Elizabeth Guess knows what it is like to live unhoused.
“I lived on the streets when I was 15,” she told the Bulletin, explaining that “a rough home life” led to her deciding to strike out on her own, even with nowhere to go. She camped in the public parks and on the streets of Colorado Springs.
She also knows the value of a backpack for someone in that situation.
“You live out of your backpack; that is your home,” she said.
Holidays, she remembered, were a harder time when she was homeless.
“You’re already down in life … Christmas comes along … I remember what that feels like,” she said.
Her lived experience and compassion for others going through a similar experience is what led to her creating Gift Bags for the Homeless seven years ago. She also wanted to teach her young son, Jaden Guess, about giving to others. She put out a call on social media for supplies like socks, gloves, snacks, and hot hands which she and her son assembled and distributed around the holidays.
Since then, the program has grown into a group of volunteers who pack over 100 backpacks with donated supplies and give them directly to those in need. Some of the volunteers are also formerly homeless, living on the streets at the same time as Elizabeth. Others are firefighters that Elizabeth works with; she is a wildland firefighter.
Elizabeth recounted how she was in and out of homelessness through her teens and into her twenties.
“Sometimes I would get a place; then I would lose it,” she said, remembering how difficult it was to create her own stability as a 16- and 17-year-old.
It was becoming a mother that spurred her to make a huge change against the odds. She lived in a vehicle through most of her pregnancy, getting what sleep she could and holding down a job. Just weeks before her due date, she got an apartment and never became homeless again, although she has been through lean times.
She said that’s another thing she wanted to impart to her son, that housing instability is a fact of life for many – some have luck that holds, and some don’t.
“So many of us that live paycheck to paycheck are one paycheck away from being homeless ourselves; one injury, one unplanned life event can put us in a situation we never thought we’d be in,” she said. “I wanted him to experience that from an early age, and not judge people.”
Elizabeth remembered the first year she did the gift bags with her son when he was eight years old.
“I was like, OK, do you want to take this one to that guy over there? He was in third grade, he was so nervous, he was practically clinging to my leg,” she recalled. “So, I said, ‘c’mon, we’ll go together.’ And we would go together, hand it out, tell him ‘happy holidays.'”
During that first season passing out gift bags, Jaden got used to it, and by the next time they did it, he was excited to participate.
“After doing the gift bags for this many years, I’ve learned what they are facing, and the importance we serve,” Jaden told the Bulletin.
Elizabeth is currently seeking donations of new or gently used backpacks – she needs dozens more. Other warm weather gear like coats, hoodies, hats and gloves are also requested, along with blankets and sleeping bags.
Supplies may be donated at the drop box at The Loft (110 Canon Ave., Manitou Springs) from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. To arrange a donation pickup time or to inquire about volunteering with backpack packing, contact Elizabeth at 505-728-8448 or at EGuess612@gmail.com.
