Addressing Homelessness in Colorado

Shared Vision

We can create a future where homelessness is rare and brief when it occurs, and no one gets left behind.

Key Goals

Proven Solutions

Prevention and Diversion

Programs that identify people at high risk of homelessness and provide supports that can help them to avoid it can help reduce the number of people entering homelessness.

• The Homeless Prevention Activities Program (HPAP) uses State Income Tax Check-Off funding to provide emergency funding and case management assistance to eight organizations working across 25 counties.
• Northern Colorado’s Coordinated Entry System uses HPAP funds to esure that care managers can quickly engage with clients experiencing a tenancy crisis.

Anti-Poverty Supports

Programs that provide services, supports, and benefits help struggling households lead stable, productive, fulfilling, and dignified lives. Examples include access to physical and behavioral healthcare, childcare, employment, and nutritional services.

• Economic Security Programs are our first line of defense for individuals living in poverty to prevent homelessness. All Colorado counties provide a variety of supports, including basic cash assistance, employment supports, food, and medical assistance.

Coordinated Entry Systems

Standardized and coordinated systems of care over a given geographic area can help ensure that homelessness services are provided equitably, efficiently, and effectively.

• In 2019, OneHome in Metro Denver increased housing placements by 2-3x over the previous year for families and young adults.
• Pitkin, Garfield, and Eagle counties are conducting case conferencing to more efficiently and equitably allocate Homeless Solutions Program - State Housing Vouchers.

Low-Barrier Shelters

Shelters without restrictive entry requirements help create spaces in which people can feel safe and connect with resources.

• The City of Colorado Springs collaborated with Community Health Partners on a coordinated strategy to leverage Emergency Solutions Grants funding to encourage policy changes at their higher-barrier shelter, which resulted in fewer people forced to live unsheltered in its downtown area.

Street Outreach

Street outreach programs can help to identify and help those who feel unsafe in, or are otherwise unable to come into traditional shelters.

• The Denver Street Outreach Collaborative (DSOC) helps service providers engage with individuals who feel unsafe or are otherwise unable to access emergency shelters. This engagement is essential to building trust and securing permanent housing. When COVID-19 arrived DSOC staff helped connect medically vulnerable individuals with emergency non-congregate sheltering options.

Rapid Re-Housing

Providing families and some individuals experiencing homelessness with steeply declining subsidies for market-rate rental housing can help resolve an immediate financial crisis.

• The Colorado Rapid Re-Housing and Reentry (COR3) program administered through Volunteers of America receives referrals through local coordinated entry systems and the Colorado Department of Corrections. Together these referral sources help close gaps in the continuum, disrupt cycles of recidivism, and reduce the number of individuals exiting incarceration to homelessness.
• Grand Junction’s Next Step 2-Gen Program helps families with school-age children quickly exit homelessness in a collaboration between the Grand Junction Housing Authority, School District #51, Mesa County, and the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA).

Supportive Housing

Supportive Housing combines affordable, community-based housing with access to voluntary wrap-around supportive services to help ensure safety and stability for extremely low-income households who face complex barriers and have long lengths of homelessness.

• Journey Home is a 30-unit supportive housing development in Cañon City, CO, operated in partnership with Loaves & Fishes, Solvista Health, and Cardinal Capital funded by DOLA, the U.S. Department of Urban Affairs (HUD), and the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA). The project provides affordable housing with access to supportive services to help individuals exiting chronic homelessness achieve long-term stability.

Affordable Rental Housing

Ensuring that a given geographic area has enough affordable rental housing to meet its population’s needs can help prevent families & individuals from falling into homelessness.

• Arroyo Village is a 130-unit development created in partnership with Rocky Mountain Communities and the Delores Project that includes 95 units of workforce housing, 35 units of supportive housing, and an 11,000 sq ft emergency shelter. Funded with support from DOLA, HUD, CHFA, and the Denver Housing Authority (DHA), the project is located in Denver, CO, adjacent to a light rail line.
• The Anvil Mountain Apartments is a 12-unit affordable housing development in Silverton, CO, created with support from DOLA, San Juan County, and the Town of Silverton. In response to the area’s short construction season, the project was constructed with 10 factory-built sections delivered from Grand Junction, CO.

Homeownership Supports

Providing opportunities for low- and middleincome families to purchase homes protects them from rent increases and gentrification that can contribute to homelessness.

• The home rehabilitation and emergency repair program operated by Otero County in partnership with DOLA and Total Concept provides low- or no-interest loans to homeowners in Bent, Crowley, and Otero counties. In addition to helping homeowners afford costly home repairs and maintain their housing, the program helps to preserve the region’s limited housing inventory.

Real-Time, Person-Specific Data

Fremont County and El Paso County have achieved “Quality Data” for all single adults experiencing homelessness, meaning that they are now able to substantially improve the systems that house and support individuals experiencing homelessness.

Housing Focused

Emergency shelters in Denver have become more housing focused by leveraging Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) data to help connect and prioritize guests with housing opportunities on a nightly basis.

Additional information can be found at: The Colorado Community Health Alliance, The National Alliance to End Homelessness, & The Center for Evidence-Based Solutions to Homelessness.