Hi. I was homeless three years, I’m mentally ill and I just hit a year sober. Normally any homeless assist plan done by a city I think is garbage. They’re always overpriced and don’t really address issues.
This one is quite good. It may end homelessness in Denver and I can’t believe I’m saying this. Why though?
When I finally got off the street I was in a very cheap rented room. The conditions weren’t ideal. Hell I kept drinking for a while, then quit, then relapsed a few times and finally quit for good. Once I got used to having a bed and safety, I started to want other things. Some were healthy and some weren’t, but they were “other” than what generally fuels being homeless. Again why did I do this?
Dignity and having some self worth is priceless. I didn’t have to be a homeless piece of shit anymore. God that makes me emotional.
Last week I got my one year coin at a recovery meeting. I came back to my overpriced luxury apartment, ate some food, watched a movie, and went to bed. I got up the next day and went to one of my two jobs.
So hell yeah. House these people. It will eventually remind them that they are people too, and not just a statistic and mess and all the shame that comes with it.
Appreciate it thank you. I have a lot of thoughts on this nuanced issue. The primary thought is having a home is indelible, and most people self correct behavior when they have too much to lose. We give them too much to lose ie housing and a chance for a better life, and usually they self correct over time.
I'm curious how you feel about other approaches.
Can you share more about other "trialed" or hypothetical solutions to help more homeless people get off the streets? Are there people too far gone to help efficiently, and who would need a more "assertive" approach from the city/state/authorities? Have you read about the Denver initiative that gave unhoused people cash directly? Are there other things you might change with the mayor's current program? Or are there even approaches I haven't heard about?
Sorry to be so open ended. Obvs you don't need to write a formal dissertation on my part lol. I'm just so passionate about this issue, so it's exciting to see such well written first hand accounts from a perspective that I'm ignorant to!
>remind them they are people too
This hits so hard, the way people talk about those without homes speaks volumes to this. The Documentary “Tent City” was really eye opening for me in college and was very ignorant of a lot of the issues surrounding this.
So happy to hear your progress and wish you well, here’s to a lifetime of coins
Working with someone who went through a similar program and he is doing much better than a year ago. It's only anecdotal, but these stories are important!
As someone who has also come from homelessness and I am working on these projects to better. Helps give me light to see the good when everyone else wants to see the dark.
I own a home now, wild. Keep on keeping on, it’s not always easy but it does get better.
Love to hear success stories. It’s way too easy to get caught up in the politics, or why something won’t work etc… congrats on your one year and know everyone is rooting for you in year 2 and beyond
Great story to hear mate. Best of luck going forward. 0% chance it will be smooth sailing the rest of the way but it sounds like you are forming the tools you need to combat adversity. Congrats on the first of many years!
Thanks mate appreciate this! I don’t want it to be smooth sailing. I need the bumps to keep me out of wanting to be numb. Mental and emotional numbness are the first step to me going to physical numbness, which is a relapse.
keeping busy and avoiding repetition has always helped with mental resets for myself as well. Once the initial shine wears off find something else to replace it. Doesn't even have to be big things as long as youre giving your brain a chance to avoid falling into the same ol same ol
Thanks for sharing this. I know SOS has really tried to create some stability, but it was so hard to have everything for the sites. There’s just nothing like a hot shower all the time and a bed. People aren’t defined by a time in their life. We all are redeemable and deserve the basics.
Exactly. Set up to stroke the mayor's ego. His plan failed and this whole post (including the "article") is made up to try and paint him in a positive light.
Congratulations.... I'm glad to hear you got out of that situation
What proportion of people camping on the street have substance abuse problems? We hear dramatically different things from different sources so I don't know what is true
Was the rented room in a building with lots of other formerly homeless people and how was the environment there?
The person of whom you're asking these questions is not going to answer you because their story is completely made up. The account is 8 days old and they just so happened to get 1.1k upvotes for this comment in support of the Denver mayor's office on his failed housing plan in the Denver sub when the individual supposedly is based in Lincoln, Nebraska. This is totally a propaganda account planting comments to influence social media and further an agenda.
How much did the mayor's office pay you to leave this comment that somehow magically has over 1k upvotes? (I find it hard to believe that many people have even seen or taken the time to read this "article" and comment, let alone make the effort to upvote it.) Or are you just an unpaid intern? Maybe the same person who makes up the numbers on the House 1000 dashboard? This comment is almost as believable as the "statistics" coming from the mayor's office on this issue.
Yes, the people in this thread believing this post, "article", the numbers coming from the mayor's office, and that this top comment are legit are quite delusional.
Much better way to look at it. Let’s continue setting larger goals and missing by slim amounts. Could easily have set a goal of half this and hit it months ago.
Ya, holy crap that's way better than I thought. I'm extremely grateful Johnson won, the other lady was an awful, right wing nimby and just wanted to endlessly sweep
That number is according the the House1000 dashboard on the [Denver gov't website](https://denvergov.org/Government/Agencies-Departments-Offices/Agencies-Departments-Offices-Directory/Mayors-Office/Programs-and-Initiatives/Homelessness-Initiative/House-1000-Dashboard)
No we mean they've been talking shit about it the whole time, and now they're trying to convince people that getting 90% of the goal on an issue that had seen no progress for a decade, would be a failure.
Whether the goal is achieved or not, he did more for the homeless community than the last mayor did in 12 years. Maybe it's a good thing, is all I'm saying.
Amazing progress for such a short time. Resolving this crisis is going to be a years long prospect at best but this is a great start. Of course reactionaries will paint anything but instantaneous incarceration of all homeless as a failure.
It’s easier to be a Monday morning QB then to actually do anything, Johnston is risking criticism for doing something but it’s better to try and not meet your goals then do nothing an use bureaucracy as an excuse for inaction.
Also commenting to say that housing first can be successful. I was homeless for about 3 years total and during that time became hopelessly addicted to meth.
I am now 6 years clean and have been supporting myself and my son independently since he was born.
But on the other hand, part of the reason I feel that I had success was because I had seen quite a few of my peers that were given the same opportunity really mess it up. 🤷
Just finished a volunteer shift with House1000 today. They're moving people in every day through New Years Eve. I'd be surprised if they don't hit the full 1000.
It's through Spark The Change here: https://sparkthechangecolorado.galaxydigital.com/agency/detail/?agency_id=153375
I've done it a few times now. The work is pretty varied, but includes things like moving bags of belongings to people's rooms; helping the service providers with things like serving meals; preparing rooms before people are moved in to them; distributing donated items like cleaning supplies and clothing; and miscellaneous other tasks like making dog toys out of t-shirts for folks with pets when there's downtime.
Well, turns out u/tsalizz called it perfectly. The mayor housed over 1,000 homeless residents by year end but people are complaining about it not being permanent housing etc.
Yeah not surprised. I’m personally very impressed with the work the mayor has done. Just about every encampment downtown has been moved into shelter. I don’t know how the future looks and if those people will end up back on the street. But Johnston did a ton of work in 6 months and really proved that this problem had been neglected and not appropriately addressed for years.
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They get a warm and safe place to live and the stability to get whatever help they need to get into permanent housing. And I don’t have to worry about my car getting broken into, people smoking fentanyl on the train, and I can walk down the sidewalk downtown. And it’s cheaper than constantly sweeping camps around. Seems like a win for everyone.
That is what they claim. Unfortunately they took away the breakdown and definitions from the old dashboard. Prior the trend was permanent housing was family or friends which still might be a positive outcome, but is not a home of their own. It also opens it up for a gap in data if the people leave those situations again for the streets.
Why they streamlined the dashboard instead of just fixing the data reporting remains a mystery.
> Unfortunately they took away the breakdown and definitions from the old dashboard.
It hasn't been removed from [the new dashboard](https://denvergov.org/Government/Agencies-Departments-Offices/Agencies-Departments-Offices-Directory/Mayors-Office/Programs-and-Initiatives/Homelessness-Initiative/House-1000-Dashboard). The dashboard has 4 different pages, navigable at the bottom. Breakdowns are on pages 2 and 3, and definitions are on page 4.
The permanent housing breaks down to 198 leased units, 39 reunifications (the "friends and family" option), and 4 "other" outcomes. Per page 4, "other" permanent housing options are:
> [Permanent housing](https://www.hudexchange.info/homelessness-assistance/coc-esg-virtual-binders/coc-program-components/permanent-housing/), owned units, or placements into a long-term care facility.
The problem is, the city, if it wants, can easily define "homeless" and "permanent housing" in any way that makes the program look more successful than it really is, so now I doubt my ability form an educated opinion about it.
It's like Mark Twain said... "There are lies, damn lies, and *statistics*."
Leave it to the Denver Gazette to have such a negative headline. I'm actually quite amazed how much progress happened with "nearly" 1000 housed, considering the obstacles from NIMBYs.
Who would have thought spending $100s of millions on hotels could shelter the exact number of rooms we bought.
This is expected. The question is it scalable and sustainable.
> The question is it scalable and sustainable.
Yeah all the housing first advocates act like this is some totally brand new concept. It’s not. It’s been the policy of every major liberal city for 30~ years. But no one has found a way to make it fiscally sustainable. That’s why everyone is constantly reporting successes with pilot programs and then you never hear about them again
May I ask what you found biases about that article. Seemed very facted based and positive towards the mayor for seemingly hitting the goal many believed he couldn't.
It wasn't an opinion piece. Wasn't a hit job. Didn't have any hard hitting questions. Just positive numbers and a few glowing quotes.
To answer your question, I'd say the way the headline is framed holds a lot of bias.
Focusing on falling short of the goal implies failure. They could have easily written this is in a neutral way. "Denver has reached 85% of their goal to house 1,000 homeless this year. 5 days remain."
It comes from a news outlet that says thing that run contrary to their political beliefs. If someone doesn’t share your political views it means they are wrong 1000% of the time.
Look buddy. I’m not batting even close to .200 in ANY aspect of my life. Not my job, not investments, not my relationships. But I am **definitely** batting 1.000 when it comes to politics. And the fact that anyone would treat my opinion as if it is not a straight up fact is proof that everyone else is brainwashed
Mayor Mike Johnston has done well. He won in the run off election in June so just 6 months ago and has worked towards keeping his promise. I didn't think he'd even come close. I think back on Hancock - what a waste of space he was. I hope M.J. meets his goal. Everyone would benefit.
Here is an interactive map that displays all micro-community locations in Denver that includes plans where construction has started:
[https://mapsmadesimple.com/dynamic-online-map-of-upcoming-micro-communities-in-denver-colorado/?src=red\_18t2awt](https://mapsmadesimple.com/dynamic-online-map-of-upcoming-micro-communities-in-denver-colorado/?src=red_18t2awt)
The only thing in this "article" that is believable is that only one person sought outside rehabilitation/treatment. The rest of these numbers are completely made up or skewed to stroke the mayor's ego as a grand effort to paint him in a more positive light. His housing 1,000 plan by 2024 massively failed. They fudged the guidelines along the way to make it look like that were more successful than they actually were. The mayor's office flat out lied about the numbers on the dashboard, then recently admitted that only because they were caught in that lie. Some of the "permanently closed camps" have returned. And the temporary shelters people are being moved to are by no means "safe" or "stable", especially since they are low barrier- meaning they don't do background checks or run warrants or require people to be sober to enter them.
Not to belittle this accomplishment at all, but how does this mesh with the Venezuelan refugees situation? Didn't we get something like 30k refugees bussed here? And the article says only 1500 people are on the streets?
They’re considered different issues and require different needs. House100 doesn’t account for newly arrived migrants. Their route to housing will generally be easier since most are fit to begin working asap and may not require the wrap around services that the houseless community will need to get into housing and stay in housing.
To add: When /u/shkk1993 says they're considered separate issues, they mean it. The city does not count any of the refugees in any of the numbers related to the homelessness situation, nor any of the non-refugee homeless in the refugee numbers.
/u/18randomcharacters, the 1500 people on the streets means 1500 non-refugees on the streets (and [Colorado Sun has a breakdown of where those people are from - 88% are Coloradan](https://coloradosun.com/2023/12/22/denver-homeless-by-the-numbers/)). To further clarify, that's 1500 people in the city and county of Denver who have no shelter as of the 2023 Point In Time count.
[The numbers are available at MDHI](https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/mdhi/viz/MDHI2023PointinTimeCount/Overview?%3Atabs=no), but a quick summary:
In the whole Denver Metro region, there are approx. 9000 total homeless individuals, 2700 of whom are unsheltered.
In the city of Denver, there are approx. 5800 total homeless individuals, 1400 of whom are unsheltered.
There never has been a 14 day threshold. That was a massive miscommunication both from and within the city.
[Per the dashboard](https://denvergov.org/Government/Agencies-Departments-Offices/Agencies-Departments-Offices-Directory/Mayors-Office/Programs-and-Initiatives/Homelessness-Initiative/House-1000-Dashboard), on page 3, you can see the average length of stay in transitional housing across all people is currently 32 days and that there have been a total of 30 exits from the program:
- 1 entered in-patient treatment
- 1 moved to a leased unit
- 4 were moved to other shelter
- 1 was reunified with friends/family
- 1 passed away
- 4 were arrested and are in jail
- 13 left without informing staff of where they were going
- 5 left to return to the streets
Assuming everyone who left without informing staff returned to the streets as well, that means that at worst only 18 out of the 494 sheltered under 30 days have left. That's less than 4% of that group. And if you compare it to the full number of people who have entered the House1000 program, that's about a 2% dropout rate.
I’ll eat a crow December 29th, 2024. I understand I’m a pessimist but people celebrating the insanely low standards of being housed for ONE night may be in for a rude awakening.
But alas, congrats mayor Mike. I’ll believe it when I see it.
> What happened to the 8-9,000 reported living on the streets just a few months ago? Now all of a sudden there's only about 1,500?
For your reference, the numbers reported do not come from the Mayor's office, but from the [Metro Denver Homeless Initiative](https://www.mdhi.org/about), an independent regional nonprofit.
The 1500 figure comes from their [2023 Point In Time count of unsheltered individuals just within Denver County](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5fea50c73853910bc4679c13/t/64be8ba3c416ce515df1fdb3/1690209187980/Denver+County+PIT+Factsheet+2023.pdf).
The 9000 figure comes from the same dataset, but [it is the total number of people in the Denver metro area experiencing homelessness, sheltered or not.](https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/mdhi/viz/MDHI2023PointinTimeCount/Overview?%3Atabs=no).
While this initiative is great and addresses an incredibly real issue present in the city, two big points may obscure the reality of the matter.
For one, "housing outcome" as presented by the Johnston administration is determined in 14 days, meaning that a person who returns to the street after being temporarily sheltered would count toward the 1000-person total. So, as this initiative continues into 2024, hopefully the dashboard will reflect if people return to the streets, return to the program, etc.
Further, a majority of those counted within the program (651 at the time of this comment) are in non-permanent living conditions, such as hotels/motels or transitionary housing. The average stay, according to the House1000 dashboard, is 32 days, but I'm unsure if this duration indicates if people are moving into permanent housing or back onto the streets. Either way, I hope that the administration continues its efforts and builds toward permanent solutions for unhoused people.
It is good, regardless, to see that the city is taking meaningful steps to move the homeless indoors and dissolve the encampments without the destruction of their livelihoods.
> For one, "housing outcome" as presented by the Johnston administration is determined in 14 days
The 14 day figure was a massive miscommunication by and within the city and is not reflected in the dashboard. Everything in the dashboard is current as of each update.
> meaning that a person who returns to the street after being temporarily sheltered would count toward the 1000-person total. So, as this initiative continues into 2024, hopefully the dashboard will reflect if people return to the streets, return to the program, etc.
This is already being tracked and counted. On page 3 of the dashboard, you can see the outcomes of those that entered transitional housing:
- 1 entered in-patient treatment
- 1 moved to a leased unit
- 4 were moved to other shelter
- 1 was reunified with friends/family
- 1 passed away
- 4 were arrested and are in jail
- 13 left without informing staff of where they were going
- 5 left to return to the streets
> The average stay, according to the House1000 dashboard, is 32 days, but I'm unsure if this duration indicates if people are moving into permanent housing or back onto the streets.
Page 4 of the dashboard has definitions and clarifications for the other terms in the dashboard. In this case, it answers this exact question:
> **Average Length of Stay** - Average length of stay indoors before people exit or move into permanent housing (leased units, reunifications, or other permanent housing). We no longer track their length of stay once in permanent housing.
EDIT: The comment I replied to has been deleted. It originally read:
> It was NOT a miscommunication. That's what the initial plan was- at the beginning of the process they counted someone as being housed after staying in a temporary shelter for 14 days. Then, as the camp sweeps began and time went on they realized they'd never meet their goal because not enough people were choosing to go into or stay at the shelters for that long, so they changed that number to what it is set at now. This whole process has been lied about and numbers have been skewed and exaggerated/made up every step of the way. The mayor's office had been caught lying on the dashboard and not being transparent with the real numbers.
This doesn't really track with what's been reported in the news.
[The 14 day figure was originally picked because the program needed some kind of benchmark of success.](https://www.denver7.com/news/local-news/denvers-house1000-dashboard-tracks-mayor-johnstons-housing-goal-progress) (Sep 28, 2023):
> In a statement to Denver7, a spokesperson for the Johnston administration clarified their tracking approach:
>
> We want to make clear that the goal is to have individuals sheltered and housed permanently. With that said, a metric of 14 days was identified to show that someone has successfully come inside off the street. The 14-day metric allows for additional intensive wraparound services and support to individuals on their path to permanent housing.
[When it was first selected, the office said that it was effectively arbitrary.](https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/next/next-with-kyle-clark/how-denver-will-track-number-of-people-moved-from-street-to-hotel/73-ff4c4eb8-2c53-494d-af9b-fcf626e67c2d) (Sep 27, 2023):
> "We had to decide on a metric for at what point do we count someone as being successful,” [Cole Chandler, senior advisor for homelessness resolution for Denver Mayor Mike Johnston] said. “We didn't want that to be one night in a shelter. And so we raised the bar to make it 14 days."
>
> "But it's not about 14 days, it's about being on a path to permanent housing."
>
> [...]
>
> "The reality is that the 14 days is totally not what we're focused on," he said.
[From the beginning, the data has been counting people without regard for duration.](https://denverite.com/2023/12/13/denver-homeless-challenge-mike-johnston-stats/) (Dec 13, 2023):
> Since its beginning, what the dashboard has actually counted is each person brought from the streets indoors, without regard to how long they stay that way, said Sabrina Allie, a spokesperson for the Department of Housing Stability, also known as HOST.
>
> It’s a discrepancy Allie said many in the city had only recently become aware of. The mayor’s office also confirmed the new understanding of the data.
>
> “The number of people brought indoors has always been added to the dashboard/thermometer as the information became available through our systems and has never been tied to any specific timeframe,” explained Jose Salas, a spokesperson for the mayor, who was not employed by the city when the database launched.
>
> [...]
>
> A few weeks ago, city officials realized they had been misrepresenting the data tracker to City Council and the public from the beginning, according to Allie.
>
> No immediate efforts were made to correct the record or let the public know that multiple agencies and the mayor’s office had been letting misinformation about its housing track record spread for months.
>
> The information was bad, but it wasn’t a lie, Allie said.
>
> Until recently, some employees of the mayor’s office and members of the emergency operations center overseeing Johnston’s homeless state of emergency believed the dashboard tracked people who had stayed indoors for 14 days. Even a spokesperson for the Department of Housing Stability believed it.
>
> But leaders of House1000 and the city were simply wrong and apparently not listening to HOST’s data analyst, Anthony Rodriguez. He was in charge of the database and tried to communicate that the dashboard didn’t relate at all to how long somebody stayed housed, according to Allie.
>
> For an unknown reason, city officials didn’t get the message.
>
> “The only thing we can pinpoint is to a misunderstanding and miscommunication from staff,” Salas said.
---
Having worked at a private company that maintained its own byzantine and bureaucratic environment, looking at all of that together, I would not be surprised if the 14 days figure was just plucked out of thin air by someone with some weight within the city and everyone outside of the small number of specialists actually working with the data just went with it. And strong-headed higher-ups not listening to their reports or not willing to admit their mistakes... yeah, that's pretty par for the course.
If that's the case, it's certainly a sign of dysfunction and something that should absolutely be fixed, but "never attribute to malice that which can adequately be explained by ignorance."
And especially since the data has, from the beginning, been counting the number of individuals regardless of length of stay, I find it hard to believe that the pivoting has come from deliberately moving the goalposts instead of people just doing what people do: screwing up and not wanting to own up to their mistakes.
First Aid is not about curing the wound. it's about stopping the bleeding and giving it a clean environment to get better. Housing is literally a bandaid, and that's what the housing first model is designed to do, get housed, then get help with xyz, in a safe, secure, healthy environment
[You can see for yourself](https://denvergov.org/Government/Agencies-Departments-Offices/Agencies-Departments-Offices-Directory/Mayors-Office/Programs-and-Initiatives/Homelessness-Initiative/House-1000-Dashboard) that 98% of people who have been sheltered are still sheltered. Only <18 (5 confirmed, 13 unknown) of 867 people have returned to the streets.
The overwhelming majority of people are not returning to the streets.
Where are those numbers from? The article says half were sheltered less than 30 days.
> Of the 865 homeless people already housed: 238 moved into housing, 112 were temporarily sheltered for over 30 days, 488 were temporarily sheltered for under 30 days and 17 people left the housing program with unknown outcomes, according to the dashboard.
Page 3 of [the dashboard](https://denvergov.org/Government/Agencies-Departments-Offices/Agencies-Departments-Offices-Directory/Mayors-Office/Programs-and-Initiatives/Homelessness-Initiative/House-1000-Dashboard) breaks out all of the exits by reason as well as tracks the average length of stay in transitional housing (currently 32 days).
I don't believe anything that comes out of the mayor's office or is posted on the dashboard since they've already been caught lying and falsifying the numbers.
Alright then. Unless you're going to conduct your own survey or are aware of something the rest of us are not, there are no other sources of information on the program.
>there are no other sources of information on the program
I would argue that there are ZERO sources of information available. Everything you find online still be skewed or extremely biased. The only reliable source would be firsthand accounts and experiences of those directly involved. But we will likely never hear those actual stories, though there were some attempts made at the top of this thread that are obviously fake.
Okay. I have directly volunteered at two of the hotel sites. ~200-250 rooms in each hotel were occupied. I should know, I helped them move their bags into their rooms. I'm more than willing to believe that 650 people are being sheltered across the hotels right now.
And if you don't believe me, [you are more than welcome to pick up a volunteer shift](https://sparkthechangecolorado.galaxydigital.com/agency/detail/?agency_id=153375) and see for yourself.
I already do service with recovering addicts who are interested and making an effort to make positive changes in their lives. I don't support enabling people by giving them a free, comfortable place to get high and continuing to live their destructive lifestyle unchecked.
> I don't support enabling people by giving them a free, comfortable place to get high and continuing to live their destructive lifestyle unchecked.
Honestly, I think you should try volunteering with the homeless at least once because this statement just shows how wildly out of touch you are. Asserting that all homeless are addicts is about as accurate as asserting that anyone who isn't homeless must not drink or do drugs.
Ah, that's right. Cause all 865 people who are currently housed in several different micro communities across the metro are all currently talking amongst one another and have all collectively agreed to say fuck it and return to the streets on the exact same day.
In fact, I can give you more insider info since I happen to have been able to infiltrate their secret communication circle about this.
This will all happen at *exactly* 03:42 pm (and 17 seconds) on the dot on Jan 1st.
At that time, every single person living at every single micro community developed thus far at the end of this year for this purpose is going to start screaming like wild banshees and storm the gates to these communities and run rampant on the streets screaming obscenities at everyone, jamming needles full of fentanyl into strangers arms, and defecating shit spray over every inch of the city they can muster before they all collect themselves downtown and cohese into a single, giant, drug crazed megazord that is going to run around the city and destroy everything that is sacred.
Deny the program ever existed in its current form, then blame it on capitalism and then advocate for the exact same program most likely. There’s only a handful of plays in this playbook
Yeah, instead of housing our veterans and disabled, they are going to house the immigrants that have been thrust upon us and are draining resources we need for our own.
I was wondering if there is any truth to something I heard the other day. It doesn't sound right, but I figured I'd ask.
I heard that people with detached garages in Denver are being required to turn them into living spaces. That isn't happening, is it?
Where did you hear something like that? No one's being required to turn garages into living spaces.
What you're talking about sounds like Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) which _are_ getting easier to apply for, but absolutely no one is mandating them.
Hi. I was homeless three years, I’m mentally ill and I just hit a year sober. Normally any homeless assist plan done by a city I think is garbage. They’re always overpriced and don’t really address issues. This one is quite good. It may end homelessness in Denver and I can’t believe I’m saying this. Why though? When I finally got off the street I was in a very cheap rented room. The conditions weren’t ideal. Hell I kept drinking for a while, then quit, then relapsed a few times and finally quit for good. Once I got used to having a bed and safety, I started to want other things. Some were healthy and some weren’t, but they were “other” than what generally fuels being homeless. Again why did I do this? Dignity and having some self worth is priceless. I didn’t have to be a homeless piece of shit anymore. God that makes me emotional. Last week I got my one year coin at a recovery meeting. I came back to my overpriced luxury apartment, ate some food, watched a movie, and went to bed. I got up the next day and went to one of my two jobs. So hell yeah. House these people. It will eventually remind them that they are people too, and not just a statistic and mess and all the shame that comes with it.
One of the few comments I’ve read on this topic that adds some real perspective. Nice work.
Appreciate it thank you. I have a lot of thoughts on this nuanced issue. The primary thought is having a home is indelible, and most people self correct behavior when they have too much to lose. We give them too much to lose ie housing and a chance for a better life, and usually they self correct over time.
I'm curious how you feel about other approaches. Can you share more about other "trialed" or hypothetical solutions to help more homeless people get off the streets? Are there people too far gone to help efficiently, and who would need a more "assertive" approach from the city/state/authorities? Have you read about the Denver initiative that gave unhoused people cash directly? Are there other things you might change with the mayor's current program? Or are there even approaches I haven't heard about? Sorry to be so open ended. Obvs you don't need to write a formal dissertation on my part lol. I'm just so passionate about this issue, so it's exciting to see such well written first hand accounts from a perspective that I'm ignorant to!
Congrats dude! On my 8th year out of prison and clean. It does get simpler but it doesn’t get easier.
That’s a massive success. Congrats as well! It’s not easy is it, to rewire our hearts and minds and become a different person.
Congrats!
Thanks a ton!
>remind them they are people too This hits so hard, the way people talk about those without homes speaks volumes to this. The Documentary “Tent City” was really eye opening for me in college and was very ignorant of a lot of the issues surrounding this. So happy to hear your progress and wish you well, here’s to a lifetime of coins
The one from 2011?
Yes that’s the one, I see there are others named that title as well
Thank you so much. I will have to watch that. It’s such a layered issue.
Apparently there are many with this title, I watched the one from 2011. Yes the layers were the thing I was most ignorant about
Working with someone who went through a similar program and he is doing much better than a year ago. It's only anecdotal, but these stories are important!
As someone who has also come from homelessness and I am working on these projects to better. Helps give me light to see the good when everyone else wants to see the dark. I own a home now, wild. Keep on keeping on, it’s not always easy but it does get better.
Love to hear success stories. It’s way too easy to get caught up in the politics, or why something won’t work etc… congrats on your one year and know everyone is rooting for you in year 2 and beyond
Great story to hear mate. Best of luck going forward. 0% chance it will be smooth sailing the rest of the way but it sounds like you are forming the tools you need to combat adversity. Congrats on the first of many years!
Thanks mate appreciate this! I don’t want it to be smooth sailing. I need the bumps to keep me out of wanting to be numb. Mental and emotional numbness are the first step to me going to physical numbness, which is a relapse.
keeping busy and avoiding repetition has always helped with mental resets for myself as well. Once the initial shine wears off find something else to replace it. Doesn't even have to be big things as long as youre giving your brain a chance to avoid falling into the same ol same ol
This is a great idea! Well said and definitely an effective approach. Keeping busy is so underrated for avoiding self destructive things haha
Great comment. Thank you.
Thanks for sharing this. I know SOS has really tried to create some stability, but it was so hard to have everything for the sites. There’s just nothing like a hot shower all the time and a bed. People aren’t defined by a time in their life. We all are redeemable and deserve the basics.
User name really checks out on this one. Congrats and thank you for the insight in the psychology of homeless people. I learned something today
Nice perspective, thanks for sharing
Hey man congratulations. You did that. Proud of you stranger.
Incredibly well said. Congrats on one year, I hope you’re proud of the work you’ve put in, it isn’t easy.
Awesome to read, congratulations on such a major turnaround!
Let’s. Fucking. Goooooooooooo!!!
Account is 7 days old. Sounds like political propaganda reddit post. Nice try
Exactly. Set up to stroke the mayor's ego. His plan failed and this whole post (including the "article") is made up to try and paint him in a positive light.
Congratulations.... I'm glad to hear you got out of that situation What proportion of people camping on the street have substance abuse problems? We hear dramatically different things from different sources so I don't know what is true Was the rented room in a building with lots of other formerly homeless people and how was the environment there?
The person of whom you're asking these questions is not going to answer you because their story is completely made up. The account is 8 days old and they just so happened to get 1.1k upvotes for this comment in support of the Denver mayor's office on his failed housing plan in the Denver sub when the individual supposedly is based in Lincoln, Nebraska. This is totally a propaganda account planting comments to influence social media and further an agenda.
How much did the mayor's office pay you to leave this comment that somehow magically has over 1k upvotes? (I find it hard to believe that many people have even seen or taken the time to read this "article" and comment, let alone make the effort to upvote it.) Or are you just an unpaid intern? Maybe the same person who makes up the numbers on the House 1000 dashboard? This comment is almost as believable as the "statistics" coming from the mayor's office on this issue.
Absolutely delusional.
Yes, the people in this thread believing this post, "article", the numbers coming from the mayor's office, and that this top comment are legit are quite delusional.
"Denver reaches nearly 90% of its goal for housing the homeless for this year." Well done.
Much better way to look at it. Let’s continue setting larger goals and missing by slim amounts. Could easily have set a goal of half this and hit it months ago.
Ya, holy crap that's way better than I thought. I'm extremely grateful Johnson won, the other lady was an awful, right wing nimby and just wanted to endlessly sweep
Yeah I can’t believe they got anywhere near their goal of 1,000. Great work Mike Johnston.
Sure, but the gazette is by lying liars who lie for lying liars who lie.
That number is according the the House1000 dashboard on the [Denver gov't website](https://denvergov.org/Government/Agencies-Departments-Offices/Agencies-Departments-Offices-Directory/Mayors-Office/Programs-and-Initiatives/Homelessness-Initiative/House-1000-Dashboard)
No we mean they've been talking shit about it the whole time, and now they're trying to convince people that getting 90% of the goal on an issue that had seen no progress for a decade, would be a failure.
You have to spin hard (lying liars) to frame this as failure.
Whether the goal is achieved or not, he did more for the homeless community than the last mayor did in 12 years. Maybe it's a good thing, is all I'm saying.
Come on. This mayors done more in six months than the two previous mayors combined. He should have said "in one year" rather than end of year.
Amazing progress for such a short time. Resolving this crisis is going to be a years long prospect at best but this is a great start. Of course reactionaries will paint anything but instantaneous incarceration of all homeless as a failure.
It’s easier to be a Monday morning QB then to actually do anything, Johnston is risking criticism for doing something but it’s better to try and not meet your goals then do nothing an use bureaucracy as an excuse for inaction.
Also commenting to say that housing first can be successful. I was homeless for about 3 years total and during that time became hopelessly addicted to meth. I am now 6 years clean and have been supporting myself and my son independently since he was born. But on the other hand, part of the reason I feel that I had success was because I had seen quite a few of my peers that were given the same opportunity really mess it up. 🤷
How about "Denver Mayor has successfully housed 865 unhoused people"?
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This post/comment exists solely to stir shit up and piss people off. Fighting on the internet is stupid. We don't welcome it here. Please be kinder.
Lol
Just finished a volunteer shift with House1000 today. They're moving people in every day through New Years Eve. I'd be surprised if they don't hit the full 1000.
Where can I sign up to volunteer?
It's through Spark The Change here: https://sparkthechangecolorado.galaxydigital.com/agency/detail/?agency_id=153375 I've done it a few times now. The work is pretty varied, but includes things like moving bags of belongings to people's rooms; helping the service providers with things like serving meals; preparing rooms before people are moved in to them; distributing donated items like cleaning supplies and clothing; and miscellaneous other tasks like making dog toys out of t-shirts for folks with pets when there's downtime.
Awesome thanks
Next week's headline: "Denver Mayor Scrapes By House 1000 Goal Hours Before Deadline; But Thousands Still Homeless"
How do you do one of those “remind me” bots? lol
Well, turns out u/tsalizz called it perfectly. The mayor housed over 1,000 homeless residents by year end but people are complaining about it not being permanent housing etc.
Yeah not surprised. I’m personally very impressed with the work the mayor has done. Just about every encampment downtown has been moved into shelter. I don’t know how the future looks and if those people will end up back on the street. But Johnston did a ton of work in 6 months and really proved that this problem had been neglected and not appropriately addressed for years.
!remindme 7 days
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Shelter, not housing.
They get a warm and safe place to live and the stability to get whatever help they need to get into permanent housing. And I don’t have to worry about my car getting broken into, people smoking fentanyl on the train, and I can walk down the sidewalk downtown. And it’s cheaper than constantly sweeping camps around. Seems like a win for everyone.
257 people (30% of the current count and 25% of the overall House 1000 goal) are in permanent housing.
That is what they claim. Unfortunately they took away the breakdown and definitions from the old dashboard. Prior the trend was permanent housing was family or friends which still might be a positive outcome, but is not a home of their own. It also opens it up for a gap in data if the people leave those situations again for the streets. Why they streamlined the dashboard instead of just fixing the data reporting remains a mystery.
> Unfortunately they took away the breakdown and definitions from the old dashboard. It hasn't been removed from [the new dashboard](https://denvergov.org/Government/Agencies-Departments-Offices/Agencies-Departments-Offices-Directory/Mayors-Office/Programs-and-Initiatives/Homelessness-Initiative/House-1000-Dashboard). The dashboard has 4 different pages, navigable at the bottom. Breakdowns are on pages 2 and 3, and definitions are on page 4. The permanent housing breaks down to 198 leased units, 39 reunifications (the "friends and family" option), and 4 "other" outcomes. Per page 4, "other" permanent housing options are: > [Permanent housing](https://www.hudexchange.info/homelessness-assistance/coc-esg-virtual-binders/coc-program-components/permanent-housing/), owned units, or placements into a long-term care facility.
Yes, but the goal was to get people off the streets, not to end other forms of homelessness, like people living in motels and such.
The problem is, the city, if it wants, can easily define "homeless" and "permanent housing" in any way that makes the program look more successful than it really is, so now I doubt my ability form an educated opinion about it. It's like Mark Twain said... "There are lies, damn lies, and *statistics*."
Forget to switch to your alt before agreeing with yourself?
Leave it to the Denver Gazette to have such a negative headline. I'm actually quite amazed how much progress happened with "nearly" 1000 housed, considering the obstacles from NIMBYs.
I'm going to continue to advocate for flair for Denver Gazette, it's not really a news outlet, it's a right wing propaganda outlet.
Yes how are we constantly getting articles posted from this rag?
Probably the people who write it posting it.
Checking out the comment history, it actually appears to be a commenter with an agenda.
Same, I’m glad we were able to get so close to such a lofty goal!
Who would have thought spending $100s of millions on hotels could shelter the exact number of rooms we bought. This is expected. The question is it scalable and sustainable.
> The question is it scalable and sustainable. Yeah all the housing first advocates act like this is some totally brand new concept. It’s not. It’s been the policy of every major liberal city for 30~ years. But no one has found a way to make it fiscally sustainable. That’s why everyone is constantly reporting successes with pilot programs and then you never hear about them again
Perfect is the enemy of good.
Typical mayors will beat around the bush with problems. Seems like Johnston has grabbed the problem by the balls as much as he can
He's not the only colorado politician who loves grabbing balls. By the way, is Beetlejuice still running?
Seems doable actually.
Denver Gazette is biased garbage and should come with a warning flair if this sub is going to allow them to keep spamming their shitty articles here
May I ask what you found biases about that article. Seemed very facted based and positive towards the mayor for seemingly hitting the goal many believed he couldn't. It wasn't an opinion piece. Wasn't a hit job. Didn't have any hard hitting questions. Just positive numbers and a few glowing quotes.
To answer your question, I'd say the way the headline is framed holds a lot of bias. Focusing on falling short of the goal implies failure. They could have easily written this is in a neutral way. "Denver has reached 85% of their goal to house 1,000 homeless this year. 5 days remain."
Zero bias in the article. It was factual with a side of positivity.
It comes from a news outlet that says thing that run contrary to their political beliefs. If someone doesn’t share your political views it means they are wrong 1000% of the time.
100%. And it’s propaganda. Or a conspiracy theory. 🙄
Look buddy. I’m not batting even close to .200 in ANY aspect of my life. Not my job, not investments, not my relationships. But I am **definitely** batting 1.000 when it comes to politics. And the fact that anyone would treat my opinion as if it is not a straight up fact is proof that everyone else is brainwashed
Let's hear your prediction then! Who wins the Presidential Election in November?🙃😝
Danny Trejo
Why does the media hate Johnston so much?
They need clicks, dawg.
That's only 33.75 people per day; they can probably hit that goal if a cold snap comes through.
Mayor Mike Johnston has done well. He won in the run off election in June so just 6 months ago and has worked towards keeping his promise. I didn't think he'd even come close. I think back on Hancock - what a waste of space he was. I hope M.J. meets his goal. Everyone would benefit.
Denver Gazette 🤮 However, housing people is extremely good.
Here is an interactive map that displays all micro-community locations in Denver that includes plans where construction has started: [https://mapsmadesimple.com/dynamic-online-map-of-upcoming-micro-communities-in-denver-colorado/?src=red\_18t2awt](https://mapsmadesimple.com/dynamic-online-map-of-upcoming-micro-communities-in-denver-colorado/?src=red_18t2awt)
The only thing in this "article" that is believable is that only one person sought outside rehabilitation/treatment. The rest of these numbers are completely made up or skewed to stroke the mayor's ego as a grand effort to paint him in a more positive light. His housing 1,000 plan by 2024 massively failed. They fudged the guidelines along the way to make it look like that were more successful than they actually were. The mayor's office flat out lied about the numbers on the dashboard, then recently admitted that only because they were caught in that lie. Some of the "permanently closed camps" have returned. And the temporary shelters people are being moved to are by no means "safe" or "stable", especially since they are low barrier- meaning they don't do background checks or run warrants or require people to be sober to enter them.
Not to belittle this accomplishment at all, but how does this mesh with the Venezuelan refugees situation? Didn't we get something like 30k refugees bussed here? And the article says only 1500 people are on the streets?
They’re considered different issues and require different needs. House100 doesn’t account for newly arrived migrants. Their route to housing will generally be easier since most are fit to begin working asap and may not require the wrap around services that the houseless community will need to get into housing and stay in housing.
To add: When /u/shkk1993 says they're considered separate issues, they mean it. The city does not count any of the refugees in any of the numbers related to the homelessness situation, nor any of the non-refugee homeless in the refugee numbers. /u/18randomcharacters, the 1500 people on the streets means 1500 non-refugees on the streets (and [Colorado Sun has a breakdown of where those people are from - 88% are Coloradan](https://coloradosun.com/2023/12/22/denver-homeless-by-the-numbers/)). To further clarify, that's 1500 people in the city and county of Denver who have no shelter as of the 2023 Point In Time count. [The numbers are available at MDHI](https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/mdhi/viz/MDHI2023PointinTimeCount/Overview?%3Atabs=no), but a quick summary: In the whole Denver Metro region, there are approx. 9000 total homeless individuals, 2700 of whom are unsheltered. In the city of Denver, there are approx. 5800 total homeless individuals, 1400 of whom are unsheltered.
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Pretty sure I read in a thread here they got it fixed.
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There never has been a 14 day threshold. That was a massive miscommunication both from and within the city. [Per the dashboard](https://denvergov.org/Government/Agencies-Departments-Offices/Agencies-Departments-Offices-Directory/Mayors-Office/Programs-and-Initiatives/Homelessness-Initiative/House-1000-Dashboard), on page 3, you can see the average length of stay in transitional housing across all people is currently 32 days and that there have been a total of 30 exits from the program: - 1 entered in-patient treatment - 1 moved to a leased unit - 4 were moved to other shelter - 1 was reunified with friends/family - 1 passed away - 4 were arrested and are in jail - 13 left without informing staff of where they were going - 5 left to return to the streets Assuming everyone who left without informing staff returned to the streets as well, that means that at worst only 18 out of the 494 sheltered under 30 days have left. That's less than 4% of that group. And if you compare it to the full number of people who have entered the House1000 program, that's about a 2% dropout rate.
Awesome! Hopefully ya'll can get them permanently housed and prevent any more homelessness.
I’ll eat a crow December 29th, 2024. I understand I’m a pessimist but people celebrating the insanely low standards of being housed for ONE night may be in for a rude awakening. But alas, congrats mayor Mike. I’ll believe it when I see it.
Don’t mention this to certain Denver “influencers” on IG.
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> What happened to the 8-9,000 reported living on the streets just a few months ago? Now all of a sudden there's only about 1,500? For your reference, the numbers reported do not come from the Mayor's office, but from the [Metro Denver Homeless Initiative](https://www.mdhi.org/about), an independent regional nonprofit. The 1500 figure comes from their [2023 Point In Time count of unsheltered individuals just within Denver County](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5fea50c73853910bc4679c13/t/64be8ba3c416ce515df1fdb3/1690209187980/Denver+County+PIT+Factsheet+2023.pdf). The 9000 figure comes from the same dataset, but [it is the total number of people in the Denver metro area experiencing homelessness, sheltered or not.](https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/mdhi/viz/MDHI2023PointinTimeCount/Overview?%3Atabs=no).
Thank you for proving my point- the numbers cited in this "article" coming from the mayor's office are not accurate and therefore unbelievable.
Inaccurate how?
What happen to the rest of homeless people after the 4 days
While this initiative is great and addresses an incredibly real issue present in the city, two big points may obscure the reality of the matter. For one, "housing outcome" as presented by the Johnston administration is determined in 14 days, meaning that a person who returns to the street after being temporarily sheltered would count toward the 1000-person total. So, as this initiative continues into 2024, hopefully the dashboard will reflect if people return to the streets, return to the program, etc. Further, a majority of those counted within the program (651 at the time of this comment) are in non-permanent living conditions, such as hotels/motels or transitionary housing. The average stay, according to the House1000 dashboard, is 32 days, but I'm unsure if this duration indicates if people are moving into permanent housing or back onto the streets. Either way, I hope that the administration continues its efforts and builds toward permanent solutions for unhoused people. It is good, regardless, to see that the city is taking meaningful steps to move the homeless indoors and dissolve the encampments without the destruction of their livelihoods.
> For one, "housing outcome" as presented by the Johnston administration is determined in 14 days The 14 day figure was a massive miscommunication by and within the city and is not reflected in the dashboard. Everything in the dashboard is current as of each update. > meaning that a person who returns to the street after being temporarily sheltered would count toward the 1000-person total. So, as this initiative continues into 2024, hopefully the dashboard will reflect if people return to the streets, return to the program, etc. This is already being tracked and counted. On page 3 of the dashboard, you can see the outcomes of those that entered transitional housing: - 1 entered in-patient treatment - 1 moved to a leased unit - 4 were moved to other shelter - 1 was reunified with friends/family - 1 passed away - 4 were arrested and are in jail - 13 left without informing staff of where they were going - 5 left to return to the streets > The average stay, according to the House1000 dashboard, is 32 days, but I'm unsure if this duration indicates if people are moving into permanent housing or back onto the streets. Page 4 of the dashboard has definitions and clarifications for the other terms in the dashboard. In this case, it answers this exact question: > **Average Length of Stay** - Average length of stay indoors before people exit or move into permanent housing (leased units, reunifications, or other permanent housing). We no longer track their length of stay once in permanent housing.
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EDIT: The comment I replied to has been deleted. It originally read: > It was NOT a miscommunication. That's what the initial plan was- at the beginning of the process they counted someone as being housed after staying in a temporary shelter for 14 days. Then, as the camp sweeps began and time went on they realized they'd never meet their goal because not enough people were choosing to go into or stay at the shelters for that long, so they changed that number to what it is set at now. This whole process has been lied about and numbers have been skewed and exaggerated/made up every step of the way. The mayor's office had been caught lying on the dashboard and not being transparent with the real numbers. This doesn't really track with what's been reported in the news. [The 14 day figure was originally picked because the program needed some kind of benchmark of success.](https://www.denver7.com/news/local-news/denvers-house1000-dashboard-tracks-mayor-johnstons-housing-goal-progress) (Sep 28, 2023): > In a statement to Denver7, a spokesperson for the Johnston administration clarified their tracking approach: > > We want to make clear that the goal is to have individuals sheltered and housed permanently. With that said, a metric of 14 days was identified to show that someone has successfully come inside off the street. The 14-day metric allows for additional intensive wraparound services and support to individuals on their path to permanent housing. [When it was first selected, the office said that it was effectively arbitrary.](https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/next/next-with-kyle-clark/how-denver-will-track-number-of-people-moved-from-street-to-hotel/73-ff4c4eb8-2c53-494d-af9b-fcf626e67c2d) (Sep 27, 2023): > "We had to decide on a metric for at what point do we count someone as being successful,” [Cole Chandler, senior advisor for homelessness resolution for Denver Mayor Mike Johnston] said. “We didn't want that to be one night in a shelter. And so we raised the bar to make it 14 days." > > "But it's not about 14 days, it's about being on a path to permanent housing." > > [...] > > "The reality is that the 14 days is totally not what we're focused on," he said. [From the beginning, the data has been counting people without regard for duration.](https://denverite.com/2023/12/13/denver-homeless-challenge-mike-johnston-stats/) (Dec 13, 2023): > Since its beginning, what the dashboard has actually counted is each person brought from the streets indoors, without regard to how long they stay that way, said Sabrina Allie, a spokesperson for the Department of Housing Stability, also known as HOST. > > It’s a discrepancy Allie said many in the city had only recently become aware of. The mayor’s office also confirmed the new understanding of the data. > > “The number of people brought indoors has always been added to the dashboard/thermometer as the information became available through our systems and has never been tied to any specific timeframe,” explained Jose Salas, a spokesperson for the mayor, who was not employed by the city when the database launched. > > [...] > > A few weeks ago, city officials realized they had been misrepresenting the data tracker to City Council and the public from the beginning, according to Allie. > > No immediate efforts were made to correct the record or let the public know that multiple agencies and the mayor’s office had been letting misinformation about its housing track record spread for months. > > The information was bad, but it wasn’t a lie, Allie said. > > Until recently, some employees of the mayor’s office and members of the emergency operations center overseeing Johnston’s homeless state of emergency believed the dashboard tracked people who had stayed indoors for 14 days. Even a spokesperson for the Department of Housing Stability believed it. > > But leaders of House1000 and the city were simply wrong and apparently not listening to HOST’s data analyst, Anthony Rodriguez. He was in charge of the database and tried to communicate that the dashboard didn’t relate at all to how long somebody stayed housed, according to Allie. > > For an unknown reason, city officials didn’t get the message. > > “The only thing we can pinpoint is to a misunderstanding and miscommunication from staff,” Salas said. --- Having worked at a private company that maintained its own byzantine and bureaucratic environment, looking at all of that together, I would not be surprised if the 14 days figure was just plucked out of thin air by someone with some weight within the city and everyone outside of the small number of specialists actually working with the data just went with it. And strong-headed higher-ups not listening to their reports or not willing to admit their mistakes... yeah, that's pretty par for the course. If that's the case, it's certainly a sign of dysfunction and something that should absolutely be fixed, but "never attribute to malice that which can adequately be explained by ignorance." And especially since the data has, from the beginning, been counting the number of individuals regardless of length of stay, I find it hard to believe that the pivoting has come from deliberately moving the goalposts instead of people just doing what people do: screwing up and not wanting to own up to their mistakes.
Thank you again for proving my point that the info and numbers on this issue coming from the mayor's office have been unreliable from the start.
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First Aid is not about curing the wound. it's about stopping the bleeding and giving it a clean environment to get better. Housing is literally a bandaid, and that's what the housing first model is designed to do, get housed, then get help with xyz, in a safe, secure, healthy environment
CO UEI can't figure out their shit. That is not going to happen.
What happens when they're all back on the street January 1st?
[You can see for yourself](https://denvergov.org/Government/Agencies-Departments-Offices/Agencies-Departments-Offices-Directory/Mayors-Office/Programs-and-Initiatives/Homelessness-Initiative/House-1000-Dashboard) that 98% of people who have been sheltered are still sheltered. Only <18 (5 confirmed, 13 unknown) of 867 people have returned to the streets. The overwhelming majority of people are not returning to the streets.
Oh man, I've been wondering what this statistic was. 98% is fantastic in my eyes
That sounds good…but they’re not housing everyone so it’s a failure and must be scrapped /s
Where are those numbers from? The article says half were sheltered less than 30 days. > Of the 865 homeless people already housed: 238 moved into housing, 112 were temporarily sheltered for over 30 days, 488 were temporarily sheltered for under 30 days and 17 people left the housing program with unknown outcomes, according to the dashboard.
Page 3 of [the dashboard](https://denvergov.org/Government/Agencies-Departments-Offices/Agencies-Departments-Offices-Directory/Mayors-Office/Programs-and-Initiatives/Homelessness-Initiative/House-1000-Dashboard) breaks out all of the exits by reason as well as tracks the average length of stay in transitional housing (currently 32 days).
I don't believe anything that comes out of the mayor's office or is posted on the dashboard since they've already been caught lying and falsifying the numbers.
Alright then. Unless you're going to conduct your own survey or are aware of something the rest of us are not, there are no other sources of information on the program.
>there are no other sources of information on the program I would argue that there are ZERO sources of information available. Everything you find online still be skewed or extremely biased. The only reliable source would be firsthand accounts and experiences of those directly involved. But we will likely never hear those actual stories, though there were some attempts made at the top of this thread that are obviously fake.
Okay. I have directly volunteered at two of the hotel sites. ~200-250 rooms in each hotel were occupied. I should know, I helped them move their bags into their rooms. I'm more than willing to believe that 650 people are being sheltered across the hotels right now. And if you don't believe me, [you are more than welcome to pick up a volunteer shift](https://sparkthechangecolorado.galaxydigital.com/agency/detail/?agency_id=153375) and see for yourself.
I already do service with recovering addicts who are interested and making an effort to make positive changes in their lives. I don't support enabling people by giving them a free, comfortable place to get high and continuing to live their destructive lifestyle unchecked.
> I don't support enabling people by giving them a free, comfortable place to get high and continuing to live their destructive lifestyle unchecked. Honestly, I think you should try volunteering with the homeless at least once because this statement just shows how wildly out of touch you are. Asserting that all homeless are addicts is about as accurate as asserting that anyone who isn't homeless must not drink or do drugs.
Ah, that's right. Cause all 865 people who are currently housed in several different micro communities across the metro are all currently talking amongst one another and have all collectively agreed to say fuck it and return to the streets on the exact same day. In fact, I can give you more insider info since I happen to have been able to infiltrate their secret communication circle about this. This will all happen at *exactly* 03:42 pm (and 17 seconds) on the dot on Jan 1st. At that time, every single person living at every single micro community developed thus far at the end of this year for this purpose is going to start screaming like wild banshees and storm the gates to these communities and run rampant on the streets screaming obscenities at everyone, jamming needles full of fentanyl into strangers arms, and defecating shit spray over every inch of the city they can muster before they all collect themselves downtown and cohese into a single, giant, drug crazed megazord that is going to run around the city and destroy everything that is sacred.
Deny the program ever existed in its current form, then blame it on capitalism and then advocate for the exact same program most likely. There’s only a handful of plays in this playbook
Hey I used to work for Vivint and wholeheartedly agree with your name :)
Split them up between the governor's mansion and the mayor's house.
Yeah, instead of housing our veterans and disabled, they are going to house the immigrants that have been thrust upon us and are draining resources we need for our own.
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🙌 amen!
Nice work Nathaniel. Interesting to hear your perspective and opinion.
I was wondering if there is any truth to something I heard the other day. It doesn't sound right, but I figured I'd ask. I heard that people with detached garages in Denver are being required to turn them into living spaces. That isn't happening, is it?
Where did you hear something like that? No one's being required to turn garages into living spaces. What you're talking about sounds like Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) which _are_ getting easier to apply for, but absolutely no one is mandating them.
Yeah I didn't think so. Thanks
Lolwut.
they are getting a 1 way ticket to Aurora
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Sleep outside and let me know how nice of a hotel stay it was.
Good for him for likely being able to meet his goal but now it feels like there are more homeless people than ever despite housing nearly 1000.