Denver plans to keep its temporary overnight shelter open 24 hours a day this weekend in anticipation of the area’s first sub-zero forecast of the winter.
Local shelters have joined in the city’s cold-weather alert with plans to house hundreds of homeless people who might normally bear down with a blanket under a tree or overpass, or on a steam-spewing grate.
Shelters are stocking additional blankets and food to keep the expected onslaught of heat seekers comfortable. Many are adding floor mats to ensure no one is turned away for lack of space, and others are increasing the hours they remain open.
The metro Denver area’s homeless population is estimated at about 9,000 people, according to a January 2005 survey.
“It’s actually harder to find people when it’s this cold,” said Mike McManus, an outreach worker at the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless. “They’re more resourceful and people are more generous to them.”
But forecasts of temperatures as low as minus-7 degrees forced the city to allow access around the clock to its temporary shelter. The shelter, inside the former Permits Building at 200 W. 14th Ave., is limited by a community agreement to 60 homeless men each night when local shelters are full.
“We’ve not had the type of weather conditions as we’ve had this winter, with the snow and very cold, so we’re erring on the side of protecting human life,” said Deborah Ortega, executive director of the Denver Commission to End Homelessness.
There are about 1,000 overnight shelter beds citywide. When those are full, families and single women can get a voucher for one of several local motels at city expense.
Outreach workers will give dozens of blankets to people who refuse to use a shelter and prefer to brave the elements, Salvation Army spokesman Roger Miller said.
“We can’t force them inside, so we give them a blanket, hot coffee, warm socks and a knit cap and pray they’re still with us in the morning,” he said.
