Denver offered shelter at a hotel to homeless people camped in a one-block radius next to the Governor’s Mansion in the city’s Capitol Hill neighborhood during a sweep on Tuesday morning, but not everyone got a room.

One of the encampment residents, Maurice Richardson, hoped to get into the hotel but was told to look into other options. Richardson, who wore a hospital band, said he has disabilities. 

“I just want to have a place to lay down, cook a pot of beans and die,” he said.  

City officials last week gave about 70 homeless individuals living at Eighth Avenue and Logan Street near the Boettcher Mansion — Gov. Jared Polis does not actually live there — a seven-day notice for the planned clean up, citing “deteriorating conditions, including trash, human waste and discarded needles, as well as encumbrances blocking the public right of way.”

The city swept two camps within the one block radius: One along Eighth Avenue and Logan Street, the other along Grant Street and Seventh Avenue.

City staffers, who were on-site, gave residents until 10 a.m. to pack up and board a bus to — several sources said — the Best Western on Quebec Street. The encampment’s residents rushed to get their belongings packed, with some falling behind schedule after the bus left around 10:20 a.m.

Two bus trips transported homeless people to the hotel on Monday, then one trip on Tuesday morning, according to city staff, though Denver officials did not disclose or verify their destination’s specific location, citing privacy concerns.

On Monday, the day before the planned encampment sweep, the city council voted to officially allocate $15.7 million to help acquire a Best Western hotel in northeast Denver. The Denver Housing Authority board of commissioners earlier approved the hotel’s purchase for $25.95 million, with the funding coming from various sources.

Under the plan, the Housing Authority will lease the building to the city via the housing department for a nominal annual rate and basic maintenance costs. The department will then contract out with a partner to provide non-congregate shelter with supportive services — until the site is ready for conversion to supportive housing, which authorities said would take a few years.

The interest for hotel housing among the homeless living at the Governor’s Mansion encampment was high, according to some who talked with The Denver Gazette.

Brittany Watts, who spent 11 years as a homeless person, had already gone to the hotel on Monday.

“It’s surprisingly very nice, and people there are really helpful,” she said.

“I have never seen this much help,” she added.

Dennis Wamsley, another resident, could not be placed in a shelter. He had been camping at the corner of 7th Avenue and Grant Street. His spot kitty-cornered the nearby sweeps, outside of a storefront, but was not directly in any encampment.

Wamsley, alongside a friend, was swept out of the area on Tuesday.

“I don’t know where I am going,” Wamsley said.

He could not sign up for hotel sheltering in time because he was “never told anything until I heard about it from down the street,” Wamsley said.

Sign-ups for hotel housing occurred last Thursday, according to multiple homeless people.

The city created a signup list for homeless people to obtain shelter. Some homeless people moved into the Governor’s Mansion encampment after the seven-day notice was given.

“Persons who arrived after the initial list was completed are also offered all the city’s typical outreach services, which include hygiene items, access to case management, medical, mental health, and substance misuse services, and transportation to congregate shelter if desired,” a city spokesperson told The Denver Gazette via email on Tuesday.

The city did not have exact numbers for how many were sent to hotels, but the spokesperson said staffers are working to match as many of residents as possible with housing.

“We won’t have final numbers until the move-in days are complete,” the spokesperson said. “There is a standby list in place for persons who arrived subsequently.”

During the sweep, a couple dozen city workers helped homeless people clean up, organize and move out.

A Buddhist nun, Kelsang Virya, showed up to offer support.

“I am here providing love,” Virya said.

Andrea — a homeless woman Virya was helping — is five months pregnant and was running late gathering her stuff.

“She’s suffering, she’s in pain, she needs to go to the hospital and she still wants to go to the hospital. But she is afraid to leave her stuff,” Virya said. “This was supposed to be 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. This wasn’t supposed to be treated like a sweep, and then given until 10 a.m. to get out … it’s really stressful.”

The city’s homeless outreach teams allowed Andrea more time to prepare, Viyra said.