Proposed Homeless Shelter Clears First Hurdle In Denver Committee
DENVER (CBS4) - The city of Denver would like to turn an unused warehouse into a new shelter. According to Britta Fisher with the Department of Housing Stability in Denver, coronavirus has had a significant impact on the number of available beds for the homeless.
"We saw a tremendous blow to our shelter capacity, in fact 56% of our beds were rendered unusable by physical distancing requirements," Fisher said.
With fewer available beds at long-standing shelters, the city opened a massive temporary site at the National Western Complex that houses more than 600 guests and a second site at the Denver Coliseum.
Now that the lease at the event center has expired, Fisher says the city is proposing the development of a new, more permanent shelter.
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"What we would be doing with this facility is rehabbing it and making it a proper shelter facility. That could be used for the duration of the coronavirus emergency response," she said.
With more than 80,000 square feet, the facility on East 48th Avenue near Colorado Boulevard, could potentially house 400 guests.
Fisher says it's enough space to maintain social distancing requirements and would help rebuild capacity as the need continues to grow.
"There are more people facing an economic crisis. There are more people who have impacted incomes and maybe no income and have been thrust into a housing crisis," she said.
The Department of Housing Stability made the proposal at a committee hearing Tuesday afternoon and was approved to move to the full City Council.
They will have to approve the 10-year lease costing more than $19 million with much of the first year's funding expected to come from the federal CARES Act and possibly support from FEMA.
