Colorado attracts people for its year-round outdoor activities and draws people because of its schools and business opportunities, but does it also attract homelessness?
Like other states, however, Colorado is not immune to having a homelessness issue, said Kristin Toombs, Director – The Department of Local Affairs, Office of Homeless Initiatives. “The Department of Local Affairs, Division of Housing’s Office of Homeless Initiatives (OHI) works with local, state, and federal stakeholders to build, promote, and support collaborative approaches to make homelessness rare, brief, and one-time in Colorado, and that no one gets left behind,” she said. “The office also works with community partners to create a robust continuum of efficient and effective solutions that reduce and prevent instances of homelessness.”
OHI manages and administers rental assistance programs, creates, funds, and evaluates supportive housing and other homeless solutions, and oversees the operation of the Fort Lyon Supportive Residential Community and broader Fort Lyon campus. OHI also provides technical assistance related to the implementation of best practices to address homelessness, including supportive housing, rapid re-housing, housing first, and coordinated referrals and prioritization.
“Overall, the State has dedicated close to $ 1 billion on affordable housing, and $200 million on homelessness prevention and mitigation,” Toombs said. “These historic investments in housing and homelessness, in partnership with the legislature, include bills like SB22-211, HB22-1377, HB22-1304, and HB22-1378 to aid in the fight to end homelessness as well as investing in more housing.”
Colorado’s homeless situation worsened since the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2022 Annual Homeless Assessment Report counted 10,397 homeless in Colorado in early 2022, an increase of 551 individuals compared to two years ago. The state added nearly 2,000 homeless people since 2021.
The 2022 federal data showed 3,156 individuals in Colorado lived in the streets, and most of them — 66 percent — were males, a ratio that largely mirrored Colorado’s total homeless population. Colorado ranked No. 13, behind Tennessee’s 10,567. Some of Colorado’s neighbors fared worse — Arizona had 13,553, and Texas counted 24,432.
Colorado’s Successes in Reducing Homelessness
Toombs said Colorado has seen some successes in the state when it comes to reducing homelessness.
“Colorado Springs has seen a decrease in their unsheltered population because of a focused citywide effort on evidenced-based practices like low barrier shelter, outreach, and supportive housing,” she said. “Colorado’s Department of Local Affairs partnered with Colorado Springs’ non-profits to invest in many of those programs, as they do in cities across the state. We expect to see similar results moving forward statewide as we continue to focus on investing in evidence-based practices.”
Toombs said the state has worked hard to address the issue of homeless veterans. “The number of Veterans experiencing homelessness in Colorado has also decreased significantly, decreasing by 31 percent from 2020 to 2022, a reduction rate of nearly three times the national average,” she said. “The Division of Housing works closely with the Veterans Administration and local communities to meet the needs of veterans experiencing homelessness, including with the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program and the Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) program.”
Law enforcement personnel are continuously challenged to balance the individual freedoms of homeless citizens while improving the overall health, safety, and welfare of the community.
How to Remove Homeless Encampments
In June of 2008, Colorado Springs experienced a dramatic increase in the number of homeless camps, which numbered more than 500, on public land adjacent to recreational trails and creek beds.
In 2009, the Homeless Outreach Team (HOT) was formed to coordinate efforts among a large number of advocacy groups and service providers. In 2010, the team was recognized with the International Herman Goldstein Award for Excellence in Problem-Oriented Policing. Since that time, the HOT team has been compassionately serving the homeless community by providing citizens with information and referrals that help them find permanent housing and become self-sustainable.
Springs Rescue Mission, located at 5 West Las Vegas Street in Colorado Springs, is one of those local agencies that provide food, shelter, clothing and services to people experiencing homelessness, poverty, and addiction that left them homeless, unemployed, and often separated from their children and families. “Homelessness affects so many people in different ways,” said Travis Williams, Development Officer for Springs Rescue Mission. “Some people are temporarily homeless, if you will, that find themselves down on their luck. They just need a stable place and within a week or two they have been able to navigate whatever their challenge was, and they are moving forward, and sometimes we are meeting with some really hard cases of homelessness, and we are doing everything we can to get people the right resources to help them move forward. One of the least compassionate things we can do is leave them out on the streets.”
Williams said Spring Rescue Mission, an all-inclusive space for people who are struggling with homelessness, provides services that they need to be able to move forward and make progress in housing, health, and in their employment.
“We meet people right where they are at or what’s known across the nation as a low barrier homeless shelter, which essentially means anybody can come as they are to the rescue mission and then from there, we have shelter and meals,” he said. “But primarily a lot of our efforts are focused on how we help people move forward and leave the rescue mission with a job and with housing. This is really a complex issue, and there’s not a one-size-fits-all for everybody. But we’re definitely trying to make sure that we’re providing a lot of the right services for everyone.”
Williams said Springs Rescue Mission works with individuals working in addiction recovery, addressing mental health challenges. “We also have Cocaine Anonymous on campus, Alcoholics Anonymous, and Narcotics Anonymous on campus, along with mental health service providers like Vista Veterans Services and Rocky Mountain Human Services Department of Human Services,” he said.
What Can We Do to End Homelessness in Colorado Springs?
Williams said while there is homelessness in Colorado Springs, there are lots of people wanting to help. “I think that one of the biggest misperceptions is that there aren’t good resources in Colorado Springs,” he said. “There really are some robust resources. We have some good nonprofits like Springs Rescue Mission, and many others doing good work. Our city government is proactively working on these challenges, along with those non-profit partners to ensure that they (homeless) get the resources and help they need.”
Williams said other communities from across the nation are coming to see the good work Colorado Springs is doing. “I can tell you people across the nation that are flying into Colorado Springs to learn about what we are doing,” he said. “We are a point of light out there.”
