The INC ZAP (Zoning and Planning Committee) met on October 24, 2015 from 9:30 am to 11:45 am at 1201 Williams meeting room. Steve Ferris, deputy director of CPD, attended the meeting.

The Committee discussed homeless issues in Denver for the entire meeting.

Homeless issues in Denver
The Saint Francis Center at Park Avenue and Curtis
Two representatives of the Saint Francis Center at 2323 Curtis St. (Park Avenue and Curtis) began the discussion: Andrew Spinks (Development Director) and Tom Luehrs (Executive Director).

Andrew spoke first. He is also an INC representative for the Curtis Park Neighbors RNO.
The St. Francis Center is not just a drop-in facility. It has evolved into a provider of housing and employment and also does some outreach. Its mission is to help people transition out of homelessness. He describes St. Francis Center as a multi-faceted organization dealing with a multi-faceted issue.

The St. Francis Center provides a day shelter, open seven days a week for a 12-hour shift: from 6 am to 6 pm: 12 hour shift. Anyone is welcome there as long as he/she is not under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The Center typically hosts about 800 people each day. Mornings are especially busy as people go there to get a shower, pick up clothing, use a personal storage bag, and check messages. Many of the people who visit are sleeping at an overnight shelter.

The Center seeks to help people with employment and housing so they can move through a period of vulnerability to access targeted and effective programs and services. The Center tracks its guests with a database it calls the homeless management information system. It estimates that approximately 10,000 different people use its services each year. Roughly 60% of its guests use the Center’s services for 60 days or less and move on. The remaining 40% need more sustained help, often due to physical disabilities or substance abuse. The Center seeks to honor everyone’s dignity. It does not require people to attend religious services or profess a faith.

The Center also sends out a team of individuals along the Cherry Creek bike path and Platte River to do outreach to people there. Some people prefer to avoid the confined spaces and crowds at a day shelter, so many people stay outside.

The Center offers employment services at its separate employment office at Warren United Methodist Church (1630 E 14th Ave, Denver, CO). So far it has helped 372 people obtain jobs through that center and provided assistance to about 2,000 people. People needing assistance do an orientation program at the day shelter and then go to the church location to get specific employment assistance.

The Center also provides medical services to homeless people in collaboration with the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless. The Center’s perspective is there is a lot of collaboration in Denver among service providers who assist the homeless. Examples include: partnering among MHCD, VOA, and the Denver Rescue Mission. All are trying to provide a safety net.

The Center’s housing program has case manager working with 80 individuals in the location at Park Avenue and Curtis. There are 50 apartments there with permanent supportive housing. People can stay there as long as necessary. Residents meet with a case manager weekly; and contribute to their rent. The Center helps them move when they are ready to live more independently in a DHA property or elsewhere. The Center is building another 50-unit apartment building called Cathedral Square North, which is near St. John’s Cathedral. (some people think of that location as an Argonaut parking lot). It will take about one year to build that, beginning in first-quarter 2016.

Comments by Reggie: one of the St. Francis Center’s clients
One of the Center’s clients, Reggie, age 47, described his experience with homelessness. He was raised in Park Hill, attended various schools and has dealt with cocaine addiction for 35 years. He did not graduate from high school but obtained a GED in 2014.

He suggests that homelessness is not the community’s fault. He blames drug dealers and legalizing marijuana. From his perspective, the homeless problem in Denver is getting worse, not better. He believes many of the homeless are not visible. Many are children, including orphans and runaways, who need help. He believes young people are not getting good direction. He faults parents who have alcohol and domestic violence issues.

He takes responsibility for his own situation and explained how he has had to deal with health hazards of homelessness including frostbite and diabetes. He is a father of five children and has spent time in prison three times. He thinks people need to love themselves first, but many who are homeless do not love themselves.

Reggie noted that homeless people feel isolated because no one wants to talk with them. He welcomes any social contact. He is currently working as an outreach worker for the St. Francis Center.

More Comments from Tom Luehrs
Tom noted the problems with getting Denver neighborhoods to accept service providers nearby. When the St. Francis Center started over 30 years ago, it faced protests and was not welcomed by Curtis Park residents. Over the last 15 years it has tried to break down barriers with neighbors and be part of the surrounding community. Tom urged committee members to be open to care providers in their own neighborhood. It does not make sense to have all the services concentrated in the Ballpark and Curtis Park neighborhoods. He believes every neighborhood needs to pitch in.

Tom explained that issues arise, but neighbors feel good about the relationship with the Center so they call the Center first rather than complaining to their City Council member. The Center tries to quickly respond to concerns. Tom believes many people have been attracted to Denver by the good economy and marijuana legalization. They expected jobs to be available but have not always found one. There is a one-year residency period for people who want to work in the marijuana industry. Tom also believes some people come to Colorado from surrounding states for Medicaid eligibility or other health care assistance. About 15% of the 10,000 per year seeking help at the Center are military veterans.

Tom recognizes that residents may be afraid of homeless people. He points out that it is homeless people who are running scared because of the insecure situation they face, and they welcome a kind word. In his experience, if you give people an opportunity, they will work to make their life better. People don’t like being a drain on the community. Tom sees all kinds of people homeless: single men and women, couples, children, and families.

Discussion among speakers and committee members
During discussion with Committee members the following additional points were made:
The City and Parks Department need to continue providing electricity to the kiosk in Skyline Park (16th and Arapahoe) Many homeless people have cell phones as a safety measure and need to charge them. They also use the bathrooms there.
One committee member expressed concern that people not accept having homeless people as an acceptable situation, or having begging along streets as a normal, viable phenomenon. We do not want to treat the homeless like the “untouchables” in India.
Tom suggested viewing homeless people as individual people who have become homeless, not an abstraction. The Center also struggles with some unacceptable behavior, but does not view the person as bad just because the behavior is bad.
Hawaii is having a crisis with the homeless – just declared an emergency there to get additional funding. Many cities across the US are struggling with homeless issues. Things were better in 2007 before the financial crisis, with less panhandling then.
The City and State want to build more affordable housing but it is unclear where that can be built. Local governments are having to address this issue because of less federal support.
The private sector, nonprofits and religious groups are all having to help solve the problem. For example, the hospitality industry in Denver such as Starbucks and hotels all end up providing for basic needs such as bathrooms because the City is not providing those. With bathrooms there are concerns about cleaning and safety and the best locations.
Tom pointed out that getting $21 million this year from HUD does not go far in solving the problems.
Some see “NIMBY” issues. Politicians who support homeless services in their neighborhood do not fare well with constituents. Finding community leaders on this issue is challenging.
Dennis Ryerson of the Ballpark neighborhood explained the concern among his group. He is a retired newspaper editor. He wrote a Denver Post article about opening the Skyline Park bathrooms. He said Ballpark is being criticized as NIMBYs and elitist and believes that is not true. They view the homeless as their neighbors and friends and are not seeking to evict existing homeless service providers. Ballpark is seeing an increasing population in the neighborhood that is creating new pressures.
Ryerson got involved when the City announced an expansion of a rescue mission and courtyard. He believes the City did not bring the neighborhood into the discussion and went through a back door to get the expansion approved. Because an expansion of the rescue mission was not allowed, he says the City called it a community center instead. The City and neighbors went to court and the judge ruled against the City. The case is still pending. The facility is complete but not open. Ryerson favors more wrap-around, comprehensive services. The neighbors are asking the City to discuss solutions including limited hours for the center.
People discussed the circumstance of finding a homeless person sleeping on a doorstep and suggested it is better to gently speak with the person than be afraid and call police.
Steve Ferris explained CPD’s perspective and the difficulty the City faces in trying to find locations for facilities to assist the homeless. The current City ordinances call for homeless shelters to be evenly distributed in every City Council district. The City is trying to follow those rules.
Tom Luehrs described a recent example in Denver where the City opened its recreation centers on cold winter nights and had about 150 men sleeping there. That solution was contentious at first but has worked well. The City transported the people to and from the centers in buses from the St. Francis Center. They slept on mats with blankets. People did not wander around the neighborhoods near the centers. In one winter the City used five different recreation centers in rotation. One woman who was afraid of the process was bringing cookies to people two weeks later and wanted to assist. People get over their fears.
One committee member expressed her continuing fear after her home was recently burglarized. She continues to be afraid. Tom’s response was that no one wants to see bad behavior. Burglars are not necessarily homeless people. The homeless are a mix of good and bad people.
Joel Noble expressed the perspective of Curtis Park Neighbors that Curtis Park and Ballpark fear an over-concentration, but that is the result of urban renewal actions decades ago, which created parking lots and open areas. Joel urges that people not be distracted by those concerns. Many good services are being provided in those neighborhoods. Every neighborhood needs to assist. Joel urged people to visit the CCH Renaissance project. Joel urges neighborhoods not to be afraid of more rental units.
The national consensus is to provide housing first and then help address other problems.
Michael Henry noted that INC was instrumental 20 years ago in helping the City and providers to develop the spacing ordinance because at that time many neighborhoods were concerned about group homes and shelters. Several areas had them: LoDo/Curtis Park, Highlands, Capitol Hill, and Sunnyside. The City passed the spacing ordinance to direct that residential facilities should not be over concentrated in any neighborhood. INC was involved in that decision. In 2005, then Mayor Hickenlooper created the Denver Homeless Commission in response to a federal challenge. The Commission developed principles about how important it was for neighborhoods to be at the table from the beginning whenever a provider wants to create a facility. Some providers have been excellent in taking that cue, while others have not.
Michael believes neighborhoods can have great input on security, screening, and design. Recently neighborhoods have not been involved in development of affordable housing. The City does not recognize that people are nervous and dialogue will assist.
Tom noted that in the summer we get a large number of people coming to Denver who plan to stay outside and do not care what is happening; they do not respond to outreach contacts; they are a transient group and the Center struggles with them.
Downtown Denver Partnership tries to address homeless issues with Sixteenth Street mall; they it can be difficult to engage with them. The downtown business community is trying to figure out the current trends and what to do about them. DDP gets a monthly update from the St. Francis Center.
The Denver Foundation is beginning a plan for education around the Denver metro area on the causes of homelessness; it began with a phone survey of 1,000 people. Over 40% of people said they knew someone who had experienced a homeless period.
History Colorado is opening a new exhibit on homelessness.
Some believe the City made matters worse with the no-camping ordinance and insufficient housing to offset that.
If you do not have a job, housing is not affordable. With mass incarceration, people are released from prison onto the mall without a job or any money. Some apartment landlords will not rent to a person with a prison record.
The people associated with the St. Francis Center believe the current solutions Denver is pursuing may take 50-100 years to address the problem because they cannot address the volume of transitional and affordable housing needed.

Marcus Harris comments:
Marcus Harris of Bayaud Enterprises spoke about the educational work he has been doing as a community organizer. He is a Denver native. He was a homeless person in five cities and three states, and in prison for 13 years. He is trying to raise awareness of the issues with a speakers bureau that shares information and stories of success. He tries to address business and faith-based groups, talking about jobs and affordable housing.

He suggests that people treat their community like a family and reach out to people whose behavior is affecting the community’s quality of life, and attempt to find solutions.

He suggested the committee view itself as a room with a vision in which participants invite people they know to help foster change. He argues that everyone is worthy of assistance. He argues for a point of view that: I care about you and you care about me; we go to bat for each other. He criticizes City leadership for being focused on how the city looks and wants it to be sanitized and safe. He argues there really is not that sort of safety problem.

Next steps for committee on homeless issues:
The ZAP committee will form a subcommittee to recommend some specific next steps to assist with addressing the current homeless issues.

The meeting ended at approximately 11:45 am. The next ZAP meeting will be on Saturday, December 5, 2015 at the meeting room at 1201 Williams Street, 19th floor. (There will not be a meeting in November.)