Five years in, Denver’s 10-year plan to end homelessness will refocus on prevention.
The Denver Commission on Homelessness this week issued revised goals for Denver’s Road Home that are designed to help keep the plan on track during tough economic times.
In its first four years, Denver’s Road Home developed 1,500 units of housing, found work for 3,278 homeless people, helped prevent 2,232 seniors, families and individuals from becoming homeless and mentored 564 families and seniors out of homelessness, according to the project’s annual report. Over the next two years, another 500 units of housing are expected to open.
But the metro region’s new point-in-time survey, conducted Jan. 27 and released last week, showed that among 11,061 homeless in the seven-county metro region, 45 percent said they were homeless for the first time.
“Most of them because they’d lost a job,” said Jamie Van Leeuwen, executive director of Denver’s Road Home.
Denver has received $3.4 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to support prevention and rapid rehousing, Van Leeuwen said.
As soon as it passes the City Council, which might happen as soon as Oct. 1, “we want to get those dollars on the streets and into the hands of providers,” he said.
The money will be used to fund more services for homeless prevention, including food and rent-assistance programs.
The other main emphasis of the retooled plan is an outreach push that the Downtown Denver Partnership considers a top priority.
Despite the challenging economy, the Business Improvement District has budgeted $135,000 for next year — the same amount as this year — to pay for 19 outreach workers, up from $40,000 in 2004.
Outreach workers meet with people on the streets and help connect them with shelters and housing.
“From a business perspective, we’ve seen huge decreases” in panhandling on the 16th Street Mall, said John Desmond, vice president of urban planning and development for the partnership. “It’s not just humane and the right thing to do. It’s also smart and economical.”
When Denver’s Road Home started in 2005, 36 people were identified as panhandlers during quarterly counts done by the partnership. Last year there were five. So far this year, six have been identified.
“It’s a slight uptick, but minuscule compared to the drop off since 2005,” Desmond said.
Looking toward the winter, homeless advocates say they have a plan in place.
“Beginning Oct. 1, we have a commitment to make sure that no one is turned away from a shelter who wants to get in,” said Tom Luehrs, executive director of the St. Francis Center.
The Salvation Army will staff a dispatch line and use a van to shuttle people needing shelter to the next open place in the network.
The Salvation Army also will be responsible for emergency shelter, although a number of churches will serve as emergency backups, Van Leeuwen said.
This October, the St. Francis Center will open 50 new units of housing to help transition people out of homelessness.
Robert Kellogg, 56, retired from the Department of Defense, is looking forward to moving in. Like other tenants, he will be assigned a caseworker to help him transition to independent living.
“I’m grateful that opportunities like this exist,” Kellogg said.
Colleen O’Connor: 303-954-1083 or coconnor@denverpost.com
