by John Claybaugh
In the spring of 2012, the City and County of Denver put in place an Urban Camping
Ban. I've called it a blanket ban before, due to the fact that the ordinance says that a
person cannot cover himself with a blanket, tarp, or other item. Truthfully, I have no idea
what they were thinking when they did this. They tried to claim that it was for the safety
of individuals experiencing homelessness, but that just doesn't add up.
After the Urban Camping Ban was in place a group of activists formed called Denver
Homeless Out Loud. Their first project was something known as the Camping Ban
Report. It can be read online at denverhomelessoutloud.org. Over 500 individuals
experiencing homelessness were surveyed for this project. The results showed that
because of the ban individuals were camping in less safe areas, further away from
downtown and other locations where police regularly patrol. It was also found that some
individuals were not using blankets so that they would be in compliance with the new
ordinance.
Some members of the general public would like to believe that every individual who
finds himself without a home should simply go to a shelter. However, even if the "shelter
life" was agreeable with everyone, there simply isn't enough room in the existing
shelters to house the homeless population that we have here in Denver and the
surrounding areas. To make matters even less pleasant, a 24 hour rest and resource
center was promised at the time that the camping ban passed. This new facility may be
helpful, if it ever comes to fruition, but currently there is little to no information that
suggests this facility will ever open.
There is talk of ending homelessness. Many counties, if not all of them, have put in
place ten year plans to end homelessness. Denver’s ten year plan, initiated in 2005, is
close to reaching the ten year mark. Yet, far from having disappeared, homelessness
seems to be increasing in our area. So the question is: Is anything being done these
days that has any chance of ending or at least sharply curtailing homelessness in the
Denver metro area in the future? The answer is yes.
Through the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative, weekly meetings are held for the
purpose of ending homelessness. In fact, representatives of more than 20 provider
organizations from a seven-county region attend in an effort to bring this nightmare to
an end. We have a plan and we keep adjusting it together in order to make it work
better--but there are hurdles.During these meetings we brainstorm about ideas that will help us to be more successful in our efforts to house our most vulnerable citizens. We discuss the new
tools that have been developed to assess people's needs. Right now we are specifically
targeting people who require permanent supportive housing, but within the next 100
days we plan to look into how to add rapid rehousing programs to our efforts.
Issues we are addressing include the lack of communication among agencies, and the
need for more case management and housing navigation. We are also studying how to
construct systems and methods that are sustainable for the long haul. Information
systems are being overhauled in order to make them more usable today--and to be
capable of dealing with whatever homeless issues we might be facing down the road.
One of the toughest hurdles we have had to overcome is the lack of housing. Even
when a voucher is issued, if the client is unable to find housing it's a waste of
everyone's time. Oh, there are apartments out there. However, the rents on most of
them are over the limits set by HUD. There are also many property managers who are
unwilling to accept HUD vouchers.
In an effort to find available housing, Metro Denver Homeless Initiative has contracted
with Brothers Redevelopment as their landlord recruitment campaign consultant for the
entire Denver Metro area. Everyone involved is hopeful that this new effort will lead to
more housing being available to people who have been given vouchers.
Personally, I believe that we will always need some shelters and other programs in
place for people to access when financial issues occur and they slip into homelessness.
This isn't really about being able to shut down every homeless shelter in the Continuum
of Care. However, I would like to think that with some effort we might have enough room
in the shelters to house all of the people experiencing homelessness for a short time. It
also seems reasonable to think that if we have a much smaller homeless population that
the length of time that someone is homeless would be considerably shorter, like two
weeks instead of four or ten years.
This effort to end homelessness is far from perfect. The truth is that we are still building
the program. It takes time. It also requires that we look at the system honestly so that
we know where adjustments need to be made. And adjustments are being made every
week as we continue to improve the way we do things. There are still aspects of this
effort that aren't in place yet, but that doesn't mean that the effort isn't there.
Another hurdle that exists is the fact that not every provider is on board with this effort
yet. That, too, is being worked on. Letters and emails are being sent out constantly to
invite more providers to the table. A lot of effort is going into creating methods by which
the whole community can learn what is working and what isn't working. I believe that
once more providers see what is working we will have an even greater team than we
already do. And as more providers get on board, more can be accomplished.Denver Metro isn't alone in this. Every major city in America has had to deal with
growing numbers of people experiencing homelessness. However, in our area,
providers and other key players are finally working together region-wide to bring the
numbers down and to provide housing to our community's most vulnerable. It excites
me to see what is taking place right now.
Ban. I've called it a blanket ban before, due to the fact that the ordinance says that a
person cannot cover himself with a blanket, tarp, or other item. Truthfully, I have no idea
what they were thinking when they did this. They tried to claim that it was for the safety
of individuals experiencing homelessness, but that just doesn't add up.
After the Urban Camping Ban was in place a group of activists formed called Denver
Homeless Out Loud. Their first project was something known as the Camping Ban
Report. It can be read online at denverhomelessoutloud.org. Over 500 individuals
experiencing homelessness were surveyed for this project. The results showed that
because of the ban individuals were camping in less safe areas, further away from
downtown and other locations where police regularly patrol. It was also found that some
individuals were not using blankets so that they would be in compliance with the new
ordinance.
Some members of the general public would like to believe that every individual who
finds himself without a home should simply go to a shelter. However, even if the "shelter
life" was agreeable with everyone, there simply isn't enough room in the existing
shelters to house the homeless population that we have here in Denver and the
surrounding areas. To make matters even less pleasant, a 24 hour rest and resource
center was promised at the time that the camping ban passed. This new facility may be
helpful, if it ever comes to fruition, but currently there is little to no information that
suggests this facility will ever open.
There is talk of ending homelessness. Many counties, if not all of them, have put in
place ten year plans to end homelessness. Denver’s ten year plan, initiated in 2005, is
close to reaching the ten year mark. Yet, far from having disappeared, homelessness
seems to be increasing in our area. So the question is: Is anything being done these
days that has any chance of ending or at least sharply curtailing homelessness in the
Denver metro area in the future? The answer is yes.
Through the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative, weekly meetings are held for the
purpose of ending homelessness. In fact, representatives of more than 20 provider
organizations from a seven-county region attend in an effort to bring this nightmare to
an end. We have a plan and we keep adjusting it together in order to make it work
better--but there are hurdles.During these meetings we brainstorm about ideas that will help us to be more successful in our efforts to house our most vulnerable citizens. We discuss the new
tools that have been developed to assess people's needs. Right now we are specifically
targeting people who require permanent supportive housing, but within the next 100
days we plan to look into how to add rapid rehousing programs to our efforts.
Issues we are addressing include the lack of communication among agencies, and the
need for more case management and housing navigation. We are also studying how to
construct systems and methods that are sustainable for the long haul. Information
systems are being overhauled in order to make them more usable today--and to be
capable of dealing with whatever homeless issues we might be facing down the road.
One of the toughest hurdles we have had to overcome is the lack of housing. Even
when a voucher is issued, if the client is unable to find housing it's a waste of
everyone's time. Oh, there are apartments out there. However, the rents on most of
them are over the limits set by HUD. There are also many property managers who are
unwilling to accept HUD vouchers.
In an effort to find available housing, Metro Denver Homeless Initiative has contracted
with Brothers Redevelopment as their landlord recruitment campaign consultant for the
entire Denver Metro area. Everyone involved is hopeful that this new effort will lead to
more housing being available to people who have been given vouchers.
Personally, I believe that we will always need some shelters and other programs in
place for people to access when financial issues occur and they slip into homelessness.
This isn't really about being able to shut down every homeless shelter in the Continuum
of Care. However, I would like to think that with some effort we might have enough room
in the shelters to house all of the people experiencing homelessness for a short time. It
also seems reasonable to think that if we have a much smaller homeless population that
the length of time that someone is homeless would be considerably shorter, like two
weeks instead of four or ten years.
This effort to end homelessness is far from perfect. The truth is that we are still building
the program. It takes time. It also requires that we look at the system honestly so that
we know where adjustments need to be made. And adjustments are being made every
week as we continue to improve the way we do things. There are still aspects of this
effort that aren't in place yet, but that doesn't mean that the effort isn't there.
Another hurdle that exists is the fact that not every provider is on board with this effort
yet. That, too, is being worked on. Letters and emails are being sent out constantly to
invite more providers to the table. A lot of effort is going into creating methods by which
the whole community can learn what is working and what isn't working. I believe that
once more providers see what is working we will have an even greater team than we
already do. And as more providers get on board, more can be accomplished.Denver Metro isn't alone in this. Every major city in America has had to deal with
growing numbers of people experiencing homelessness. However, in our area,
providers and other key players are finally working together region-wide to bring the
numbers down and to provide housing to our community's most vulnerable. It excites
me to see what is taking place right now.
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