in a socializing with his buddies and you know, basically being with the people he considers family.”
Savage says the financial cost of Engfors’ off and on presence at the overnight shelter and the day center is negligible. The shelter is not operating at capacity … and rolling out an additional mat on the church floor doesn’t cost anything. The food served at the day center is donated, and “there is always room for one more” at the dinner table.
Engfors had been spending money on a weekly rate at the Aspenalt Lodge in Basalt, but Savage says it’s better for Engfors’ health and for the greater mission of the shelter for him to continue using the organization’s service, especially at night.
“He is trying to stay sober he is trying to maintain some social contact. The idea of sitting alone in a hotel room with a bottle is not a good combination”
Savage says the breathalyzers used by the shelter help Engfors maintain his sobriety, and that his eventual goal is to reconnect with his estranged daughter in new york.
