When Wanbli Cabrera and several of her family members started camping outside of Four Winds American Indian Council at West Fifth Avenue and Bannock Street in Denver five months ago, they were running out of options. They had been camping on the streets of Denver for years — two, in Cabrera’s case, and longer for […]
Colorado Coalition for the Homeless
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Why Coloradans experiencing homelessness need COVID-19 vaccination now
Gov. Jared Polis missed the mark when he said in early February that it would “cost lives” to divert COVID-19 vaccines to younger, “healthier” people because “they happen to be homeless.” In fact, the opposite is true – it would save lives. Here’s why. Congregate shelters, which thousands of unhoused Coloradans rely on for emergency […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Health, Housing, News
Confusion and omissions dampen hopes for speedy COVID-19 vaccinations of unhoused Coloradans
Advocates for people experiencing homelessness in Colorado are worried and frustrated that neither homeless shelter residents nor people living on streets are included in the state’s current COVID-19 vaccination distribution plan. An October 2020 draft state vaccination priority plan didn’t mention those living on streets, but did include people living in shelters during the second phase of […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, News
Downtown Denver’s hotel industry is struggling. Is it because people don’t want to be in the city center?
The Sheraton Denver Downtown hotel, nearing the completion of its $80 million renovation, is operating at about a quarter of its usual capacity. Business in the time of the coronavirus has picked up a bit from the disastrous early months, but even if a vaccine were announced tomorrow, the hotel doesn’t expect to get back […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, News
Why Colorado’s housing market looks so hot even though coronavirus is ravaging the economy
From the start, 2020 was going to be big for American Financing. The Aurora mortgage lender had a major marketing coup: a celebrity endorsement from Peyton Manning, who led the Denver Broncos to a Super Bowl win in 2016. Then the coronavirus hit. The 400-plus employee firm was no longer sure TV commercials starring Manning […]
Posted inCOVID, Health, News, Politics and Government
Homelessness in Denver is obvious, but the never-ending work to solve it is harder to see
The hundreds of green cots that lined the vast hall at the National Western Complex are gone, and the men who slept there have been bused to homeless shelters around the city. In small groups, they gathered their belongings into duffle bags last week and waited — socially distanced on metal folding chairs — for […]
Posted inCOVID, Health, News, Politics and Government
Homeless camps in downtown Denver are “out of control” as the pandemic drags on. So what’s the solution?
The dried-up, yellow grass in front of the Colorado Capitol is littered with chicken bones, empty water bottles and food wrappers. More than 100 tents and tarp shelters strung to the trees are the temporary homes for at least 150 people, their coolers and shopping carts parked outside their tent flaps. The tent town at […]
Posted inColoradans, Growth, Health, News, Politics and Government
Sweeps of Denver homeless camps go against coronavirus guidance
By Jakob Rodgers, Kaiser Health News Melody Lewis lives like a nomad in the heart of downtown Denver. Poking her head out of her green tent on a recent June day, the 57-year-old points to the place a few blocks away where city crews picked up her tent from a sidewalk median earlier this spring […]
Posted inColoradans, Health, Politics and Government
For people without homes but wary of shelters, Longmont’s “safe lots” could be a haven
LONGMONT – Big, ruddy-faced and homeless, John is happy to work and sleep alone in the age of COVID-19. John, who asked that his last name not be used, works most days as a flagger for road crews in Boulder County. He is yards from his crew mates and rarely speaks to them — or […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Health, Politics and Government
Colorado is still figuring out how to protect the homeless as Denver shelter reports two coronavirus cases
At least two people who are homeless in Denver have tested positive for COVID-19, the fast-spreading illness caused by the new coronavirus, health officials said Friday. The people are recovering in motel rooms provided by the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, but advocates worry that more people are sick and that the city and state […]