and transportation, Stark said. “It’s hard to navigate [the system] even when you’re at This winter, as the weather grew colder, Moms for Social your highest functioning self, so people who are struggling on the streets don’t have a chance, especially when there’s so few places for housing,” Stark said. Even if someone can seek help, there aren’t enough shelter beds or housing options to meet the need. “We really value that opportunity to help people navigate the system and get them where they need to go,” Stark said. Shana Delwiche, who is a STAR clinician, said the outreach teams try to help people access the resources available in Denver, while acknowledging the system is overwhelmed. “We have an opportunity to connect with people who are underserved and are being pressed by the system and lack access to the resources,” Delwiche said. “We don’t have enough resources for all of these people, and it’s really sad.” The November night that Stark and Delwiche checked on Norris was cold and snowy, so they offered to take her to a warming center. Norris declined because she couldn’t take her few possessions with her. She feared losing her bags of clothing, soda, blankets, and ground mats, which would leave her too vulnerable once she was back on the street. “The [biggest] threat is losing my stuff again because every person and their dog will jack it from me to pad their palace,” Norris said. “The more I try to hold on to it, the more they try to get it.” For people living outside, belongings are survival. Blankets, identification, medications, and documents can mean the difference between life and death, especially as temperatures drop. Makenna Stark and Shana Delwiche with Denver’s Support Team Assisted Response check on Holly Norris, 73, on a cold November night. Justice, a Denver-based Facebook group, donated some sleeping bags to help keep Norris warm. Asked why she has not been able to get off the streets during the past 10 years, Norris did not describe a lack of effort. She described barriers. She listed housing prices, minimal income from social security, a physical body that can’t work, and impossible wait times for housing vouchers. Norris doesn’t have a case manager, a phone, or an advocate, she said. She doesn’t know where to start to get resources. A little more than two weeks after Norris set up camp in the alleyway and the subsequent outreach efforts were underway, Norris and her belongings were gone. Her whereabouts were unknown at the time this issue was published. Norris had said she would not move anywhere but into housing. Her campsite did not show signs of a hurried displacement: the site was clean. It looked as if a human had never lived there. But Norris’ disappearance doesn’t guarantee safety or housing. For people living outside, unknown whereabouts signify they were moved along again. Norris’ story underscores what the data makes clear: the majority of people experiencing homelessness do not choose it. Many are navigating loss, displacement, and a system that moves them along without offering a place to land. For the past 10 years, Norris never had the choice to be housed. The only choice she could make was about how to survive another night outside. DENVER VOICE 11
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