Denver's new plan for homeless veterans met with mixed reactions
It was during a press conference Monday morning that Denver Mayor Mike Johnston vowed to prioritize getting veterans experiencing homelessness off the streets for good.
"If you have served your country, there is no way that Denver is going to allow you to be stuck sleeping on the streets," said Mayor Mike Johnston. "We're delighted that before the end of this year, we will be able to put an end to unsheltered veteran homelessness here in Denver."
Johnston, along with local and federal VA leaders announced a partnership to house existing veterans in the city of Denver. They set a goal of "functional zero," whereby there will be "more exits for veterans who are unsheltered into housing each month than there are folks that are currently experiencing homelessness or entering it."
"I think it's just paramount that we get our veterans off the streets," said Barrett Miller, vice president of Knock Knock Angels Colorado.
The nonprofit organization has served as a piece of the puzzle in helping veterans experiencing homelessness start over.
The Sedalia-based nonprofit has helped provide home makeovers to roughly 40 veterans entering a new home, in addition to providing random acts of kindness for other residents in the form of donated items or other needs.
"Someone hands you keys to an apartment and you walk in and you're feeling so great, and then it hits you that you don't have a single thing to put in that apartment," said Miller. "You don't even have a hanger to hang your shirts on or and it becomes very depressing very quickly."
Miller says they work with agencies that get veterans into housing to help restore their dignity and self-confidence once they've walked through their new home.
"Provide them with a home that reflects who they are and take all of that stress off so that they can focus on their job, their education, their health, whatever it might be, and have a comfortable place to do that," she said.
As Denver looks to get more veterans housed, Miller hopes the city's initiative will also prioritize providing the resources they need after being housed.
"There's a lot out there for veterans, but it's helping them get connected to the pieces that make sense," she said.
A spokesperson for the city of Denver answered additional questions regarding what options veterans could expect as they continue their initiative:
"The goal is permanent housing units although the process to get there will be different for different individuals. For example, case managers will work with veterans experiencing unsheltered homelessness to identify their specific housing needs and supports, and connecting them (with) housing that meets their needs. This could look like supportive housing, which is housing plus wraparound services. Other individuals may only need help getting all their documents in order and finding a housing unit."
Some groups, however, feel the mayor's office is playing politics.
Terese Howard, an organizer at Housekeys Action Network Denver, says the mayor's office is capitalizing on existing efforts from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and other groups, failing to provide new housing and more concerned with "optics."
"This is 100% the Mayor taking credit for the VA's existing housing resources - no new housing resource is being provided here," Howard told CBS News Colorado. "(It's) just a prioritization of vets (who are counted as on the street) for outreach time."
Housekeys Action Network Denver is a progressive group that describes its mission is "to fight for housing for all, to fight for housing as determined by people without housing, and to fight for housing as a public resource for all - not a commodity for the rich."
Howard went on to say that Johnston's office is setting a goal it feels confident it can achieve, given the number of veterans it identified as living on the streets, not the total number of homeless veterans who might be in and out of shelters.
"They are leaving all 230 vets counted in the shelters out," Howard said. "Vets, as with many houseless people, may go back and forth from streets to shelters. But none of that matters for the Mayor who saw a low count of vets counted on the streets and is capitalizing on that opportunity to look good getting 'all vets off the streets.' The other 230 vets are houseless too - and will likely be back and forth from streets to shelters."
Johnston's new plan is "all about optics for the mayor," Howard said, "not identifying new resources to help really end veteran houselessness."
The mayor's office, in an emailed statement Tuesday, disputed those claims.
"There are no facts or data to back up any of these claims," a statement from Jordan Fuja, a spokesperson for the mayor's office, read, in part. "The City and County of Denver, together with federal, state and nonprofit partners, is deeply committed to ensuring no veteran in Denver has to sleep on the streets - which was the crux of this announcement. We are committed to ending veteran unsheltered homelessness this year and will continue to keep that commitment going forward - working swiftly to ensure any veteran who is sleeping on the streets is quickly connected to other options."
The mayor's office acknowledged this effort prioritizes veterans and serves as a first step in connecting veterans with resources.
"Helping veterans get inside is the first crucial step," Fuja continued. "Once they are inside and connected to case navigators, they have MUCH better access to the resources that are specific to them, such as HUD VASH housing vouchers and the services they can access through the VA."
"HUD VASH" refers to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing vouchers provided through the Denver Housing Authority and the Colorado Department of Local Affairs.
The mayor's office called the effort "unprecedented" because of increased collaboration between organizations and agencies.
"By working together with service providers like Volunteers of America Colorado and the VA, we can identify and connect veterans with housing services much more quickly than if each organization was working in silos," Fuja said. "We have a bevy of resources at hand, includ(ing) expanded VA services and support, an increase in vouchers and housing navigation for veterans, the removal of housing barriers thanks to federal support, and increased coordination, rapid rehousing and case management."
