Claudia Schauffler, Nederland.   I retired from People’s Clinic after almost ten years, this past June. I have always worked in non-profit healthcare. Other than running my business in Nederland, I knew I needed something more. When I saw an ad for the Summer Homeless Advocate for Homeless Encampments (SHARE) position through the Community Presbyterian Church, I figured I might as well apply. Turns out I got the job!

I spent the summer working with campers in the Nederland area with full support and assistance from the Nederland Police Department and regional National Forest staff. I also had Pastor Hansen Wendlandt as a sounding board and supporter. To my surprise, I had amazing community support. I have been in these mountains for 13 years and have seen the devastation and pain that careless camping can cause. I have felt the outrage that many in our community felt. I was delighted that the community was willing to give me and the SHARE program a chance.

I feel like I can generally put the campers I met into three rough categories.

Regardless of which category I may put a camper in, without a doubt, they were all here for the same reasons most of us are: the beauty, serenity, and majesty of where we live. This is a remarkable and special place to live.

The first category of campers are the vacation folks. Some of the vacation campers are actively seeking a paradise to relocate to but also have a home to go back to. It was fun meeting them, because they see the same beauty as I do in these mountains. The difference is that I am home here.

The second category of campers are the people looking for a better place to live. Some have more ability to make that happen than others. I was one of those campers in the 70s. I traveled extensively looking for paradise. I was lucky, in that I knew I could go back home and plan and work toward where I wanted to be. I had choices and support.

This category of camper includes a few like I was, but most are facing more difficulty. Many are fleeing abusive relationships. Some are fleeing toxic homes, drugs, poverty, abuse or all of these things. Many come with physical or mental handicaps. Some are from Colorado, even the Nederland area. As this work continues it will be worth finding out how and why they ended up here. I have heard some say that they were on their way somewhere else and landed here. Once here they didn’t want to leave. I was the same way.

The main goal of the SHARE program is to connect these folks to services down in Boulder. Sometimes we could do that; other times, it was harder to make much headway. We’ll have a report next month on the many different ways we were able to help folks who were in need with healthcare, IDs, housing, jobs, education, emotional support, etc.

The third category of campers are the ones that face significant addiction issues. Combined with mental health issues, those are the most challenging people to deal with. They have limited ability to deal with their reality.

These folks I connected with but found I had little help to offer, unless they were actively seeking it. Fortunately, these folks were in the minority. They did appreciate being heard and acknowledged and were grateful for what I did have to offer.

The second category of campers are the group that I spend the most time with. I freely gave out my phone number and was happy to see that people felt free to call me. In no way did I ever feel like anyone was taking advantage of it.

Most of these people are just looking for a safer, better life. The ones that can work have been active in finding jobs. As we all know, that does not equate with being able to afford housing. After all, many long-term residents have trouble finding housing when their circumstances change.

There have been a few campers that have found housing but not many.

Winter will be the final obstacle that moves these people out. Also, several of the folks that are disabled are trying to find work that they can physically and mentally do. That is a huge obstacle.

My objective in writing this is for our community to understand who these people are and why they are here. They are here for many of the same reasons we are. This is a healing, magical place. We are very lucky to live here.

In many ways, the campers become their own community in the campgrounds. The second main goal of the SHARE program is for us to educate campers on fire safety, trash disposal and hygiene in the woods.

Several of them banded together to gather trash left by other campers and encouraged other campers to keep their sites clean. I worked with this group to clean up areas that the Forest Service did not even realize were dumping spots. Four of the campers in this group cleaned out a mining hole of trash, helped me put it in my truck and then went with me to haul it to the dump.

I saw relationships develop and support groups form. They would share food, supplies and sometimes money. One created a list of safe camping practices which he shared with the others.

They loved meeting at Socks and Sandwiches to socialize and meet locals. It was so amazing to see them interacting with police, rangers and volunteers.

They could not get over how friendly and caring people are in Nederland.

At this point in the season, I can think of only a few campers that will try to be here for the remainder of the year. They have worked hard to establish themselves and it is exciting to see them succeeding. I know of one couple that is still working on being able to stay but they are aware of what they are facing.

There are many other campers that are planning on giving it a try again next year. I look forward to seeing them in the Spring and we plan on staying in touch until then.

The best thing for me is to have met these people and offered help and support. In return they have welcomed me into their lives, homes and relationships. I believe that in some small way I, with the support of the community, have brought some of the magic in these mountains into people’s lives and I am grateful to have been a part of that.

(Originally published in the September 27, 2018, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)