LOCAL FEATURE DEVINE CARTER AND CORNELIUS JENKINS BECAME HOMELESS WHEN THEIR SON LOST HIS HOUSING DUE TO A MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS. THEY HAD MOVED IN WITH THEIR SON, WHO WAS DIAGNOSED WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA, TO HELP HIM. Carter and Jenkins lost their housing when their son was arrested. Carter and Jenkins moved in with their son in 2020 to provide support when their son began exhibiting chaotic behavior, trespassing at businesses, and eventually, was arrested. Their son lost his publicly supported housing in the process leaving Carter and Jenkins homeless. “We moved in with our son to help him,” Jenkins said. “When he lost his housing, we lost ours. We sacrificed for him but lost everything ourselves.” When her son was arrested, Carter lost her job, as well. Before then, she had been working to care for her son under Colorado’s Family Caregiver Act and was employed through the Mental Health Center of Denver, now Wellpower. Jenkins had his own handyman and construction company but struggled to find work in the early days of the pandemic. “It happened so fast we couldn’t react,” Jenkins said. “We did the best we could, and it led us here.” After their eviction, Jenkins and Carter lived in hotels trying desperately to find a foothold and get another apartment. Instead, the cost of hotels depleted their savings. The saving grace was that Jenkins did some construction work for a woman who had an old RV in her yard. The RV needed new tires but was mechanically sound. “This RV saved us. It was the luckiest thing for us, or maybe, the best blessing. I don’t know where we would be without it,” Jenkins said. OFFERING SECURITY Lisa Barczak, a peer support specialist with Stout Street Health Center, understands why individuals would try to live in a camper when homeless. Stout Street Health Center is a program of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless that provides medical, dental, and vision services. As Barczak pointed out, RVs are safer than sleeping on the sidewalk and have extra storage space, which is a precious commodity when most shelters don’t have storage. Barczak, who does outreach to unhoused individuals throughout the Metro area, was homeless herself. She often slept on sidewalks without any shelter and had people pee and pour beer on her while sleeping. She even woke to men masturbating, she said. “I do feel like having an RV would be worth it for having that peace of mind and having that safe place to sleep,” Barczak said. “[An RV] would be valuable to be able to actually sleep when you want to go to sleep, to lock the door and feel safe. When you’re sleeping outside on the street you really couldn’t be more vulnerable.” RUNNING AFOUL OF THE LAW The added security of an RV comes with a unique cost. According to an email sent to Denver VOICE from the Denver Police Department’s Media Relations Unit, RVs longer than 22 feet that are parked on Denver’s streets must be moved 100 ft every 72 hours. For the first few months in their camper, Carter and Jenkins spent their time trying to avoid the police. They moved their RV every few days and tried to stay under the radar. It didn’t matter. The two still accumulated their share of tickets. Jeff Landis, another individual living in an RV, has also lived with this threat. He said the biggest hassle he faces is police and code enforcement. “The cops want to run us off and call that the solution,” Landis said. “It is obvious the powers that be don’t want to help us. They want to run us off and move us one block away. But the problem isn’t solved, we don’t get help. It is just one big shell game.” Landis would like to find stable housing. As he explained in an interview with Denver VOICE, he is tired of living in an RV. He is connected with services through the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless and works with a case manager who helps him apply for housing. But the wait for housing is long. Landis has tried to find work but has not been successful. “I can’t find a job in the best job market of my life,” he said. “And it isn’t because I’m not trying. It isn’t because I don’t want a job. When you’re homeless, you can’t find a job. It is discrimination because you don’t have clean clothes and you don’t have a shower. Who is going to hire you?” Additionally, Landis has an injury he sustained after working in construction for 30 years, and that limits his options. He recently applied for SSDI. Landis said he will continue to try and hide from police or parking enforcement until he can get an apartment or other housing. “Sometimes. they find me and give me a ticket,” Landis said. “When I can’t pay the ticket, everything gets messier and harder for me. The next ticket or the ticket after that may mean I get booted or towed. and then, I’ve lost my last bit of shelter. That added cost [of moving the camper every day] means it is even harder for me to get out of this mess.” According to Landis, the higher gas prices have hurt him, making the possibility of getting housing even less likely. “With inflation, I’ve got nothing,” Landis said. “I need to panhandle $50 a day to get 10 or so gallons of gas. And 10 gallons don’t move a camper far.” 6 DENVER VOICE October 2022
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