The Denver City Council has approved a contract adding 12 months and $4.5 million to an existing Salvation Army agreement to provide “programmatic services” at the Crossroads Center, a 24-hour, low-barrier, 300-bed emergency shelter facility for homeless men located in the city’s Five Points neighborhood.

Close to an hour of discussion preceded the council’s 9-4 vote Monday, with Councilmembers Shontel M. Lewis, Chris Hinds, Sarah Parady and Serena Gonzalez-Gutierrez voting “nay.”

The measure was twice deferred from previous council meetings, citing concerns over its late addition.

Salvation Army and city homelessness representatives were grilled by councilmembers over staffing allocations, reimbursement and safety issues tied to the contract and the Crossroads facility, including instances of alleged inappropriate relationships between shelter staff and residents.

District 8’s Lewis who has, at times, been critical of the city services provided by the Salvation Army, said that when both a contract closeout and an extension approval are packaged in the same vote, councilmembers lose the ability to scrutinize the contract on its own merits and assess its long-term effectiveness.

Because the contract was submitted late and delayed twice, The Salvation Army has yet to be paid for services it has already performed since Jan. 1, 2025.

Denver Department of Housing Stability (HOST) Executive Director Jamie Rife apologized for the delay.

“Our goal this year is to make sure that we have executed contracts before the services start, so we don’t find ourselves in this position again,” Rife said.

Lewis, who has repeatedly requested that contracts for shelter services not be extended, but instead, be presented in a manner that allows for evaluation of services for the previous performance period.

To do so would require the city to prepare a follow-on Request for Proposal or RFP.

“I’ve asked on numerous occasions if we could split the contract of the work that has already been done, and then bring before us the contract to move the work forward,” Lewis said. “And unfortunately, this puts them two together.”

District 10 Councilmember Chris Hinds said he was concerned that late additions, like this contract, “is a bit of a hostage situation, as in we are having to decide, do we support the 300 individuals that are being serviced by Crossroads, right now.”

City Council President Amanda Sandoval said that the vote to renew the contract “weighs really heavily on me.”

“On one hand, we’re being asked to approve a contract with a provider who has some serious allegations against (them),” Sandoval said. “And on the other hand, not approving this contract would mean displacing nearly 300 people every night and put them back on the streets and exposing them to harm.”

This story has been corrected to reflect the correct council members who voted “nay.”