At least 125 attendees packed into a meeting room in the City of Colorado Springs’ Administration Building on Aug. 15 to hear a presentation on the City’s update of its long-term homelessness response plan and to provide feedback on the draft plan for incorporation into the final plan. The City reported there were also about 65 persons who attended a a stakeholder meeting and about 55 at a virtual public session. The final plan will come out in September around the time of the mayor’s annual State of the City address.
The homelessness response plan is part of the “strategic priority” of public safety in Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade’s five-year strategic plan, which was formally adopted in June. Issues related to homelessness were brought up repeatedly during the mayor’s listening tour he did in his first 100 days in office. Those comments, along with conversations with City staff and some other stakeholders, went into producing the draft plan.
The City said the updated homelessness response plan is being “designed to reflect the community’s priorities and outline key strategies to address the critical concern of homelessness in Colorado Springs” including funding priorities to “keep homelessness brief, rare and nonrecurring.”
The City identified six areas in the draft homelessness response plan: Increase street outreach programs and availability of need-based shelter options; enforce laws and protect our people, environment and property; provide employment opportunities for unhoused citizens; prioritize homeless preventive efforts such as mental health care; increase the number of very low-income affordable housing units and housing units with supportive services; and to provide transparent, proactive, accessible communications to the public.
Presenters at the Aug. 15 meeting discussed some ways the City might achieve those goals, such as using existing federal funding for permanent rental housing for people experiencing homelessness and collaborating with partner agencies on “non-congregate” shelter options – temporary housing that provides a level of privacy.
Also under consideration is expansion of the Homeless Outreach Team (HOT), a specialized patrol unit tasked with enforcing ordinances related to homelessness such as prohibitions on public camping, as well as connecting unhoused individuals with resources.
There could also be an expansion of the WorkCOS program in which people living in shelters work for the City’s public works department.
This is a great step forward in addressing some of the gaps in the community. – Heather Ryan-Figueroa
Increasing access to public restrooms and expanding street and sidewalk cleaning services are possible avenues to improve sanitation.
More information on the City’s homelessness prevention and response efforts can be found at coloradosprings.gov/homelessness-prevention-and-response.
Reactions from attendees
Colorado Springs Homeless Union member Kandy Lewis, who attended the presentation, noted there were no homeless persons speaking to the crowd. Another Homeless Union member, Louie Acker, agreed with Lewis that people with experience of being homeless should be involved with finding solutions.
“What was impressive, this is the first time we were allowed in the meetings as homeless people,” Acker said. “Our voices have not been included in these in the past.”
Acker, who is currently unhoused, participates in trail cleanup events the Union does on the section of public trail it has adopted through the City.
Acker invited the public to participate in the trail cleanups, and said he’d like to meet with city officials to brainstorm more ideas. Information on trail cleanups can be found on the Colorado Springs Homeless Union Facebook page.
Several attendees spoke on the need for increased law enforcement to curb criminal behavior on the part of some unhoused people.
“My staff is feeling unsafe,” said a man who addressed the room after the presentation. “There is an element of danger in our Downtown community, and I find it very unacceptable.”
He suggested increased late night patrols – “Not just hanging out by the clubs. Patrols.” while also acknowledging the police department is short staffed and thanking the department for the work it does.
Heather Ryan-Figueroa also attended the presentation. She is the director of housing programs at Homeward Pikes Peak, a Colorado Springs nonprofit that operates sober living homes, a residential treatment center for pregnant and parenting women, permanent supportive housing and clinical programs provided by licensed staff, along with case management in all of their programs.
“This is a great step forward in addressing some of the gaps in the community,” she said. “However, we still have a lot of work to do. Change takes time and the only way it can happen is through active listening and community involvement. Our community holds the keys to success as long as we continue to outreach people in need and treat all as humans deserving of care and kindness.”
City council member tells county commissioners to step up
Colorado Springs City Council Member David Leinweber, who has been working on issues around homelessness, also attended the presentation.
“I’m excited that the City’s starting to move forward,” he told the Bulletin. “I think there’s still a lot of gaps … more community engagement [will help] find out where those gaps are, and [then we can] really try to resolve homelessness in Colorado Springs.”
One of the biggest gaps that isn’t being talked about, Leinweber said, was that the City does not have a human services department, or a public health and safety department – those are housed in the County.
“And the County is doing nothing to really support this,” he said.
For example, he said, the County doesn’t have a detox center, he said, because it was closed down several years ago.
“All of that is forced on the jail system, which is really not geared to be a mental health facility,” he said. “The jail system should not be mental health and drug rehab, that’s not what it’s for.”
“The County Commissioners need to get engaged and really help this effort forward and not neglect doing their jobs,” he said.
HUD Programs Manager Catherine Duarte spoke with the Bulletin in support of a wider response effort.
“The need for regional collaboration has really come to the forefront … this is a problem that truly has no jurisdictional boundary,” she said. “We’ll have a stronger response if the regional leaders get together and talk at a holistic level.”