John Leyba, The Denver PostBrittney Thompson poses for portrait at Family HomeStead, a non-profit that provides transitional housing for families in need.After 40 years working as a construction laborer, Curtis Johnson hadn’t expected to be starting over from scratch. Yet here he was, at 57 and with two small boys in tow, trying to piece together a life that had tossed him a few too many challenges. A bad back that prevented him from working, denied disability claims, a wife now in jail from an old warrant and depleted savings combined to set Johnson to do the one thing he’d not done before: ask for help. After couch surfing for six weeks and a 12-night stay at a family hotel paid by the Denver Department of Human Services, Johnson was referred to Family HomeStead in Denver, a nonprofit that works with homeless families so they can get back on track.