The Gathering Place, a service center for homeless and poor women and children, now operates in a bright new building in Capitol Hill that is almost three times the size of its former site.

And since moving into the four-story, 28,800-square-foot building in September, the agency has expanded its services as well.

President and CEO Leslie Foster, who has worked at the agency for 18 years, talked about the organization, which has applied for Season to Share funding.

What is different now compared to when you were in the old building?

It's a safer place to be, and safety is of paramount importance to women and kids. We don't have people crowded in a little space. So what it is allowing us to do is expand our programs, our services and our hours of operation.

What have you been able to expand?

We are open now Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., except on Tuesdays when we close at 1:30 p.m. Starting on Jan. 13, we also will be open 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

Eventually, we'd like to be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week. We'll add incrementally as we can afford it.

How about classes and services?

Before, we had one multipurpose room and in that room we did our GED classes, our art projects and any other group programs, like health education and landlord-tenant education.

Now we have a classroom to do adult education, and an art studio to do the art projects, and a conference room where we can do smaller classes. So we're able to offer adult education classes for longer periods of time.

We've added yoga classes and now we have a portion of the building that is devoted to health - places for private meetings with doctors, lawyers and counselors.

Describe your clients.

We serve a wide variety of women. We'll see victims of domestic violence, women with chronic mental health issues, women who are working and not making enough money to get by. Actually, 16 percent of the people that we see are employed.

Isn't housing a prime problem for these women?

You bet. We have two people who are working on housing through Denver's Road Home program. We do rental assistance and case management.

The Gathering Place

* Mission: To provide daytime support services for women and children experiencing homelessness and poverty

* Year founded: 1986

* People served: 250-275 people a day

* Staff: 35

* Volunteers: 100 a week

* Budget: $2.2 million

* Phone number and Web site: 303-321-4198; the-gatheringplace.org