Homelessness in Denver
By: Adrian Brown, Chair, INC Homelessness Working Group
The people of Denver care about the City and we care about our neighbors. Inter Neighborhood Cooperation is the organization that bands our neighborhoods together to express that care. And because we are a caring community, INC neighborhoods do not stand by and let neighbors endure the downward spiral, the rigors, the disruption, the dislocation, and the danger of homelessness.
There are an estimated 10,000 people who are currently homeless in the City and County of Denver. About 5,000 of them are people – mostly men – who have come to Denver without housing or a job, and have not been able to find either here. The other 5,000 people experiencing homelessness – half of them single, the other half with dependents – are our neighbors who have lost their housing because of one or a combination of challenges: economic (40%), health (25%), mental health (20%), and addiction (15%)
Approximately half of the people experiencing homelessness have been homeless for less than a year, a third have been homeless for 1 to 3 years, and a sixth are chronically homeless – that is have been on the street for more than three years.
