The Denver City Council finally passed a contract and funding extension for The Salvation Army to operate Crossroads, one of the city’s largest homeless shelters — authorizing work that actually started six months ago and has gone unpaid until now.
The council added $4.5 million to a contract now totaling $19.3 million. To overcome city concerns about the organization’s track record, The Salvation Army had to agree to new oversight efforts.
City leaders have questioned The Salvation Army’s ability to run its shelters competently. A Denverite investigation found guests reported poor living conditions and a workforce that has been stretched thin.
Earlier this year, City Council shot down a contract for the charity to rapidly rehouse 50 families, citing a lack of trust in the organization.
The state of The Salvation Army
The homelessness charity and evangelical church says it has done $5 million of unpaid work as the city has delayed approval of the contract, as Denverite reported earlier this month.
The charity has been operating not just the Crossroads group shelter but multiple hotel shelters under Mayor Mike Johnston’s All In Mile High plan to end unsheltered homelessness by 2027 — mostly without contracts or city funding.
Several of those other contracts will go to committee this week, and The Salvation Army has faith the city will reimburse the group for all the unpaid work, officials said.
But as a result of the funding delays, The Salvation Army has been tapping into its reserves and experiencing “financial hardship,” spokesperson Jennifer Forker said earlier.
The contracts have been stalled as city officials and council members have been bombarded with a flurry of complaints about how The Salvation Army manages the shelters, including about safety and health violations and a high-profile sexual assault and murders in Salvation Army-run facilities.
The Salvation Army has said it’s committed to safety and services for guests, but faces a tough challenge in an overburdened system.
The decision came as the city reviews who will operate its homeless shelters in 2026.
Some city council members, including Sarah Parady and Shontel Lewis, say they have lost faith in The Salvation Army’s ability to operate city shelters and have sworn off approving new contracts with the group — unless there are significant reforms.
During Monday’s City Council meeting, Councilmember Parady — one of The Salvation Army’s biggest critics among city officials — confronted The Salvation Army representatives over numerous issues, including several alleged sexual misconduct cases by shelter staff and high turnover among employees.
“I just have to be a no tonight because I think … that what we're intending with these funds is not sort of flowing through to what I'm hearing about the experience at the shelter,” Parady said.
Councilmember Chris Hinds described the decision as a “hostage situation,” as voting the contract down would mean the city would be left scrambling to find a contractor to run the Crossroads shelter or risk putting its residents out onto the streets.
Several council members who voted to extend the contract said they did so hesitantly, pointing to the serious allegations against The Salvation Army.
“This is not a free pass to the provider, you have other contracts coming up,” Council President Amanda Sandoval said.
City Council voted 9-4 in favor of approving the contract. Councilmembers Parady, Hinds, Lewis and Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez were the four opposing votes.
