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Fox News
3 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Why progressives fail homeless Americans and attack effective alternatives
In Denver, Colorado – a city that prides itself on inclusion, compassion and progressive ideals – a Christian coffee shop owner has become the target of hostility; it's not for what he's done wrong, but for what he's done right. Jamie Sanchez launched The Drip Cafe as an employment-training program for those struggling with homelessness who want to rebuild their lives. More than just offering a job, the café provides mentorship, structure and consistent support to equip team members to reenter the workforce and to attain long-term employment and stability. But for dozens of far-left activists in Denver, ideological conformity overshadows the measurable good of helping the homeless of the streets. Protesters are regularly showing up at his café, accusing him of bigotry and calling for boycotts due to his biblical stance on sexuality. In Seattle, Andrea Suarez leads a highly effective grassroots effort to clear homeless encampments and connect the homeless into treatment and other services – We Heart Seattle. In return, she and her volunteers face relentless protests and hostility from far-left extremists. Rather than encouraging their efforts, activists recently shoved Andrea into the street and threatened her with kidnapping. Apparently, they prefer to let their homeless neighbors languish in tents and addiction. It should not be lost on us that those protesting – and even engaging in violence – are not lifting a finger to help the people they claim to champion. They're not offering shelter, treatment or support. They're simply demanding more money for the same failed policies that have driven this crisis to historic levels. Meanwhile, those doing the hard and healing work are treated not as partners, but as pariahs. This moment reveals something increasingly corrosive in American life: the progressive left's unwavering loyalty to ideology over outcomes, with no regard for the financial nor the human cost. Homelessness is a searing national emergency sprawled across our streets, endlessly debated yet persistently ignored. Cities like Denver and Seattle have thrown billions at the crisis, clinging to a rigid, one-size-fits-all policy approach rooted in progressive ideology. This approach – Housing First – became federal policy in 2013. It provides permanent, taxpayer-funded housing without requiring sobriety, treatment or employment. Ever. In practice, it has become "housing only." Passionately championed as the silver bullet to homelessness, it has proven to be anything but. Yet within left-wing policy circles, it remains unquestioned gospel, immune to scrutiny and divorced from results. Since adopting Housing First, homelessness has reached its highest level ever recorded in our nation's history, including a 58% increase in the unsheltered population. In Seattle, unsheltered homelessness rose by 88%; in Denver, it more than tripled. Still, the left clings to the ideology. Billions be damned and outcomes be damned. Which brings us back to Jamie and Andrea. Their steady and steadfast hands have brought hope, stability and tangible support to people who are left to languish on sidewalks. They offer relationship and support, not red tape. Yet the progressive left condemns them because they don't wear the correct ideological uniform. Across America, programs such as these – with proven track records of moving people from homelessness to stability through sobriety, job training, counseling and accountability – are not just denied public funding, but they are systematically ostracized from the systems charged with ending homelessness. Why? Their expectations around personal responsibility – sobriety, work and accountability – are dismissed as too demanding by progressive standards, even though these very principles are the foundation of lasting recovery and independence. In homelessness, not unlike today's policy climate overall, ideological conformity takes precedence over real-world results, even if it means keeping people trapped in cycles of addiction, instability, and despair. It is cruelty wearing a mask of virtue. By demonizing those who operate outside the rigid confines of left-wing homeless orthodoxy, we're stifling innovation and punishing the very people trying to help, while abandoning the vulnerable they serve. Jamie Sanchez and Andrea Suarez should be celebrated – not vilified – for stepping boldly into the suffering of their communities, guided by compassion, courage and a relentless commitment to restoring broken lives. They aren't pontificating from the sidelines or waiting on government mandates. They are in the trenches, delivering real, effective solutions where bureaucracy has failed. In clinging to purity tests, the progressive left isn't just missing the point – they're standing in the way. It's sabotage. And it's the homeless who pay the highest price.


Fox News
15-07-2025
- General
- Fox News
Christian coffee shop owner helping homeless faces protests in far-left city
Print Close By Kristine Parks Published July 15, 2025 Jamie Sanchez has felt a calling to serve the homeless ever since he was a child. But he never imagined that following that calling would lead to him being labeled a bigot. "It was really strange, actually, because we all of a sudden started getting like messages on Instagram about how we hate gay people and just like random comments like that," Sanchez told Fox News Digital. "And come to find out there was like an organized group ready to protest the opening of our café before we even open. We did some digging, and we found out it was strictly because we were Christian." Sanchez is the owner of The Drip Café in Denver, located in the Art District on Santa Fe Drive. He also runs a homeless ministry called "Recycle God's Love," that he started in 2012 with his late wife, Carolyn, who died from cancer in 2018. What began as a small group offering Bible studies and meals to the homeless has grown into a widespread community initiative, involving churches, local businesses, and volunteers, providing hundreds of people with everything from haircuts to food to clothing and housing. "Over the years, it has just grown into just an amazing community of believers and people who really have a heart to help people who are in need and to do it selflessly," Sanchez told Fox News Digital. SEATTLE PASTOR DETAILS WILD SCENE AFTER WORSHIP EVENT 'SWARMED' BY PROTESTERS In 2022, Sanchez took the ministry a step further by launching "Project Revive," a faith-based initiative designed to support homeless individuals seeking to rebuild their lives. The program helps the homeless access housing, transportation, identification, addiction counseling, and jobs — grounded in Christian discipleship. As part of this mission, Sanchez opened The Drip Café the next year. It's a regular coffee shop that also hires and mentors individuals who have completed the ministry's program, and are sober and ready to reintegrate into the workforce. "We've had a few people go through the project so far, and it's been very successful," he said. However, even before The Drip Café opened its doors, Sanchez says they began receiving social media messages accusing the café of being anti-gay. On the opening day, protesters, organized by a local group called the Denver Communists, held signs and passed out flyers accusing the coffee shop of being run by a "right-wing church" that hated those in the LGBTQ community. "I was in shock," Sanchez recalled. "Our whole purpose opening the café was to serve the homeless community and help people get off the street, change their lives. And here we got a group who just hates us because we're doing that, and we're Christian." COLORADO CHRISTIAN SUMMER CAMP SUES STATE FOR REQUIRING ACCESS TO GENDER IDENTITY-FRIENDLY FACILITIES The group objected to Recycle God's Love calling homosexuality a sin in its mission statement. They protested outside the café every weekend initially. Now, about 10–20 people protest outside their shop every first Friday of the month during the area's art walk event. Despite attempts to engage with them peacefully, Sanchez says he's been met mostly with silence or shouting. He said protesters followed two elderly women into the store one time and screamed at a blind Christian DJ on another occasion. "Here's this group trying to act inclusive, and they are harassing a Black blind guy in front of my café because he's Christian," he said. SEATTLE COFFEE SHOP OWNER WHO HAD CITY EVENT CANCELED BY LGBTQ BACKLASH DEFENDS HIS FAITH His property has been vandalized, windows broken and "Keep Santa Fe Gay" stickers have been left on windows and mirrors. Recently, a spray-painted image of a KKK member hanging was left on the café's front door. The Christian shop owner maintains he harbors no hatred toward the protesters. He sees the backlash as part of a spiritual battle. After finding no help from local authorities, he and his team chose to hold live worship music in the café every first Friday to help "drown out" the commotion outside. "I love them even though they don't believe me and I've never shown anything but love to them and that's why the only pictures they have of me is praying for them," he told Fox News Digital. "I understand that they feel like they are having an identity crisis, and they might feel hopeless and lost and the only way to rectify that feeling is through the Son of God who is Jesus Christ." The Denver Communists told Fox News Digital they were not protesting the café strictly because it is Christian, but because of its religious beliefs on sexuality. "There are plenty of Christian denominations that don't share their bigoted view, such as the ELCA [Evangelical Lutheran Church in America] and we've been joined by pastors and many Christians in our protests. Since then Drip has doubled down on its homophobic position," a spokesperson for the group said. "Jamie and his bigoted coffee shop don't have a monopoly on Christianity, but he sure is willing to try and profit off of it." The communists say they view the protests as part of a "broader struggle" against forces like the Trump administration, which they say is attacking LGBTQ+ rights. "We may not succeed in running the Drip out of town before the end of its lease, but that is ultimately irrelevant. The protests against the hate-café are serving as a training ground for new queer-rights activists, the message of queer liberation is being spread, and our ultimate victory, while delayed, is inevitable," the group wrote in a blog post shared with Fox News Digital. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The group also claimed Sanchez was affiliated with neo-Nazis and said they'd been subjected to slurs and threats by staff, which Sanchez adamantly denied. He disavowed any hate shown to the protesters by others outside his café and claimed the communists had spread lies about him and his shop. "The communists have told me I'm not welcome, told me to kill myself, and my response is, 'I love you, and you are welcome to come in peacefully.' We have offered them free coffee and food on cold days," he told Fox News Digital. "It's very silly of them to say I am part of a Nazi group, considering I am a brown-skinned Hispanic." Print Close URL