Lockers For Homeless Open Up Inside Denver City Facility On Colfax Avenue
DENVER (CBS4) - The City of Denver has opened a new facility for people with no place to go to safely store their belongings.
The new storage space is inside of the Minoru Yasui building on Colfax Avenue. There are currently 200 lockers available to anyone who can provide an ID and contact information. The lockers, which are about 12 inches deep and about the size of a high school locker, were made possible due to a class-action lawsuit settlement that happened back in September 2019.
Part of that lawsuit required that homeless people be given a notice before they were essentially moved and a place for them to collect their possessions.
Currently, the facility is open between the hours 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. It's inside of the Minoru Yasui Municipal Building, however, the space is managed by the St. Francis Center, a nonprofit organization that runs shelters as well as helps men and women get off the streets. Users have 30 days to use the lockers and at the end of that term they simply have to re-up with the center so they can still have access.
"I think storage is something that really is quite necessary, people who are obviously struggling in this town with not having enough affordable housing, people need a place to keep their things if they find themselves unhoused, this gives them that opportunity for a safe place, to keep their belongings," said Andrew Spinks, St. Francis Development Director.
City officials also said they plans to expand shelters and add more storage. In the near future they will add 600 more additional lockers to the Lawrence Street Community Center and the 48th Avenue Shelter, but those are primarily for residents staying there. The lockers at the Yasui building are first come first serve and so far about 10 people have signed up.
