As the city of Denver works to bring additional hotels online to house a growing homeless population, a key selling point from Mayor Mike Johnston has been the services they provide along with it.
“Receiving wraparound services on those sites it’s not just housing it does come with workforce training options, it does come with mental health support it does come with addiction treatment and the success rates are very good,” he told community members at a meeting in Montebello earlier in the month.
Johnston’s first hotel under his “House1000 Initiative,” a former Best Western on Quebec Street has been operating since September.
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Guests there say getting help navigating services has been inconsistent.
“I feel like there’s no purpose, like it is just purposeless; there’s no end there’s no direction, no guidance,” Kyra Dolores said.
Dolores has been a resident since the hotel shelter opened its doors.
The Salvation Army runs the hotel’s day-to-day operations and provides case managers who are tasked with connecting those in need to resources.
At the Best Western, there are six case managers to help just under 200 people staying there.
Richard Pease oversees the Salvation Army’s metro area operations, he believes at least twelve case managers are needed.
“I think if you talk to any of our partners in the city talk to VOA, Catholic Charities, CCH, The Denver Rescue Mission, case managers are at a premium so we are all understaffed in that area but there are not enough case managers for the job,” Pease said.
This month the city began operating another hotel shelter across the street at the Double Tree.
Announcing the same access to resources despite struggles with the workforce.
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“Does that raise concern about why we keep opening more?” CBS News Colorado Reporter Karen Morfitt asked.
“It raises concern from the perspective that there is a level on what we can do, it doesn’t raise concern about opening and operating the shelters because we do need to do those as well,” Pease said.
While the Salvation Army plans to bring more people on board as soon as possible it is only one piece of a much bigger problem.
“There’s a lack of some of the other services, substance abuse treatment not enough beds across our country and again that’s nothing new that the Salvation Army is saying you’ll hear that from the mayor’s office from city council or other elected officials they are trying to bring those online but there’s more demand than there is capacity,”
Pease, however, believes the biggest concern should be providing a safe place for people to come in off the streets, and for that, he says, they have the staff.
“The city closed one encampment and brought 138 people on, a day, that was warmer like this, the next day was freezing. We could have lost one or two,” he added.
While the city and the mayor may or may not reach its goal of getting 1,000 people off the street by the end of the year, those like Dolores say the rest feels like empty promises.
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“I think his intentions are well, I think he has a lot of things pushing and pulling and I know that’s got to be difficult, but I see stuff could be done better it should really be wrap-around services not a wrap-around on the news service, I mean I want help,” Dolores said.
When previously asked about concerns about struggles to staff case workers and provide adequate resources, the mayor has said they are going to be doing more tracking to hold providers accountable for those services.
