Meet Denver’s new helping HAND for housing stability solutions

By Robert Davis

A newly formed organization seeks to address housing instability in Denver by getting more people involved in advocating for affordable housing.

Housekeys Action Network Denver (HAND), a nonprofit, officially launched March 7, and its members describe it as a model that other advocacy organizations should follow. HAND will conduct surveys of people experiencing homelessness to learn about their preferred housing options and any roadblocks they experienced while trying to access services. This information will then be used to advocate for specific solutions to the identified problems. The group says this dynamic is currently missing from many of the organizations that claim to advocate on behalf of homeless people.

“We have not even come close to regaining housing for people that need it,” Terese Howard, HAND’s lead organizer, told Denver VOICE in an interview. “And, by and large, people on the streets want housing, but there isn’t enough housing being built and there won’t be enough any time soon.”

Howard, who has been advocating for Denver’s unhoused for more than nine years, said Denver will be the initial launching site for HAND. But the program has already generated interest from cities across the country, she added. 

One of the key issues that HAND is focused on solving is getting people experiencing housing instability into the housing options that work for them. Howard said the debate about housing in Denver has become too focused on the number of units available rather than the housing types that promote stable living conditions. 

For example, Howard points to Denver’s declining homebuilding rate as a key driver of HAND’s work. Data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis shows that the number of building permits issued for new residential construction projects is still well below levels measured in 1997. This is despite the significant increase in permits issued over the last decade. 

Government bureaucracy has also helped to slow Denver’s homebuilding activity as the time it takes to review the permits is increasing. Just 2% of major or intermediate residential construction permits in Denver make it through the initial review process within six weeks, according to data from Community Planning and Development. These projects include new builds and major renovations or additions of at least 400 sq. ft.

For comparison, CPD reviews 31% of small residential building permits are reviewed on time. These projects include minor home renovations such as adding a fence and ground-level patio or shed additions. 

But even if Denver can increase its available housing stock, Howard said the city is not building the right kinds of housing for the people who need it most. For example, Howard points to Denver’s lack of housing units for people making up to 30% of the city’s area median income. Denver has just over 2,000 units available at this income level despite there being more than 38,000 households that need this housing type, according to data from the Department of Housing Stability. 

To being to unravel the mismatch between available housing stock and demand, HAND developed a 25-question survey in partnership with the Western Regional Advocacy Project to gather data about what housing types can be most beneficial to reducing housing instability. The survey asks respondents questions that range from their opinions about the meaning of affordable housing to more detailed questions about their past housing experiences and knowledge of available services. 

“This work is about the people experiencing homelessness in our community,” an individual identified as ‘V,’ HAND’s survey coordinator, told Denver VOICE. “There is no reason to spend time trying to come up with solutions that are not based on the current situation.”

V said they have personally experienced housing instability in their life, and it was those experiences that drew them to HAND. They added that the pandemic really exposed the need to re-establish a personal connection with our neighbors, both housed and unhoused.   

Even though HAND has only conducted “a few” test runs of its survey, V said the responses have been eye-opening. They have had experiences where respondents became emotional after they were asked for their opinion, which V said is an example of how detached people experiencing housing instability are often ignored in our communities. 

Outside of its surveys, HAND also plans to hold a biweekly community meeting for people experiencing housing instability to build a community and help advocate for solutions that will benefit them. Meetings will be held on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month at the Emerson School Building at the intersection of Colfax and Ogden St. (1420 Ogden St.) There will be free food at each meeting, and people who need to bring shopping carts or other containers for their personal items are welcome to do so. 

People who are interested in learning more about HAND or donating to the group can call 701-484-2634 or contact them by email at info@housekeysactionnetwork.com.