LOCAL FEATURE “THEY SAID TO COME HERE AND GET SERVICES. BUT NOW THEY’RE FORCING US TO GO, BUT GO WHERE?” VOICE VENDOR DAVID GORDON AKSED. CREDIT: GILES CLASEN UNHOUSED DENVERITES FRUSTRATED WITH CITY’S UNFULFILLED PROMISES 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. 6 DENVER VOICE May 2024
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