Adams County works toward solutions to ending homelessness in communities

With the city of Denver pushing forward on plans to house 1,000 people experiencing homelessness by the end of the year, neighbors in Adams County are also trying to make headway with recent funding to support their fight to end homelessness in their communities. 

Right now, over 4,500 people actively enrolled in a homelessness program or service. Approximately 18% of those people in the county are unsheltered.

"Every person experiencing homelessness in Adams County has a point of contact, so that's one thing we're doing well," said Lindsey Earl, who is the Homelessness Administrator for Adams County.

However, Earl says what the county has in access to temporary help and resources, they continue to lack in housing.

"We've had a small sense of urgency for a while now, but it's really exciting to see Denver's new emphasis on homelessness reduction, because that just means more opportunities to collaborate," she said.

Earlier this year, Adams County was awarded nearly $50 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to utilize in areas across the community. $29 million of those of those federal dollars have since been earmarked towards different solutions to address housing and homelessness.

"I think we're getting very close to the launching phase for a lot of these projects. We'll be able to actually acquire properties, build communities and additional beds for people experiencing homelessness," said Earl.

The planning stages are already in the works to use $7 million towards purchasing land in different municipalities to create 337 additional units.

"You're not always going to see the folks that don't have a home. Some of those folks are living with others and some are living in parks and trails. Our goal is to try to make sure that everyone has a home," said Steve O'Dorisio, Adams County Commissioner and current chair of the board.

O'Dorisio says all of these funds will reach a wide array of solutions out of homelessness over the next few years.

"That includes transitional housing, that might include micro-communities, it might include safe parking places, it might include conversions for hotels and motels," he said.

In the short term, some results out of homelessness could come sooner, with $485,000 of that funding allocated to ACCESS Housing and their plans to purchase land and implement tiny homes through a program with students in the Adams 12 School District.

"Students actually have a workshopping class where they build these tiny homes, and they did not have anywhere to put them. So, they decided to donate these tiny homes to ACCESS Housing," said Earl. "A half-acre lot next to their existing family shelter to be able to put tiny homes there. they are 300 square foot, and they can accommodate unaccompanied youths or families with minor children.

Unique to Adams County is that one of the leading cause of homelessness is domestic violence and family instability, which is why a coalition of folks across the county are working on drafting a request for proposals to allocate over $4 million of those ARPA funds towards domestic violence initiatives. 

"Thats an anomaly compared to the rest of the Denver metro area. We don't find that to be a leading indicator in the city and county of Denver," said Earl.

Here are some of the other areas in which the county will allocate federal dollars towards addressing the homelessness crisis:

-       $3.8 million towards the Clarion Hotel Conversion (Renewal Village), which is a project with Colorado Coalition for the Homeless and the city of Denver

-       $7 million towards Land banking Partnerships (Purchase of property that will ultimately result in the development of 337 affordable housing units)

-       $5 million towards a Farmworker Housing Partnership with CRHD

-       $5 million towards the Homelessness Campus Partnership with city of Aurora (which will be a campus of 150 shelter beds, 80 transitional units, day center, mental health services, housing navigation, and case management)

-       $485,000 for the land acquisition to ACCESS Housing for tiny home village

-       $4.3 million for Domestic Violence Initiatives

-       $1 million towards Rapid Rehousing

-       $2 million for Mobile Mental Health

-       $2 million towards a Severe Weather Activation Plan