Homeless Advocates Prepare For More Outreach With Those Living On Denver Streets

DENVER (CBS4)- The City of Denver is preparing to cleanup two homeless encampments this week. One will be near the Denver Art Museum and the other is expected to be at 13th Avenue and Washington Street.

"We are doing this work to improve safety by all," Nancy Kuhn, the spokeswoman for the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure explained in a video posted on Twitter last Tuesday.

"We want to pick up the trash and the hazardous items that we're seeing. And clean the sidewalks and really open up those spaces for people to be able to walk by."

Before city workers can move the homeless, the people living in the area has to be given a week's notice. But after they move where can they go? Homeless advocates like Nicole Tschetter with the Denver Rescue Mission are looking to help out.

"There are a multitude of homeless service providers that are still operating and working together with the City of Denver to provide shelter and meals for people experiencing homelessness," Tschetter said.

One of the homeless shelters is at the 48th Avenue Center and the other at the Denver Coliseum. There the homeless will be provided with the basic essentials and programs like "The Next Steps."

"It's figuring out the next steps to help someone. Sometimes it's as easy as helping someone with their driver's license or figuring out how to save money for rent," Tschetter said.

Most importantly, it's a safe space for them to lay their head with services provided to lend a helping hand.

"We just support having a dignified place for people who are experiencing homelessness to have a place to sleep. Especially during COVID-19 we want to make sure that people are staying as healthy as possible," Tschetter said.