Two years ago, Helen Nunnelly could have represented the face of homelessness in Denver.

On Thursday, she was celebrated at a crowded luncheon as one of 518 success stories - a working woman who has made a home for herself and her 2-year-old daughter, Isabella, thanks to the power of faith-based organizations.

"It's so nice to walk into my own place," Nunnelly said, beaming, during an interview. "My daughter is extremely happy."

On the happy scale, little Isabella may have to compete with Mayor John Hickenlooper, the keynote speaker at a gathering of religious and nonprofit leaders to mark the Mayor's fourth annual Faith Based Initiative to End Homelessness.

"This is one of the most exciting, inspiring things I've ever been a part of," Hickenlooper told about 400 at the Police Protective Association Event Center.

Hickenlooper added, "You know how everything has energy? Positive energy . . . or negative energy? This feels so right."

The initiative, which is administered through the Denver Rescue Mission, pairs a homeless person or family or a senior citizen with a faith-based group. People in a fragile time of life "get job training, a 9-to-5 structure so they can get back on the right track and engaged in life," Hickenlooper said.

In Nunnelly's case, everything changed for her on New Year's Eve 2006, when the boyfriend she lived with put a gun on the table.

"I gotta go," Nunnelly, now 40, remembers thinking. But where? Pregnant with Isabella, she found the homeless shelters she contacted filled for the holidays.

"By the grace of God I found another shelter," she said.

Months later, the Salvation Army New Heights Church in Centennial stepped up to be her mentor. Members got her a job as an office manager.

"I'm doing quite well, and I'm paying my bills," she said.

So far, 240 congregations also have stepped up, a number Hickenlooper praised and challenged. He wants 50 more congregations to participate this year. In 10 years, he hopes 1,000 families are being helped.

Denver has become a model for the program, which is being tried in other cities. "It allows a community to help solve its own problems, without government red tape," Hickenlooper said.

"Spread the word, person to person, congregation to congregation," he said, offering to personally help rev up the program. "I will be at your beck and call, get two or three pastors, rabbis together, I'll come and have lunch with you."

Even organizations that are hurting in this dire economy will be glad to say they took part, he said.

"You may say, 'You know, that was hard, but I stepped up.' I feel safe in guaranteeing if you do that, you'll look back and say, 'God, I'm glad I did."

Nunnelly knows what it feels like to get through tough times. She's made a life for herself and her daughter without relying on her volatile boyfriend.

"One of the last things people told me was that I would never make it without him," she said.

"And I have."

Faith Based Initiative to End Homelessness

240 congregations are participating.

518 families and seniors have been matched with congregations.

69.5% of participants are now employed.

85% of participants have maintained housing after one year.

HOW TO TAKE PART

* If your faith-based organization would like to mentor a family or senior citizen in need, call the Denver Rescue Mission at 303-313-2410.

* To learn more about the Family and Senior Homeless Initiative, go to fshi.org.

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