Wait list balloons as homeless family shelter needs skyrocket
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More families are seeking emergency shelter in Denver, alarming advocates and elected officials who've warned about the increasing likelihood that more children are sleeping outdoors.
Why it matters: It's the latest public crisis developing in a city grappling with severe municipal spending cuts and a deepening emergency over SNAP benefits.
State of play: Rising evictions, eroding social safety nets, including food stamps, and loss in federal and state funding for housing programs are triggering the surge, city deputy director of homelessness resolution Jeff Kositsky tells us.
By the numbers: 209 families — 769 individuals — were on a wait list Thursday to access shelter, compared with 119 families in September 2024, Department of Housing Stability (HOST) spokesperson Julia Marvin tells us.
- Denver has 303 shelter beds in its system for families, including the 205-unit Tamarac Family Shelter. Most families are on the wait list for 15 to 35 days, per Kositsky.
Caveat: Homeless families tallied by the city are likely an undercount, Kositsky and local advocate Terese Howard tell us.
- Some unhoused families stay hidden due to safety concerns and to avoid running afoul of Child Protective Services, says Howard, of the nonprofit Housekeys Action Network Denver (HAND).
Context: Over the past six months, HAND has been contacted by roughly one to four families a week seeking housing assistance, Howard says.
- The nonprofit connects people with children with local homelessness resources, including the city's rental and housing assistance programs, which are being strained this year.
Between the lines: Families are sleeping outdoors, but not everyone on the city's wait list is unsheltered, HOST executive director Jamie Rife told Denver City Council last week.
- Howard noted many homeless families are living in hotels, staying in cars or couch surfing.
Threat level: Council members last week unsuccessfully attempted to allocate $9 million to HOST to address the growing crisis, with co-sponsor Councilmember Sarah Parady calling it a "moral red line."
- Some families are sleeping under bridges and at parks, Parady said. "No child should be in those conditions."
What's next: HOST is focusing on providing resources like rental and utility assistance to families at the highest risk of becoming homeless, Kositsky says.
- "It's challenging to have to ration a really important resource because you don't have enough money, but this is the reality that we're in," he says.