The City of Denver and the Denver Rescue Mission (DRM) jointly financed the development of a new community center.  to be called the Lawrence Street Community Center. (LSCC).  LSCC is set to be opened in the building adjacent to DRM's over night shelter.  The “Jesus Saves” building.  LSCC was intended to address some needs of the community in that area.  Some of the services that LSCC proposed center include were showers, storage, meals, and help getting connected to other services.  Just before the LSCC was about to open the Ballpark Neighborhood Association (BNA) filed a law suit against the City of Denver, claiming that the center was “expanding” the services of the overnight shelter next door.  The Judge assigned to the case initially ruled in favor of the BNA.  But DRM and the City filed for a reconsideration.  Testimony was heard by the Judge and on Oct 27th it was announced that he had changed his initial ruling and the City and DRM are free to begin operations at the center.
    The lawsuit had been filed about a month before LSCC was supposed to open.  The day LSCC was supposed to open a local TV station reported that while construction was complete that LSCC could not open due to the lawsuit.  Once in the news the response, from the general public was one of outrage about the filing of the lawsuit and support for LSCC.  Social media exploded with discussion of the lawsuit.  DRM apparently has a lot of support from the metro area for the work it has done for nearly  years.  
    On the 26th there was a large march from the baseball park to the doors of the mission.  Hundreds were involved in the march.  The next day DRM reported the judgment had been reversed.  Time to celebrate?  Not so fast...
    During the hearings as testimony was given it there were hints that the judge was likely to reverse his initial ruling.  In response to the these “hints” the BNA asked if they would be able to file some sort of an appeal or injunction.  Judge Mullins said they would be able to do so.  I am no lawyer so I do not know what kinds a requirements will need to be met in order to make such a filing.  It would be much like Ballpark's recent history to do so.  If they do file, the case would then move to a district court.  I would not be surprised if it does.

​    Recently–as a result of a Federal District Court ruling that a Grand Junction panhandling ordinance is UNCONSTITUTIONAL (because it violates a person’s free speech rights)–Denver Police Chief Robert White instructed all Denver Police Department officers to stop ticketing people under the Denver Panhandling Ordinance (Section 38-132)!

   This means cops SHOULD NOT ticket you for sitting or standing on public 
   space asking for money, or flying a sign to do so, EVEN IF IT’S:

          # Near a public toilet (public toilet?? What’s that???)
          # Near an ATM machine
          # Near a bus or shuttle stop
          # Near the entrance to a building
          # After dark
          # Near an outdoor patio where food or drinks are served
 
BUT–You CAN still be ticketed for aggressive panhandling--
           if, in the course of panhandling, you:

     * Touch or cause physical contact with someone against their will
     * Interfere with the safe or free passage of a pedestrian or vehicle
     * Use violent or threatening gestures or abusive language toward someone
     * Along with others, act in an intimidating way as you approach or 
          follow someone
     * Remain on private property after being asked to stop or leave
     * Are on or near a street or highway.

As a stopgap measure, on November 9th Denver City Council 
voted to modify the ordinance, eliminating the parts that the court
 in Grand Junction ruled to be UNCONSTITUTIONAL. 
City Council said they plan to revisit the ordinance in the future.

Meanwhile…
       if you DO get harassed or ticketed or told to stop panhandling, 
       in violation of Chief White’s order–LET US KNOW!
               2260 California St 
                                    or by contacting us at: 720.940.5291 

Bayaud Enterprises
Serving anyone facing barriers to employment, disabled, homeless, and most sexual offenders.
333 W Bayaud , 303-830-6885
M-F 8am-4:30pm
Call to schedule initial appointment.

Bud’s Warehouse 
One-year paid transitional home improvement thrift store employment and training program for individuals with significant barriers to employment.
4455 E 46th Ave, 303-296-3990
M-F 10am-5pm, Sat 9am-5pm
Complete online application at http://budswarehouse.org/about/employment-application/

DenUM
For everyone, including those with barriers to employment. 
1717 E Colfax, 303-350-5061
M/T/F 9am-3:30pm, W 9am-noon, 
Th 9am-5:30pm
To begin, attend employment orientation M/W 9am. (Space limited-arrive early)

DenverWorks
For anyone, especially those with barriers to employment, age 17 or older with documentation they can work in U.S./able to pass drug test. 
5725 E 39th Ave, 303-433-0300
M-Th 8:30am-3pm
Call x4101 to register for initial workshop (1st/3rd Wed of mo/8:30am-2pm)

Denver Workforce Centers
For everyone--call or come in for more information.
--1200 Federal Blvd (Human Services Bldg--1st floor), 720-944-1615
M-F 7:30am-4:30pm
--4685_Peoria_St, Ste 251, 720-865-4800
M-F 8am-4:30pm

The Empowerment Program
For women/transgendered individuals who are disadvantaged due to incarceration, poverty, homelessness, HIV/AIDS. 
1600 York St, 303-320-1989
M/T/Th/F 8:30am-5pm (closed noon-1) 
W 8:30am-noon
Call ext 202 to sign up for orientation (Weds at 1pm).

Goodwill’s Career Connection Centers
For everyone--call or come in for more information.
--5825 W 44th Ave, 303-412-4794
(call for hrs)
--2675 S Decatur St, 303-565-9531
(call for hrs)
--7125 Cherry Creek Dr N (center for refugees and immigrants), 720-424-0990
M-F 8am-4:30pm
--7797 E 36th Ave, 720-317-2237
M-F 9am-5pm

Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program
For homeless veterans with other than dishonorable discharge.
1200 Federal Blvd (Human Services Bldg, 1st floor), 720-944-3500
M-F 8am-4pm
Come in or call for more information.

Mi Casa Resource Center
--Career training in customer service, bank teller, and healthcare professions/
Entrepreneurial training/GED, computer training
At 360 Acoma St, 303-573-1302
M-Th 8am-6pm, F 8am-4:30pm
--Job search assistance/Computer use/
Evening business classes
At 3399 Holly St  (In Boys and Girls Club bldg), 303-388-8213
Call or come in for more information.

Open Door Ministries’ Open Door to Success program
5-week job readiness classroom instruction plus work detail
For everyone, especially low income and homeless people
1567 Marion St, 303-830-2201
(call for more info)

St Francis Employment Program
--General program for anyone who is homeless
--Training 2 Work 2 program for those age 18 or older, convicted as an adult and imprisoned under Federal or State, no sexual offense except prostitution, and enrolled in WRC/CC/ISP with release date within 9 months of enrollment.
1630 E 14th Ave, 303-813-0005
Call for info on how to begin.

Second Chance Center’s 
Training 2 Work 2 Program
For those age 18 or older, convicted as an adult and imprisoned under Federal or State, no sexual offense except prostitution, and enrolled in WRC/CC/ISP  with release date within 9 months of enrollment. 
9722 E 16th Ave, Aurora, 303-537-5838
M-TH 8:30am-4:30pm, Sat 10am-1pm (mentoring), closed Fridays
Come in or call for more information.

Sox Place Street to Stability Program
3 month screen printing job skills 
development program
2017 Lawrence St, 303-296-3412
T-F noon-4pm, Sat 11am-2pm
Come in for more information.

Urban Peak
Employment and Training Program/
ServSafe Food Handler and Customer Service training/GED program
For ages 15-24
2100 Stout St, 303-974-2928
M-F 8am-noon. Visit the center for more info and to get started.


Women’s Bean Project
9-month transitional paid employment in gourmet food and jewelry manufacturing
for women age 21 and up with a history of unemployment. 
3201 Curtis St, 303-292-1919
M-F 8am-4:30pm
 Come in to fill out an application.

Work Options for Women 
Culinary training program for women and men age18 and up who want to work in food service, able to lift up to 50 lbs and stand on feet for 7 hrs/day.
Earn up to $300/mo. while in program.
1200 Federal Blvd (Human Services Bldg), 720-944-3393
Call to sign up for orientation (held every Tues at 10am).

Cheri: I’d like to work but how can I find anything when I have to watch my things all the time so they don’t get stolen? My stuff has gotten stolen or thrown away so many times already. And then when your blankets and sleeping bags are gone, how are you going to sleep? How are you going to be ready to look for a job and to work in the morning? It just seems impossible. It’s hard to be a reliable worker and have a good work ethic when your morale is so low because of houselessness.

Lee: Sometimes I try to sleep near where I work but that doesn’t always work, because I do manual labor and I work up a sweat, so I need to take a shower. So I find a YMCA where I can get a membership for $25 a month, and I can take a shower there and also work out, so I can stay in shape and lift the heavy shit....But I only make about $160 a week, so that’s a lot of paychecks to save up even for a studio here, with rents being so high.

Chad: Crossroads [see below] helped me get off the street and on my feet. It’s a cheap place to stay while you get yourself established. Not having to wait in line helps a lot-- when you get out of work, you don’t want to wait three hours to get a bed. They got showers, which I kinda helped them fix cuz I’m a plumber. And they’ve got a locking drawer under the bed and a locker against the wall so you can keep your stuff safe while you work.

​    Here are two places that cater to working people--where, for a relatively small weekly fee, you can secure a bed and a place to keep your belongings while you work--without having to worry about standing in e-shelter lines every night or missing curfews because of your job.
    
  Crossroads, run by the Salvation Army, at 1901 29th St, 
         720-305- 4640--currently $59 a week (payable by money order).
    
  New Genesis, at 1680 Sherman St, 303-831-4910, is a program for
    working men where residents pay a small amount of rent (currently
     $63) for a dormitory bed, and participate in the upkeep of the facility
    as they work through the program’s three stages--orientation,
     residential, and mentoring. 

  Hey employers!! Want to find great workers? Call HIREDenver! 
  They work with many of the programs listed here and can help match you
  up with just the person you’re looking for! And in the process you can
  qualify for valuable tax breaks and other incentives!

         HIREDenver   720-636-3035   HIREDenver@gmail.com

​Single women and transgender individuals age 18 and up (without children)

Delores Project Emergency Overflow Beds* (Address confidential) Call 303-534-5411 on Mondays for weekly bed availability--9am for first time guests, and 11:30am for returning guests--or at 5:30pm nightly for no-show availability. A small number of beds are randomly assigned Mondays at 9:30am at the Gathering Place (1535 High St). The facility is closed 8am-5pm M-F but guests may stay in on weekends. Dinner, snacks and a light breakfast are provided. 

Women’s Homeless Initiative/Capitol Hill United Ministries* 20-25 women are hosted nightly by various faith communities throughout the area. Go to St Francis Center (2323 Curtis St) each morning to apply for beds which are randomly assigned at 8:15am. Women assigned beds check in at 5pm. No-show beds are assigned to women on wait list at 5:30pm. Buses transport women from St Francis to the location _starting at 5:30pm, and back starting at 7am the next morning. Dinner and breakfast bags are provided at the host location.

Samaritan House Holy Rosary Program (Catholic Charities) / Denver’s Road Home Overflow Shelter Access* Go to Samaritan House (Broadway and Lawrence) from 5-6pm any night. 70 women may stay there, and additional women are transported to the Peoria overflow facility starting at 7pm, returning to St Francis (2323 Curtis St) in the morning. (No walkups are allowed at Peoria.) Dinner is served starting at 6pm before women are transported to Peoria. Women participating in this emergency shelter program are given preference for any openings in the Samaritan House Extended Stay program.** _Openings for this program are randomly assigned at 8pm.
(See below for info on the Action Center and motel vouchers.)


Single men age 18 and up 
(without children)

Salvation Army/Crossroads* Go to Crossroads (1901 29th St) by 4:30pm Sundays and Wednesdays to sign up for randomly assigned emergency shelter beds. Those assigned a bed will keep it until the next random drawing is held. Working homeless individuals can obtain a bed with storage for a modest reservation fee.

Denver Rescue Mission’s Lawrence Street Shelter / Denver’s Road Home Overflow Shelter Access** Go to the Lawrence Street Community Center between 5:30am and 12 noon daily to sign up for the bed lottery. _(You can also sign up each morning before leaving the Lawrence Street Shelter OR Overflow Shelter, if you stayed there that night). The bed lottery will assign you either a bed or a mat at the Lawrence Street Shelter (200 beds and 115 mats) or to the Overflow Shelter (up-to 300 mats). Bed assignments are posted at 12:30pm at the Lawrence Street Community Center. Walk-ups for shelter access will be accepted at the Lawrence Street Community Center beginning at 6:30pm as space is available until 10pm. Once capacity is reached at these facilities and/or after all transportation has left for the Overflow Shelter, and the Lawrence Street Shelter doors close at 10pm, you will be referred to other area shelters as they have capacity. The Lawrence Street Community Center serves dinner from 6:30-8:00pm; and breakfast from 6–7:30am. Buses transport guests to the Overflow Shelter starting at 7pm, leaving from the Lawrence Street Community Center; and from the Overflow Shelter back to the Lawrence Street Community Center, starting at 6am. (No walkups are allowed at Peoria.)
(See below for info on The Action Center, and on motel vouchers for men with medical conditions.)


Unaccompanied Youth

Urban Peak* (1630 S Acoma St) For ages 15-21. Call the shelter at (303) 974-2908 prior to your arrival to be sure there’s a vacancy. They serve three meals a day and snacks. If the shelter is full you’ll be referred to other sheltering options. 

The Comitis Crisis Center* (2178 Victor Street, Aurora--303-341-9160), operated by Mile High Behavioral Health Care, provides the Homeless and Runaway Youth Shelter program for young people ages 12 through 17. The program has two parts. Safe Place provides a place where a youth needing a break from a difficult family situation can stay for 24 hours. You can call ahead or just walk in. Often a guest will transition from Safe Place to the Basic Care Program--a 21-day program with family reunification as the goal--call the 24-hour number above for more information.

Families

Family Promise Eight to ten families are hosted by various faith communities throughout the area. To be eligible, you must have at least one child under age 18 living with you full time. Heads of families should call (303) 675-0713 for additional eligibility info and to see if there are openings. Host locations serve breakfast and dinners, and showers and laundry facilities are available. During the day families can use the services of the program’s day center. The program may be able to arrange off-site shelter for family cats and dogs through a partnership with PetSmart. Families generally remain in the program for up to 60 days.

Comitis Crisis Center (2178 Victor Street, Aurora--303-341-9160), operated by Mile High Behavioral Health Care, has an emergency overnight shelter with about 40 beds for families with a youth under 18. To get in, go to the center at 6:30pm. A lottery will be held if there aren’t enough beds for all. Families may also apply for Comitis’ longer term transitional housing program, for which there is a waiting list.

The Family Services Program (2301 Lawrence--303-294-0241), run by the Samaritan House, has a family floor with 21 rooms. Families admitted into the program can stay up to four months. Admission is through a lottery which is held each day that one or more rooms become available. Call by 7:30am to find out if a lottery will be held that day--and for eligibility info and program details.

(See below for info on the Action Center and above for info on motel vouchers.)

The Action Center  _(8755 West 14th Avenue, Lakewood--303-237-7704) has a shelter program with 22 beds for couples, families and single adults. Guests may stay in the program for up to 45 days while working with case managers to develop and accomplish housing and other goals. Each day, shelter guests receive breakfast and dinner and can choose to pack a lunch. The shelter is closed between 6:50 am and 5:30 pm. Call for more information on eligibility and to find out if there are openings.

* For transgender individuals--
        Gender determined by self-identification in this program.
**For transgender individuals--
        Gender determined by sex designation on state-issued identification in this program.

If no other shelter options are available,
        hotel vouchers may be issued to:

    1.Single women
    2. Families 
    3.Adults with issued medical statements 
        verifying medical conditions.

The following policies apply to the Motel Voucher Program:
     Vouchers will NOT be distributed for failure to access shelter 
         options that have capacity (i.e. missed bus, behavioral 
         restrictions, refusal of shelter options available, etc.)
     
     Individuals or heads of household must demonstrate residency in
        Denver County.
     
     People may not receive more than 12 nights of motel vouchering
        within the previous 12 consecutive months.
     
     During winter months (October-April), if the overnight lows 
        are below 40 degrees, WITHOUT proof of residency, 
       DHS will voucher after 7pm at Samaritan House 
      (Park Ave. at Lawrence) for single nights only, 

Those eligible for motel vouchers can request them 
   at the following locations and times...
     9am - 3pm M-F  DHS, 1200 Federal Blvd, General Assistance,
      5pm - 8:30pm  7 days/wk Samaritan House (Park Ave at Lawrence)
      after 9pm. 7 days/wk  Denver Sheriff’s Department/Downtown
                        Detention Center (490 W Colfax Ave)--families only 

(When cold weather policy is in effect from Oct-April, single women  may receive a motel voucher from the Sheriff’s Department on an emergency basis when accompanied by a community partner--e.g. Denver Police Department/Street Outreach Team workers.)

    Right 2 Dream Too, a tent city and rest center for houseless people in Portland Oregon, got started after a Direct Action called Pitch-A-Tent by Right 2 Survive (R2S--a houseless people-led organization working for houseless people’s rights).
    The Pitch-A-Tent Direct Action is called that because the city officials buy a permit once a year for the housed people to come outside and put up a tent overnight on the sidewalks in order to get a good place to watch the Rose Festival Parade--even while criminalizing the houseless community for putting tents up as a means and way of life and survival. So we of R2S started putting up tents on 2 1/2 blocks and letting houseless people squat in them overnight. We not only did that, we also fed them, gave out hygiene items and clothes--and had guest speakers and musical entertainment. 
    After the event was over, the houseless people told us that that was the best sleep they had in days, and where do they go now or what do they do to continue to get a good night’s rest? We all looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders and said we don't know. 
    Then one of our members, Trillium Shannon, said that there was a Rainbow Gathering nearby. So we went to that...and while we were there I got a call from Dale Hardaway and Leo Rhodes saying that a disgruntled landowner was upset with the city officials and was willing to lease his land to “the houseless guy that did Dignity Village” (a self-governed encampment community on the outskirts of Portland for houseless people). 
    Since I was the only one of the seven originals that did D.V. I left early to talk with him. While on my way to meet with this landowner I kept visualizing what I saw at the Rainbow and pictured a houseless compound. After a couple of months of negotiations we got the ok to do what we wanted with the land. That's how we became a thorn in the City of Portland Oregon’s side. 
    After we got the land, I started my concept of how I believe a houseless person can get back to being productive. But first I asked people living on the streets what it would take. _99 1/2 % of them said a good safe place to sleep. So we formed Right 2 Dream Too and called it a Rest Area where people can get anywhere from 8 to 12 hrs of safe uninterrupted sleep. Right 2 Dream Too opened on World Homeless Action Day, Oct 10, 2011. Then we started educating the houseless community about their human, civil and constitutional rights, to help other houseless people and address issues that criminalize people experiencing poverty. That was the beginning. 

​    On Saturday, October 24th, during a permaculture action day event, members of Denver Homeless Out Loud and allies built and installed five tiny houses at Sustainability Park, a piece of land at 24th and Arapahoe in Denver that was owned by Denver Housing Authority (DHA). In doing so, the group proclaimed the birth of Resurrection Village, a community which houseless people would construct, inhabit and run themselves. At about 11pm that same night, about 70 Denver Police Department officers, aided by a SWAT team and a police helicopter, tried to kill the people’s dreams by arresting ten members of the group and destroying or carting away their precious houses. 
    But in their press release the next morning, the Resurrection Village group proudly announced that “We will not give up! We will keep fighting to defend the people’s right to housing. For the sake of the future residents of Resurrection Village and those who were arrested, we must all stand together now!” 
        
Why the DHA site?
    In a statement that accompanied the announcement of the Village’s birth, the group explained why it chose that location on which to establish the tiny house community. In the 1950s, they said, DHA constructed affordable housing on this land for hundreds of residents. In 1999, after the condition of the housing projects had declined due to years of budget cuts, they were leveled through a Federal HOPE VI program aimed at turning distressed public housing into mixed income developments--but which in fact resulted in the forced displacement of tens of thousands of families and the loss of large amounts of guaranteed low-income housing nationwide.
    Then in 2009, after years of lying unused, the land was turned into a park within which the Denver Urban Farmers Collaborative conducted experiments in urban farming and sustainable building practices. During this time, DHA published reports and communications regarding their plans to develop affordable housing on the land in the future.
    However, this year DHA revealed its plan to sell Sustainability Park, as well as the adjoining city block, to Treehouse Development and Westfield Co, for development into for-sale housing costing between the upper $200,000s and $700,000--hardly “affordable” for low-income folks. DHA claims that this contract will create revenue for future affordable housing developments. 
    The developers also say they have met their quota of affordable housing because, as required by Denver’s Inclusionary Housing Ordinance, the development will make 10% of units “affordable,” which in this case means that there will be 22 units for individuals making between $22,400 and $44,800 a year and able to buy a home. 
    Not even these token 22 units would be affordable for the hundreds of low income people who were kicked out of their homes on this land 10 and 20 years ago, not to mention for the thousands of houseless people who are in shelters, on the streets and crowded in other people’s houses, says DHOL. Meanwhile, DHA has rejected their proposals to create a tiny home pilot project somewhere on the public land that DHA stewards.

Public land for the public
    “We are weary of trying to fit into a broken and dehumanizing system in order to find shelter and safety,” the group stated in its press release. “Winter is coming, and we can’t wait any longer for the bureaucrats and politicians to take action. Today we are reclaiming our public lands and our right to survive in a place we can call home.....Urban farmers and low-income people should not be displaced for the sake of economic development right in the midst of Denver’s worst housing crisis ever. So, with a lack of other options, we are taking public land back for the public.”
    Such statements are reminiscent of those made during the establishment of Resurrection City, the encampment set up by Martin Luther King Jr and associates on the Washington Mall in 1968 as part of the Poor People’s Campaign--and for which Resurrection Village was named. To paraphrase their predecessors, the Village’s founders insist they are prepared to sit down if necessary in the middle of the street and say, “We are poor; we don’t have anywhere to live; you have made us this way...and we’ve come to stay until you do something about it.” 

Providing a safe, warm place
    Meanwhile, the Villagers maintain a continual presence at the site. During the first snow night on November 10th they set up a dozen tents, served hot soup, and helped some 30 houseless people stay safe, warm and dry through the night. These activities had to be conducted on a narrow strip of grass outside the fence which the police had erected earlier in the day to keep the Villagers away from the large oak tree which had become the symbol of their struggle--and under which they had set up a “Dia de Las Meurtes” shrine--confiscated a few days earlier by unknown persons --to honor their departed loved ones.
    Perhaps because of the publicity the group had earned--as well as due to the bad weather--the police did not bother those who sheltered there that night. Not so lucky were houseless folks who tried to sleep at a street-side encampment nearby, whom police had prohibited from covering themselves despite the wind, snow and cold. Several of them, including an elderly man who could barely walk, took refuge with the Villagers.
    “I heard there were tents and other people, and I knew it would be frickin’ cold on the 16th Street Mall, where I usually sleep, so my buddy and I joined them and it was awesome! The tent kept us warm, and the food was great!” said Scott, who was a guest at the Village that night. His sentiments were echoed by Cisco, who said, “This (village) is a place to stay warm…it restores your faith in humanity…Everybody should have a place to go, homeless or not…without having to worry if we’re gonna go to jail in the morning, or get a ticket for doin’ it.”
    On December 3rd, following a press conference at the site, Villagers were told that their negotiations with the property owner--brokered in part by City Councilman Albus Brooks--had resulted in the owner allowing them to stay on site for another two and a half weeks. But the promise was broken that very night as police came and forced the Villagers to leave._
        Like unsheltered houseless folks all over Denver, Villagers must sleep with one eye open, never knowing when cops will show up, tell them they're violating the urban camping ban, and make them "move along" (to where?). When police force them away, no matter how cold and snowy the weather, these nomads must pick up and find another place to seek rest, only to return to their beloved spot in front of the oak tree a few days later. 
    Meanwhile the Villagers continue to meet with city officials and others in their quest for realizing their mission of creating a safe, sustainable, and inexpensively constructed  community built and run by and for houseless people.

​by Rob Prince
    There will be no homeless shelter in the Inspiration Point neighborhood of northwest Denver. A plan on the part of the Denver Foundation--a local foundation whose focus is addressing the city’s social problems--to donate the property to the city has been withdrawn after a stormy meeting between city officials, the Denver Foundation and residents of the targeted neighborhood. Inspiration Point is a small enclave in the northwest corner of Denver, just north of I-70 and west of Sheridan Boulevard. The plan would have created what is referred to as “an overflow” center, a place where--when other shelters are full--homeless people could spend the night. This center would have been primarily for single moms with kids.
    Never mind that such a center is badly needed. That fact didn’t stop several hundred northwest Denver residents from loudly and emotionally expressing their opposition to the plan at a September 16th meeting at the Scheitler Recreation Center. The meeting was nothing short of a classic example of what is called “NIMBY” (not in my back yard). 
    At the meeting, despite the legitimate protests of how poorly the city had handled the shelter issue, the level of blind hostility towards homeless people was pretty intense, subjective and self-serving–and in some cases downright ugly, toxic--as if homeless folk are no more than social lepers. There was so much FEAR in the room,…and so little…just plain sympathy for people down and out. Even had the city (meaning the Mayor’s office) and the Denver Foundation gone about it all in a more inclusive manner it’s hard to tell what the result would have been. 
    The shelter proposal is now dead in the water. 
    Inspiration Point residents have passed the shelter issue - like a hot potato - back into the City Council’s court where it continues to lay dormant. One way or another, there is no way of escaping the social problems which plague our city. Denver’s homeless crisis is, of course, part of a much bigger overall social crisis of the city’s growing population that includes generally low salaries, unaffordable and ever-rising rents and housing costs, growing displacement of middle class - even many who are upper middle class - working class and poor people. 
    The actual arguments made against the shelter by Inspiration Point residents were less about the city’s insensitivity to process - which is accurate enough - and more about a kind of bedrock hostility to the homeless themselves, in a city where the homeless population stands at more than 6000 and where mayor after mayor claims a need to address the issue while doing little to nothing concretely to do so. There were precious few speaking in support of the project; par for the course, no homeless people to explain their situation and how they viewed the shelter project. Maybe some of the fears would have been addressed? Really doesn’t work well to be “represented by others”..even well intentioned people.
    Inspiration Point neighbors had obviously mobilized for the meeting and came out in force. They argued along several lines: that the City and the Denver Foundation had dumped the project on them with no warning, that there were fears of increased drug and alcohol use, a few feared for their children, what might be called the usual unfair - and inaccurate - prejudices about homeless people repeatedly expressed. 
    There were some comments made about how the Inspiration Point Park would be misused, as if that park is the private property of its neighbors and not public city space. Parks do NOT belong to the neighborhood in which they are found, they are part and parcel of a disappearing entity: public property. They belong to ALL the citizens of this city, including the homeless, whether it’s kids who want to play volleyball at Wash Park (to the consternation of nearby homeowners it appears)…or homeless people enjoying the view at Inspiration Point. There were battles fought in this city to give “unwelcomed people” the right to use public facilities…, then it was about race …now it is about just being down and out, homeless.
    More to the point, a local merchant related (to the author) that the main concern expressed in his establishment was that a shelter would adversely affect property values; it is a common enough concern, but one that lacks concrete data support.
    Other cities - Salt Lake, Seattle - the latter with a more serious homeless problem than Denver - have come up with innovative if temporary programs to address what is, for a prosperous city, its rhetoric aside, a disgrace. So it is that at the end of a ten year campaign to “eliminate homelessness in Denver” started by then Denver mayor and now Colorado Governor, John Hickenlooper, the results have been zilch, the political will to address the issue lacking. The current mayor, Michael Hancock, has followed in Hickenlooper’s tradition of making encouraging statements with little follow up.
     It came through unambiguously, repeatedly actually, that from the outset, the city and the Denver Foundation (who owns the property for the proposed shelter) did not involve the community in the immediate area  – or for that matter, even the elected officials in District One, and that they, the community (and the elected officials) felt “railroaded.” And in a way they were, which only made things worse. There have been major projects which were shoved down the throat of the Inspiration Point neighborhood without their input, especially, interestingly enough, the creation of I-70, which might go back a half century, but these folks remember. The fact that District One (with its long history of middle and working class families) has been historically neglected for wealthier neighborhoods is true enough.

Rob Prince is a retired teacher (DU).  
He has lived in Denver’s Northside for forty years.