Political leaders need to declare a state of emergency when temperatures sink, allowing temporary shelters to open for the homeless, just as they do during heavy snows and in the wake of damaging winds, a group of 20 regional caregivers said Tuesday morning.
“When there’s a disaster, buildings miraculously open. But not for the homeless,” said Bray Patrick-Lake, executive director of Homeless Outreach Providing Encouragement.
Homeless service providers found themselves woefully unprepared and woefully frustrated as an early and severe cold snap drove the region’s homeless population to shelters this week.
In the past, churches opened temporarily as emergency overflow shelters. But complaints by parishioners and neighbors have slowed that trend.
“A church in Denver opened as a shelter, but a neighbor complained,” said Tom Luehrs, director of the St. Francis Center, a Denver day shelter for the homeless. “Soon, a firetruck arrived and cited the church for code violations. Everyone had to leave.
“We need the governor or someone to say we will override the regulations,” Luehrs said.
Capt. Ron McKinney said the Salvation Army has cared for 5,200 families so far this year, up from 4,400 at the same time last year.
“This is one of the coldest winters we’ve seen this early in the season,” he said. “And there are a lot more people out there than we anticipated.”
Jefferson County, Adams County and the city of Aurora have no emergency shelters and rely on handing out motel vouchers. Aurora has already served a third of the number of people it cared for all of last winter, said Mary Hupp, executive director of Aurora Warms the Night. She said about a third of those seeking shelter are women and about 10 percent are children.
Boulder provides emergency warming shelters for an average of 50 people a night in church basements, with the sites rotating each night, said Jim Budd, executive director of Boulder Outreach for Homeless Overflow.
“Longmont churches fly under the radar, opening up as shelters because their neighbors don’t want the homeless there,” HOPE’s Patrick-Lake said. “Some are thinking of renaming the shelters ‘all-night prayer services.’ A lot of neighbors never know now if their church is sheltering people.”
Denver’s Road Home Project said it has sufficient emergency shelter beds for this cold snap, primarily because the Salvation Army’s Crossroads Center in the Denargo Market area has reverted from a year-round shelter to an emergency-only shelter with 110 beds.
“We are not turning away a single man,” said Katie Symons, Denver’s outreach coordinator.
Luehrs said the Red Cross was approached about 10 years ago but declined to provide emergency shelter for the homeless because its mission is to provide housing only in the case of a disaster.
Mike McPhee: 303-954-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com
