Tag: Homelessness
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Denver mayor aims to reduce gun violence, homelessness in 2026
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston on Monday outlined his top 2026 priorities, with an eye toward the city’s most persistent challenges, notably homelessness, which has been growing under his administration, though there had been gains in some areas. The city’s top goals, Johnston said at a news conference at the La Alma Recreation Center, include further…
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EDITORIAL: Dispelling illusions about homelessness
A Common Sense Institute report released last week affirms how soft-on-crime and easy-on-drugs policies make homelessness worse in wealthy, high-government-spending states like Colorado. To control for states with larger populations and thus higher homeless numbers, the report analyzed the number of homeless people per capita in each state. It turned out Colorado was top-10 across…
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Denver ranked 5th in metro areas with highest homeless population, report says
Denver is one of the major metropolitan areas in the country with the highest homeless population, and affordable housing may not be the main reason why — a new report claims. A new study by the Common Sense Institute found that metropolitan Denver ranked fifth for total number of homeless people among the 50 largest…
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Denver’s performance-based shelter contracts face test with Urban Alchemy
Denver has awarded a $30 million, three-year contract to a San Francisco-based group to provide operational services at The Aspen, one of the largest city-owned homeless hotels-turned-shelters, beginning January 1. Unlike The Salvation Army, which has operated several of the city’s non-congregate hotel shelters under a flat-fee contract, Urban Alchemy agreed to a performance-based contract,…
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Aurora — a city still becoming | Michael A. Hancock
Christmas is not a holiday for illusions. It does not ask us to pretend the world — or our city — is whole, harmonious, or complete. It asks something more complicated: that we acknowledge what is broken without surrendering to it, and that we understand renewal as a responsibility rather than a feeling. As this…
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Denver’s homeless access more services
More members of Denver’s homeless population are gaining access to health and behavioral services, according to city officials who briefed the Community Planning and Housing Committee on Tuesday. They’re getting more services, and they’re sticking around longer. Data from the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment presented at the meeting showed that from January…
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EDITORIAL: Guess who’ll be minding Denver’s sheltered
The hardcore “homeless” population that regularly wanders the streets of the Denver metro area is disproportionately afflicted by addiction. That typically means illegal drug use — heroin, meth, fentanyl — and the lawbreaking lifestyle that goes with it. So, here’s an idea: Let’s staff one of Denver’s city-run shelters — with ex-criminal convicts! Many of…
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Denver approves $30M shelter contract with Urban Alchemy
With a 9-4 vote, Denver City Council members approved a new $30 million, three-year contract with Urban Alchemy, a San Francisco-based nonprofit, to run The Aspen, a former DoubleTree Hotel that has been turned into a homeless shelter. More than two hours of discussion focused on the contract and the new service provider, selected by…
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EDITORIAL: Handouts won’t help Springs homeless
The Colorado Springs Homeless Union is at a crossroads. Not a labor union, the volunteer initiative endeavors to “present a unified voice” and “call for fair treatment” for our city’s homeless, as noted in a Gazette report last week. As the two-year-old union announces it’s in the midst of a “regrouping” and “soul-searching” process, it’s…
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Aurora homeless navigation campus welcomes 176 people on first day
Aurora’s homeless navigation campus opened its doors to 176 homeless people Monday two weeks after its official ribbon cutting. The navigation campus — formerly a Crowne Plaza hotel — at 15500 E. 40th Ave., has been in the works for more than a year after the city purchased the building in May 2024 for $26.5…