Denver, CO Case Study
Denver has made remarkable progress toward ending street homelessness in recent years. Current Mayor Mike Johnston, who assumed office in July 2023, campaigned on this issue and on his second day in office declared a State of Emergency on Homelessness, setting a goal to house 1,000 people by the end of 2023, and end street homelessness by the end of his first term in 2027. A key element of this plan includes building 10-20 micro-communities on nonprofit or publicly owned land to create more units of dignified alternate sheltering, which the Colorado Village Collaborative was founded to produce. This type of shelter provides an alternative to traditional congregate shelter beds and typically includes individual units to enhance safety and accessibility for those that feel or are unwelcome in traditional shelters. The city successfully met their House1000 goal, housing 1,034 individuals by the end of 2023 by providing them with supportive services and non-congregate shelter options in hotels, motels, or micro-communities. By providing shelter options that offered safety, privacy, and dignity, the city was able to close 10 encampments in this process. House1000 was the first time in Denver’s history that the city was able to permanently resolve encampments by providing an array of bespoke support services including mental health care, substance misuse treatment, and workforce training in addition to housing.
In early 2024, House1000 rolled into the All In Mile High initiative and Mayor Johnston set a new goal of bringing another 1,000 people indoors during that year. By October, they had met this goal, housing a total of 2,064 people since Mayor Johnston took office. In line with the proven “Housing First” strategy, the first priority was bringing people inside to shelter. In the first six months of Mayor Johnston’s tenure, independent service providers worked to find permanent housing for sheltered individuals. The city, however, quickly realized that the disparate parts of the homelessness response system needed to be better coordinated to more rapidly place people in permanent housing options that met their specific needs. Under the ongoing State of Emergency on Homelessness, the city deployed an HCC, led by the Mayor’s Senior Advisor for Homelessness Resolution, to coordinate across service providers, government departments, and private landlords, matching permanent housing resources with those in need with a sense of urgency. Critically, the leader of the HCC has been empowered by the Mayor and positioned within city government to enable expedient coordination across city departments to maneuver around any re-housing roadblocks within the purview of the city.
The Denver HCC includes housing navigators, a stabilization team, a data analyst, complex case staff, and site-based staff. The HCC coordinates moving people from temporary shelters into permanent supportive housing or other permanent housing options within 30-60 days. Site-based staff conduct outreach at shelter sites to assess each resident’s needs to remain permanently housed. The housing navigators simultaneously work to find empty units in the open market and work with private landlords to enable re-housing at fair market value, sometimes offering incentives or guarantees for damages; this team is tasked with finding 100 units every month, and sheltered residents can apply for any of the units using Housing Choice Vouchers to pay full rent for up to 12 months. Through this model, Denver has served over 2,000 people at an annual cost of $25-30,000 per person, inclusive of staff, rent, and services.
Funding for this initiative comes from sales tax and the city’s general operating fund. In 2020, Denver voters approved a 0.25% retail sales tax to fund the Homelessness Resolution Program and other services for people experiencing homelessness—proof that ballot funding measures can be used to address a range of housing issues. This new tax generates about $40 million a year. The city was also able to use American Rescue Plan Act dollars to purchase some hotels to convert into non-congregate shelters and permanent housing options.
With the Mayor’s focused attention on homelessness, Denver has made immense progress in drastically reducing unsheltered homelessness through both the “Housing First” approach and the Housing Central Command system working to match residents with permanent housing. By empowering the Mayor’s Senior Advisor for Homelessness Resolution to lead and coordinate closely with service providers as well as with private landlords, the city has been able to enact the necessary systems-level approach to impact this crisis with urgency. Denver’s 2024 Point-InTime Count showed an 83% reduction in unsheltered family homelessness and an 11% decline in the total unsheltered homeless population. Additionally, by the end of 2024, Denver had only 10 veterans experiencing unsheltered homelessness, effectively achieving “functional zero” while continuing to work with these individuals.