Unhoused Denverites frustrated with City’s unfulfilled promises

Story and Photos by Giles Clasen

Unhoused individuals are expressing frustration after recent sweeps of large encampments in Denver. Many moved to the camps under the belief they would receive housing through one of the City of Denver’s encampment resolution programs. Instead, the encampments were swept, with only a few in one camp, and no one in another, receiving offers of temporary shelter or housing.

One woman, who asked to be identified by her street name Lady Red, said she moved to the encampment near Havana Street and 45th Ave. because a police officer from District Five told her that those in the camp would be offered housing after the sweep. Three other individuals in the camp also moved to it after being told by an officer that they would receive housing.

But there was no housing or shelter offered on the morning of the sweep, April 11, 2024.

Denver Police Officer Timothy Scudder said at the Havana St. sweep that he did not believe his officers would give incorrect information about housing options and they had been instructed not to give this type of information during interactions with the unhoused community. He referred all other questions to the communications team. More than a dozen individuals expressed anger and disappointment that the city did not offer housing or shelter at the time of the sweep.

“I know one city entity doesn’t know what the other entity is doing, but that’s crap,” Lady Red said. “They can’t make mistakes like this because the consequences are too great for us. Moving all the time is dangerous. Going to a camp where you may not know anyone is dangerous. Chasing housing like this puts us in danger.”

Ten individuals at the encampment on Havana St. did receive housing through Denver’s Street to Lease program in the weeks before the sweep according to Andy Phelps, director of encampment response for the City of Denver, the morning of the sweep. More than two dozen individuals, including Lady Red, camped at the site and said they did not receive any housing or shelter. Some joined the camp too late to participate or were away from the camp when city outreach teams visited the site to enroll individuals in the program.

Lady Red said the most frustrating aspect of the City’s encampment resolution housing programs is that the unhoused community has no option to actively enroll to receive a housing resource.

The Street to Lease program subsidizes 12 months of rent and utilities for those lucky enough to be enrolled at a camp. Individuals cannot sign up to participate in this program, They are only offered by city outreach workers when they choose an encampment to participate said Jose Salas, deputy director of communications for the Denver Mayor’s office. Solas said the Mayor’s strategy is to get housing resources to the unsheltered homeless community by engaging with individuals living in encampments.

“We have a mission and we believe it’s the right thing to do to go to these encampments and identify folks and provide them with resources like housing. That’s our number one focus,” Solas said.

According to Solas, the outreach team tries to match resources with different camp sizes. If the city has five housing units available at different sites, then the outreach team tries to find a similarly sized camp to match the number of resources available.

Solas also said Mayor Johnston has prioritized housing for the homeless community more than any previous administration and has housed nearly 1,500 individuals since July 2023.

The goal of the “2024 All In Mile High” program is to house 2,000 individuals by the end of the year. However, the Mayor’s approach to offering new All In Mile High housing resources only through street outreach programs may be having unintended consequences.

“Unfortunately, the reality is that right now, we have more people than resources,” Solas said.

According to Solas, the encampment resolution approach is a “double-edged sword.” The City is housing some of the most vulnerable in the homeless community, but those who want to participate in the new housing programs can’t access them except by being at the right camp at the right time.

Lady Red said it is extremely discouraging to hope to get a housing resource this way. “I have been chasing housing and following this outreach team forever,” she said. “I have been trying to be in the right camp since the program started last year, but I have been out of luck every time. I just don’t know where they’re going to go next, and it is crap that the outreach team won’t tell us where they’re going to go.”

Another resident of the Havana St. encampment echoed Lady Red’s feelings that those seeking help aren’t able to get the new housing resources unless they are at the right encampment at the right time.

“We’re not out here because we’re criminals or because we’re drug addicts,” said Cutter Antz, who asked to be identified by his street name. “The majority of us are out here because of tragedy. Something hit every one of us hard. That led to mental illness, or losing a job, or a conviction, or something that landed us on the street. And once you’re out here you can’t get back on your feet without help.”

Cutter Antz said it is difficult to see individuals chasing the help they need only to be rebuffed by a city sweep that upends their lives.

One encampment at 8th Ave. and Navajo Street grew significantly because many individuals heard that those in the camp would receive shelter or housing when the camp was swept.

“City officials told me to come here. This would be the next camp to get housing, so I came here because they told me to,” said Denver VOICE vendor David Gordon. Gordon explained that he didn’t know exactly who had told him to move to the camp, but the person he spoke with identified themselves as working for the city. Gordon also said he moved to the camp weeks before it was swept on April 16. Once in the camp, his only interaction with city staff was when police officers made daily visits to it.

“They shouldn’t go back on their offer,” Gordon said. “They said to come here and get services. But now they’re forcing us to go, but go where?”

The Denver VOICE spoke with dozens of individuals who said they too had moved to the camp after hearing from outreach workers, case managers, police officers, or word of mouth that the camp would be receiving a housing resource.

The drive for housing among the homeless community is so great that the 8th Ave. encampment ballooned to more than 150 individuals in more than 60 tents and lean-to structures after individuals heard that the camp would be next to receive housing.

“The city is working to prevent this type of miscommunication or mistakes through consistent training and communication with the city partners,” said Derek Woodbury, interim director of communications and engagement for the Denver Department of Housing Stability.

Mayor Mike Johnston acknowledged the desire for housing was one cause for the camp’s growth during a town hall on April 9th.

“I’m [at the 8th Ave camp] because I want to get housing and this is what my case manager told me was the best option to stay here,” said Tracie, who asked to be identified by only her first name.

Tracie said she doesn’t feel entitled to housing or free rent, but she can’t get off the streets without assistance. It is extremely difficult to get a job when homeless because employers won’t hire an individual who cannot apply for a job online and lacks a shower or clean clothes.

 According to Tracie, moving into an unknown encampment is traumatizing and dangerous. She has been physically attacked and sexually assaulted during her two years on the street. Sweeps of homeless camps make her life even less stable.

“I don’t want to kill myself, but I don’t want to keep going anymore, you know?” Tracie said. “I need to get into someplace. I was told to come here and I would be eligible for housing. I did what my case manager told me to do. Instead of housing, I get police telling me to leave or get arrested. I can’t seem to win.”

Tracie is willing to walk to anywhere in the city and stand in line for hours or days if she could sign up to receive one of Mayor Johnston’s new housing resources. “I don’t mind working hard and then providing for myself. I’ve done it before, but I just need help to start,” Tracie said. “I find it awful that I can’t work for a home, that I Just have to wait and hope for the City to show up at my camp.”

Woodbury said that he would advise individuals living on the streets to participate in case management through the city’s outreach workers or with one of the city’s partners like the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless or the Saint Francis Center. According to Woodbury, that is the best way for an individual to pursue resources to aid folks in moving from the street. Woodbury acknowledged that the only way to receive one of the new housing resources was through the city’s street outreach team.

“We’re taking a step-by-step approach, you know, encampment by encampment,” Woodbury said. “You know, we’re not announcing encampments in advance because it’s something that we’re working on every day of the week, and there’s many encampments throughout the city. We are deploying more resources than ever before.”

 The camp at 8th Ave. was one of the first encampments in months to be swept without the City offering housing or shelter to any of the individuals living at the site. Woodbury said the reason the 8th Ave. site was without any access to housing was because of its size and the threat it posed to public health and safety. According to Woodbury, the Mayor plans to avoid sweeps that do not also offer some housing resolution in the future.

“Department of Housing Stability outreach teams have been meeting with individuals in the encampment for some time and connecting to them to offer longer-term case management services,” Woodbury said in a follow-up email with the Denver VOICE.

Individuals in the camp claimed they had not interacted with city outreach teams. The night before the sweep, 30 individuals living in the 8th Ave. camp also said they had not had any interactions with outreach workers offering case management or other services.

All of the individuals surveyed said the only encounters they had in the weeks prior to the sweep were with police officers, or volunteers and staff with the Harm Reduction Action Center, who offer needle exchange and other harm reduction services.

“I believe I have seen the street outreach team out here and they did a count. But I haven’t seen any [case management] or anything like that offered to me,” said Lauren BB. “I am at a loss here. I have been out here for two years now, and I must have missed out. I must not have been at the right place at the right time because I haven’t seen any of this housing that they offer.”

To Tracie, the dispersion of new housing resources only through encampment resolution feels more than unfair.

“They don’t understand how this is adding more trauma to our lives,” Tracie said. “We get our hopes up that this is all ending, that we’ll get housing by moving to this camp. When they tell us there is no housing, and we have to move or go to jail it hurts. It makes you feel hopeless. It makes you want to quit.”