LOVELAND — When Jonathan Rogers was tasked with identifying a topic to base his English 1021 persuasive research essay on in the fall of 2024, the Aims Community College student scouted work on some notable social issues: Capital punishment, the potential negative effects social media has on today’s youth, whether vaccinations should be federally mandated and a host of other topics.

Those topics, though, seemed distant to Rogers. Nothing really piqued his interest until he came across a database report on youth homelessness and the need for more resources.

The issue hit home with Rogers. He and his father became homeless in both California and Colorado for the better part of two years beginning in 2020, before Rogers was even 17.

“It was really tough,” Rogers said of being homeless. “I think, in the beginning, I kind of had some hope. I figured things would work out, but the reality set in of where we were. It started doing a lot of damage – the type of mental damage that takes a long time to heal from.”

Through resource help and the assistance of others, Rogers is in a good place today. He’s employed and carries a GPA of over 3.0 at Aims, with plans of pursuing a degree and a career in video production.

Most importantly, Rogers, now 20, is in permanent housing with his father and two other roommates — one of whom he’s helping out.

Rogers realizes he’s lucky. Not everyone in his position finds a way out, which is ultimately what led him to write his English essay on youth homelessness.

“I feel like there should be more programs and resources available for youths experiencing homelessness,” Rogers said. “There are more youths out there who are homeless than I think people realize.”

People are listening to Rogers and others’ pleas for resources along the Front Range.

The Landing, operated by The Matthews House, opened earlier this year in Loveland as a youth homeless shelter, specifically catering to minors and young adults between the ages of 15-20.

The facility can accommodate up to 20 overnight but has the potential to provide shelter for up to 28 if more bed space is needed. The Landing features two wings, one for those aged 15-17 and the other for those 18-20. Drop-in day services can include access to a case-management room, kitchen, laundry facilities, lounge, study areas and a wellness room. The residential rooms come equipped with lockers, plug-in outlets and beds for up to four residents.

The Landing is the latest installation of facilities in northern Colorado aimed at helping those in at-risk situations. Larimer County’s Acute Care Facility on the Longview Campus in Southwest Fort Collins opened in December 2023. Earlier this year, the Fort Collins Rescue Mission announced it was slated to relocate its homeless shelter to a $27 million, 38,000-square-foot location in the winter of 2026.

The Landing differs, though, by comparison, says Nicole Armstrong, executive director with The Matthews House. The facility specifically caters to youth in displaced housing situations.

“Those facilities are greatly needed,” Armstrong says. “A traditional homeless shelter may serve a variety of ages, but, at the same time, it may not be appropriate for an 18-year-old to access that type of service or be involved with some of those individuals. Then for those under 18, there just were no resources in our community for those under 18. A resource for those individuals is key to helping combat unaccompanied youth and homeless youth moving forward.”

‘Difficult to track’

Reports indicate that homelessness is growing at a rapid rate throughout Colorado and much of the United States.

The 2024 annual report by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) highlighted that the number of homeless families in metro Denver spiked by more than 134% and that over 770,000 individuals across the nation were homeless in 2024, representing and 18% increase from 2023.

In Larimer County alone, the homeless population grew 20% faster than the county’s total population between 2019 and 2023, according to the Common Sense Institute of Colorado.

HUD defines homelessness as “a person who lacks a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence.” It’s important to note that the definition does not include individuals who “couch surf,” those who might be staying with friends or family, a common scenario for youth and young adults.

Multiple reports convey that homelessness among those younger than 18 has skyrocketed.

Armstrong believes there are many contributing factors that have led to the increase.

“I think there is an increase in more self-awareness and kiddos are becoming more in touch with their own needs, which may not align with their families or guardians,” Armstrong said. “There might be a disapproval of lifestyles within their home and family situation. There is also a big correlation between childhood homelessness and adult homelessness.”

COVID and its aftermath likely contributed to the surge, according to a HUD report. Armstrong said that more young adults are homeless because, quite simply, “the cost of living is outrageous.”

According to Colorado Department of Education data, Poudre School District had 1,022 youths defined as homeless under the McKinney-Vento Homelessness Assistance Act, and Thompson School District had 521 during the 2023-2024 school year.

Armstrong said data points to there being more than 400 unaccompanied youth combined in Larimer and Weld counties, but that these numbers are almost certainly higher due to youth homelessness being famously hard to track. The keyword for Armstrong is “unaccompanied,” meaning that “they do not have a parent or guardian they are connected to.”

“Youth homelessness is difficult to track because they don’t want to be identified — they’re not going to self-disclose often in a school setting until it gets really extreme,” Armstrong said. “We know that there are over 400 unaccompanied youth in this regional area based on data from school districts. Over 400 is the data point that we have been able to identify, but the numbers continue to go up.

“We’re really seeking to create a safety net for those individuals in our community to even self-identify. The (school) districts are vital in providing that sense of safety, and then, historically, we have not had resources in place to assist youths. Now, we have The Landing.”

A unique facility

The Landing might provide a bit of a blueprint for other communities considering implementing or revamping services to those in displaced housing situations, specifically youth and young adults.

Although The Landing is operated by The Matthews House — an “organization committed to serve the youth and families of our community facing challenges such as homelessness, substance abuse, and education support” — the building is owned by the Thompson School District. It formerly was the Monroe Early Childhood Center.

The conversion of the building into a youth homeless shelter is just one example of how Colorado school districts are getting creative with repurposing shuttered schools.

The Landing is also partnered with Poudre School District, which provides staffing to support youth and young adults needing help with educational navigation.

Although there are other youth-dedicated homeless shelters in the state located in Boulder, Colorado Springs and Denver, Armstong said The Landing is the only such facility in the state that is partnered with a school district.

That configuration potentially puts The Landing in a greater position to succeed with its reach and support through its partnership with two major Colorado school districts, which encompass over 85 schools and serve approximately 45,000 students PK-12 in multiple counties.

“Really, what we did with this project and partnership is break down walls,” Thompson School District assistant superintendent Todd Piccone said. “We really got creative. We knew we had a building, but we just had to figure out who we could work with.”

Piccone and other Thompson School District officials said the relationships with Armstrong and others from The Matthews House enabled the project to get completed at warp speed, comparatively speaking.

“When you talk about this type of project and governmental work, it was fast,” Piccone said. “From the conceptual idea to the doors opening was just over two years. That included obtaining $7 million in grants, writing the grants, designing the building, construction of the building, going through the permit process, and the licensing process to opening it. That all took just over two years, which is remarkable when you consider projects like this can sometimes take two years to just get through the planning process.”

Though the physical building was already in place, officials from The Landing worked to redesign and further construct it all with its clients in mind. The grand total for the project was $9 million.

“Really, the design of this building was trauma-informed, so everything in here, in terms of feel, touch, lighting controls, allows for people to make choices and not feel like they are in a facility or institution as much as possible,” said Aaron Brown, who serves as the youth and young adult director with The Landing. “All the choices that were made in creating the building were with trauma in mind. The choices around the furniture, lighting, and color all had a tremendous amount of care with that.”

People who care

Brown worked for close to 20 years with juveniles as a supervisor of a juvenile hall in the San Francisco area before arriving in Colorado.

“My passion is really, how do we get kids to break barriers, to find the success that they would like to have,” Brown said. “I ran a number of long-term programs that were getting kids off probation. I think there’s a unique set of skills that it takes to work with this age group. An adolescent is still an autonomous person. They are still working towards becoming an adult. So, it really comes down to learning how to walk beside them to help them through that process.

“I’m teaching kids how to, not necessarily be human, but just how to connect with others.”

Brown and his family were displaced by the Paradise fire in 2018 in north-central California. He said the experience gave him a unique perspective and gave him even greater empathy for those individuals who are homeless.

“I would say one of the most difficult things about that time was, honestly, how others viewed me and my family at that point,” Brown said. “I had been in the probation department for close to 20 years, and I had been a supervisor and in management for 17 of those years. I went from a well-known, I felt, upstanding member of the department and the community to where people didn’t know how to approach me anymore. It was a feeling like I was no longer part of the community.”

Brown brought “a ton of experience” in working with youth to his role at The Landing.

“I always tell people that adolescents are developing and they are going to make terrible decisions. That is the one thing you can guarantee is that an adolescent is going to make a decision that is going to make your jaw drop, and you have to continue working with them. A lot of these kids have probably never been trusted in their entire lives, and it is our job to trust them immediately and work with them,” Brown said.

Armstrong is also poised to lead The Landing as its executive director.

“I had a wonderful upbringing, and my parents are wonderful individuals, but I didn’t understand that there were others in the world around me who did not have the resources and the spaces and the upbringing that I had access to,” Armstrong said.

She said her former teacher and current Weld RE-4 School District Superintendent Michelle Scallion inspired her to want to work with youth, which is what ultimately led her into social work.

“Michelle was a teacher, but really what she was giving was time,” Armstrong said. “Time in relationship to individuals and identifying their strengths and just building them up. I realized social work was a space where I could kind of work in that environment.”

Drawing inspiration and moving forward

Before The Landing came to fruition, Armstrong was developing relationships, one of which was with a troubled youth named Jazmyne.

Jazmyne grew up under difficult circumstances, which led her to experience homelessness with her family and also the foster care system.

Somehow, though, Jazmyne and Nicole Armstrong found one another. A bond was forged, and Armstrong recently adopted Jazmyne, who now goes by Jazmyne Armstrong.

Now, 21, Jazmyne recently got her associate’s degree from Aims Community College. She is presently an intern at Lutheran Family Services in Greely in its immigration and asylum division.

She would like to follow her adopted mother’s footsteps and work with displaced and troubled youth.

“Something that I love to do is help people,” Jazmyne said. “I want to end up helping foster kids and people who have been where I’ve been.”