Mayor Michael B. Hancock and the Department of Housing Stability (HOST) today launched Denver’s second concentrated effort to move as many people as possible from homelessness to housing over a 100-day period. This second housing surge will expedite the city’s work with partners to get 400 more households stably housed by May 11, 2022.
“Together with our partners, we’re housing people every day, including individuals from shelters and those living on the streets,” Mayor Hancock said. “Through this boosted push, we’re further aligning the good work of many providers and deploying additional resources to achieve an even greater impact.”
During Denver’s first 100-day housing surge last fall, a total of 340 households, including 576 individuals, were placed into housing. The effort far exceeded its goal of placing 200 households.
A housing surge is a way to help quickly get people back into housing by expediting coordination of partners to connect people to available housing resources. Today, housing surges are being used across the country to help people back into housing after the COVID-19 pandemic caused many to lose their homes.
New emergency housing vouchers were made available through U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds in the American Rescue Plan Act to the Denver Housing Authority. The housing surge will be accomplished, in part, using these housing vouchers, and the City will also work with rapid resolution, rapid rehousing, and permanent supportive housing providers to reach our goal.
“Our community is fortunate to have such an incredible number and caliber of service providers that are committed to resolving episodes of homelessness day in and day out,” said HOST Executive Director Britta Fisher. “We learned from last fall’s surge effort, and we’re grateful for the federal resources to help us quickly transform as many individual lives as possible.”
A broad coalition of nonprofit and homeless service partners are working to achieve the housing surge goals, with the support and coordination of Denver Housing Authority, Metro Denver Homeless Initiative, Community Solutions and Homebase. The City has also leveraged the voter-approved Homelessness Resolution Fund to expand an existing contract with the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless to provide housing units from their own portfolio and to help identify private landlords willing to participate. The housing surge is part of Mayor Michael Hancock’s economic recovery package, initially announced last summer.
To access resources through the housing surge, case managers are engaging people in shelters and on the street. For more information on other housing resources available to Denver households, visit Denvergov.org/housing.
[Shared on behalf of our friends at HOST]
