She took every overtime shift she could; he stayed home with the children: Joey Jr., 15; Domonic; Corie; and Angel, 7.
The couple went to a bar every Thursday night to shoot pool. Other than that, they kept to themselves, rarely willing to risk a relationship for fear of being scorned.
"We don't talk to but a few people," Joe said.
Now, he was face to face with two earnest strangers eager to befriend him.
Dave Scott, an accountant, and Mark Zahringer, a manager at a real-estate investment trust, had only recently met, though both attended the same evangelical church in the upper-middle-class suburb of Parker, about 35 minutes south of Denver. Neither had any experience as a mentor. Their only preparation was two hours of training.
Dave, 36, volunteered thinking of Jesus' commandment to help the poor.
Mark's motives were more complicated. He had long viewed the homeless as unworthy of his time: "I thought it was their own damn fault."
Then one night, he joined his church to serve meals at a soup kitchen. He watched the ragged families and wondered what kept them from a normal life. "God was telling me, 'Check this out a little more,' " said Mark, 40.
He became a mentor hoping to turn a family around by modeling his work ethic. First, though, he had to break through Joe's hostility.
Mark ran through his own life story: kicked out of the house at age 15, put himself through college, made it big in real estate -- but left his job just before the Sept. 11 attacks upended the economy. Out of work for seven months, he lost his home; he, his wife and their two sons had to crash in a friend's basement.
Joe nodded gruffly: "Been there. Done that."
As Joe relaxed, the four adults talked, awkwardly at first, their conversation skipping from football to camping to love at first sight. Joe told the mentors about the $15 steak dinner he bought his oldest for making honor roll. Corie interrupted to remind her dad she had to get to school early for student council. "It's hat day," she told him. "We pay $1 and we get to wear a hat. And all the money goes to poor people."
With Angel starting to fidget, the mentors broached the topic of need. "What can we do to help and support you?" Mark asked.
Now that she had the $1,200 grant, Christina was sure she could find a rental. But what would they sleep on? She refused to take their motel bedding with them: "It's all infested with cockroaches." The mentors jotted notes.
