The flow of new immigrants to Denver has dramatically slowed. Now, the city of Denver will close its last shelter that was housing new arrivals.
The City of Denver is letting its contract with the Archdiocese of Denver expire at the end of the year. Immigrants who need shelter will instead go through the city’s homeless shelter system.
The Mullen House in West Highland opened to immigrant families last December, in a deal that saw the city and the Archdiocese exchange parcels of land. The deal allowed Denver to lease the Mullen House without having to pay rent.
City officials have been planning to end the local government’s immigrant sheltering program since early fall, citing a reduction in immigrants arriving in Denver in recent months. Shelter population peaked in early 2024, when about 5,200 immigrants were staying at Denver emergency overnight shelters.
That figure has been steadily decreasing since then, allowing the city to roll back its immigrant response, as well as cancel plans to purchase more land for future emergency shelters. In October, the last remaining short-term shelter closed.
The Mullen Home stayed open slightly longer than other city shelters because it followed a different structure, according to city spokesperson Jon Ewing.
“Mullen Home is a site we’ve used for bridge housing for families with kids or pregnant women who need extra time to get into a good situation,” he said.
It is not clear what the Archdiocese will do with the Mullen Home property, which was deeded to them when Catholic organization Little Sister of the Poor closed its elderly care facility in 2022. When the Mullen Home was first leased to the city, the Archdiocese said it would delay plans to reopen a senior living facility on the site.
