Rising Stars: Meet Jennifer Livovich

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Livovich. 

Hi Jennifer, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
My name is Jennifer Livovich and I am the founder and Executive Director of Feet Forward. None of this would be possible without my own experience in chronic homelessness in Boulder, Colorado. 

Growing up in an upper-middle-class family and, even, enjoying professional success in my own adulthood, I would marry a man who became abusive and after three long years, I finally fled to save my life. It was then that I began to use DV safehouses/shelters, all with six-week capped stays – hardly enough time to start my life over. A friend offered me a place to stay and a new start in Boulder, Colorado – only she did not know that, by then, I was in the depths of alcoholism. My drinking would end our arrangement and lead me to the streets of Boulder, where I would stay for over four years. 

Due to local policy, I received many tickets associated with being homeless like camping and drinking in public. In fact, during the height of my CJS involvement, I received 51 citations, 46 in municipal court, and 5 county leading me to spend 266 nights in our jail. I was hauled to our local detox 72 times and had earned the title of not only chronically homeless but a high-system user for costing our community well over $60,000. 

In 2016, the Municipal Court System created a new position, Court Navigator, and hired a woman that had previously worked for a local nonprofit I would use on occasion. Her name is Elizabeth Robinson and she would prove to be instrumental in my journey. She saw past the labels society and the system put on me and heard my story and for that, I accepted the opportunity to participate in a sober-supported transitional housing program called Fort Lyon. 

When I left, I was broken, scared, and fearful of the frostbite that consumed my left foot. I had no idea where I was headed, but I knew that staying on the streets would only yield more of the Groundhog Day that my life became. After getting past the culture shock of relocating to a rural part of Colorado from gorgeous Boulder, I began to get treatment for my foot and as it healed, I grew more active in my community there. I also began to attend Colorado State University in their undergraduate Human Services program. I excelled in school and used it as an opportunity to enhance my lived experience in homelessness by focusing on areas pertaining to homelessness. I knew that I was going back to Boulder housed or homeless, for it was my community. 

After eighteen months at the program, I graduated and received some limited housing assistance from the state of Colorado. I learned to navigate the very complex world of housing alone, prior to the national shift to house homeless people (housing-first). I successfully moved back into my apartment in August of 2018 and struggled with a real sense of remorse for being inside when so many of my friends were still outside. There is a sense of loyalty that develops for people outside that is nearly indescribable. I knew having people over to my place would lead to the demise of my housing and so I decided to do something different. 

In October of 2018, I started collecting socks under an initiative, Save-A-Toe, and distributing them to people in parks and along my way to conduct informational interviews with anyone working in homelessness that would talk to me. I became very intentional with my time. I continued to learn and advance in my studies at CSU, earning my specialization in Nonprofit and Public Sector Management with honors as well as my peer training following SAMHSA best practices. I developed a network and began to get involved in broader conversations advancing the valued voice of lived experience – Metro Denver Homeless Initiative (MDHI) Regional Governing Council (RGC) for one. While one would think leadership involved with housing processes and policies would welcome me with open arms, I can say this was not the case. I, often, felt like there was still no space for me other than the parks and streets. It was frustrating but rather than focus on that, I decided to create a space for myself and for others like me. 

As my resource lineup increased, my outreach evolved and I leaned on a friend who had also made the climb out of homelessness in Boulder, Lori Hopkins. Together, we essentially created the foundation of Feet Forward. In the spring of 2020, I structured Feet Forward and received a federal exemption in August of 2020, 501-c.3. We are built on a foundation of lived experience and value relationships and individual stories over labels. My network has now become partners as we lend our community trust to local providers that expedite housing processes by hosting a weekly community outreach event at Boulder’s Central Park every Tuesday afternoon from 2:30 to 4:00 pm… 

Today, fifty percent of our core volunteer staff have previous lived experience in homelessness place-based to Boulder (County) and we provide peer support and navigation services to those we serve. While we are realistic role models to those we support, this work also establishes ourselves within the community we were once a part of with healthy boundaries. Our model has been recognized in the latest study released by the Common-Sense Institute and CU-Denver as a recommended practice in exemplary trust-building. 

We operate year-round and on top of our housing focus, we provide weather-appropriate resources along with hot meals provided by local restaurants and faith-based groups under our program, It Doesn’t Take a Holiday. This summer, we launched Keep Your Head Up Haircuts, providing free seasonal haircuts because when you feel better, you do better. 

We also host a full-blown community resource fair twice a year, with hopes to make it quarterly, that brings twenty different service providers in one location to meet people where they are at to increase service engagement and expedite housing processes. 

Today, we have a Board of Directors eight-strong that includes the Court Navigator who was so instrumental in my journey, Elizabeth Robinson. I am on the cusp of graduating from Colorado State University and have sights set on graduate school to earn my Master’s of Public Administration. I sit on a variety of boards and commissions today that include Boulder’s Downtown Community Advisory Board, The Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) first-ever Lived Experience Advisory Panel, and, more recently, Boulder’s Housing Advisory Board, 

My time spent in homelessness taught me what community looks and feels like and from that, it gave me my life’s purpose. 

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I have had many obstacles along the way. I often refer to my experience and climb out as ” The homeless of Boulder love this place even though they are not necessarily loved back. When you climb out, you can still feel like this place still doesn’t love you and that, to me, sends a very dangerous message to those I (Feet Forward) might inspire to change. 

Lived experience is just now being prioritized as more and more funding sources focus on diversity and lived experience as core components in various settings. In homelessness, these areas include local government and services. 

Feet Forward always recognized the value and importance of lived experience and creates a space for those who want to give back and contribute to their community far before it was considered essential by larger social institutions. 

Other obstacles include the very real struggle of loyalty experienced when moving from outside to in and managing that in a way that enables you to flourish and spring forward. Feet Forward addresses this by offering the opportunity to maintain that loyalty with built-in support systems that evoke community without forgetting where you came from. 

Paving the way – as with anyone who goes first before others, the road can be rocky and met with unwelcoming parties. This has most certainly been my case, with a few exceptions. Specific local agencies always say value in my voice and efforts and they include Christopher Reynolds of the Boulder Municipal Court System, Michael Block of the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless, and Molly Bowers and Lani Gorden of Focus Reentry, Rachel Friend, and Aaron Brockett of Boulder City Council. Others have come along the way, but these individuals inspired me when times were the toughest. 

Homelessness -every day is about survival. You have an entirely different set of priorities when you live outside. The weather, your property, the police, and worried about how you will eat that day. It is easy to lose track of what day it is because every day is the same. Simple things like showers and accessible bathrooms are nearly impossible to use, except in the jail. Treatment options for anyone inspired to change are non-existent. Services for this community continue to dwindle and increase in criteria to access, leaving the majority with no choice but to be outside. 

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a non-traditional student at Colorado State University in their undergraduate Human Services program and have earned my specialization with honors in Public and Nonprofit Management. I also earned my peer training following SAMHSA best practices in person-centered, trauma-informed, strength-based approaches. 

I contribute to my community in multiple ways by being an active member of Boulder’s Housing Advisory Board, The Downtown Community Advisory Board, The Department of Local Affairs Lived Experience Advisory Board, Metro Denver Homeless Initiative’s Regional Governing Council as a voting member, and other local working groups affiliated with homelessness in Boulder County. 

I have also been an active helper in Boulder’s homeless community providing street outreach for over three years. Since August of 2020, I have worked under the 501-c.3., Feet Forward, along with others who have lived experience in homelessness place-based to this community. We provide peer support and navigation services while acting as community connectors bringing local service providers to meet clients where they are at and expedite housing processes and broker into life-improving resources. 

What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
That no one is coming to save you, you don’t get endless chances to turn things around, to focus on what works for you rather than the negative, and that the climb out of homelessness is one series of challenges, but bringing your valued voice to tables to effect change and contribute to your community can be as equally difficult. My response to the latter was to create my own space for not only myself, but others to use our valuable voice and insight to effect change and do our parts to end homelessness. 

Contact Info:

• Email: feetforward90303@gmail.com
• Website: www.feetforward.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/feetforwardboco/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/feetforwardboco
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/feetforwardboco

Image Credits:
Unboxed Photography