The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless may be getting some additional funding to run a non-congregate shelter through a proposed amendment to an existing contract.
That contract with the Department of Housing Stability, passed by City Council in July, provided the Coalition with about $2.9 million to operate the Park Avenue Inn, an emergency shelter that serves about 300 households.
It was a vital step at the time due to closure of the Aloft Hotel in April and the impending closure of the Rodeway Motel.
However, due to an increase in start-up costs, food costs and the Coalition providing employees with increased pay on certain shifts, the nonprofit needed additional funding for the venture.
So through City Council, the Coalition and HOST are seeking additional dollars to help supplement those added costs.
On Wednesday, the Safety, Housing, Education and Homelessness Committee approved the amended contract between the pair that will provide the Coalition with an additional $82,000.
During the meeting, HOST explained that the added funding will go toward three things. The first being start-up costs, which includes providing supplies for staff members and operations. The second being food costs. HOST said the Coalition has seen a 10% increase in its food budget due to the grocery inflations.
Lastly, the Coalition is adding differential pay to those who work outside of normal business hours including evening, nights and weekend shifts. HOST said that pay provides an incentive to "attract and retain employees willing to work these shifts."
The contract amendment doesn't change the scope of the work on the contract term that runs through August 2025. After that, the Coalition intends to turn the space into long-term housing.
During the meeting, HOST said they expect to see more of these types of amendments from other large shelter providers in the coming months. The agency said several providers reached out expressing similar concerns regarding the unexpected rise in food costs, the spike in migrant arrivals and a general increase of need and use in the shelter system.
The proposed amendment to the Coalition's contract will make its way to the full council in the upcoming weeks.
The Coalition also hopes to begin reworking a proposed $6.4 million contract that was voted down by City Council on Monday.
The proposed contract, also between HOST and the Coalition, would have provided funding for outreach services to Denver residents living in encampments and help them move into non-congregate shelters, bridge housing or supporting housing. The Coalition's target, in collaboration with the city, would have been to move at least 1,080 people from encampments into housing within three years.
Several councilmembers opposed the contract mainly because they felt the number of people that could get help was too low. Mayor Mike Johnston also wrote to councilmembers asking them to vote against the contract, so that his administration could work with council to come up with a more efficient solution.
"[This decision will] also allow my administration and Denver City Council additional time to develop a strong and fair contract that is fiscally responsible and prioritizes accountability to deliver success," Johnston wrote.
Coalition spokesperson Cathy Alderman said the nonprofit was disappointed in the mayor's decision.
Alderman said the Coalition and HOST began working on that contract prior to Johnston becoming mayor and the initial goal was to assist fewer people for a longer term. But with Johnston's House 1000 initiative and the homelessness emergency declaration, the initial goals of the contract no longer aligned with the city's current administration.
Now, the city was looking for the Coalition to move more people into temporary housing and long-term housing at a much faster pace.
The Coalition and HOST attempted to rework by pushing to move 500 people from encampments to shelter by the end of the year and then 90 people per quarter after that.
Alderman said the Coalition was ready to make that push then settle back into the original contract's goal. but ultimately council and the mayor wanted more.
"Getting people into housing and providing supportive services in a long-term way requires a different kind of staff and upfront effort than moving people from encampments into temporary spaces," Alderman said. "I think we were caught off guard a little bit [by the decision] but we also knew that a lot of questions had been raised...We agree with the decision, but I think it really felt like the timing didn't give everybody the opportunity to understand the goals of the original contract versus the kind of realigned goals of the contract for the new initiative."
Alderman said she hopes the mayor's office, along with HOST and council, can go back to the drawing board as suggested to continue tweaking the proposed contract to better align with current housing goals.
Alderman noted, however, that with the new initiative a problem providers will run into is the lack of resources. While the Coalition was ready to take on the task of moving 500 people into shelter by the end of the year, the move was only contingent on if that space was available.
There's also the high sense of urgency brought on by the emergency declaration and the initiative. Alderman said the Coalition has been feeling that sense of urgency for "decades" but now the urgency is being felt "more broadly" due to the administration's new tactics.
"I'm not surprised that things are moving quickly. I think that is exactly what the mayor intended when he declared an emergency, but I hope that that kind of expeditiousness doesn't prevent us from really being thoughtful and intentional about both the short-term and long-term strategies," Alderman said.
