When Mayor Mike Johnston took office with big declarations about how homeless shelters should work, he pledged to ensure hundreds of guests at the city’s new hotel-style shelters had doors, locks and keys for their private rooms — a significant upgrade from traditional shelters with army cots in noisy, open warehouses.
“We believed it was possible that we could bring people off the streets and into housing and shelter that offered dignity and civility,” Johnston said in 2023. That included “a locked door, a bed, access to showers and kitchens and bathrooms, your own heat, your own air conditioning.”
But a new nonprofit running one of Johnston’s non-congregate shelters is reversing that decision. Residents of The Aspen, a shelter in a former DoubleTree hotel, are no longer able to access their own rooms with a key card. Instead, they must ask shelter staff to let them into their rooms anytime they return home.
The change was made by Urban Alchemy, the nonprofit that recently took over The Aspen from The Salvation Army.
The group argues that denying residents their keys will ensure staff and guests interact and residents stay safer. But the change frustrates residents who are losing autonomy they had enjoyed since the shelter opened in 2023.
“Why are you gonna come in here and treat me like a 6-year-old?” asked Bobby, who has lived at the shelter for around a year, in an interview with Denverite. He and other sources declined to be identified by their last names, citing concerns about retaliation.
Chocolate, a woman who has lived at the shelter for several months, said she’s lost a sense of safety without her keys.
For her first few months in the shelter, she felt safe and secure having a room of her own.
“I think they kind of took that away when they took the keys,” she said.
'In the most caring and comfortable way possible'
The Aspen is an upgrade from traditional group homeless shelters.
In other facilities, residents have no privacy, suffering through nights with a symphony of snores, chatter and all manner of smells in a massive open room — often in a building where people were never intended to be warehoused.
Denver’s non-congregate hotel shelters are different, giving individuals, couples and families their own locked rooms. The design was meant to give guests more privacy and dignity. Residents often stay in the rooms for months as they wait for more permanent housing.
But Urban Alchemy quickly revoked guests’ independent access to rooms after taking over management on Jan. 1. Residents of The Aspen learned about the change a few days before the new year.
“We’d like to share a small update with you in the most caring and comfortable way possible,” a letter stated. “Beginning January 1, 2026, all room keys will be deactivated and will no longer be reissued. Room access will be provided by the practitioner assigned to your floor.”
The change drew concerns from residents of the shelter, which hosts 289 rooms off Quebec Street in the Central Park neighborhood.
Guests have also lost their right to invite friends into their rooms, resident Bobby said. Urban Alchemy described it as a way to stop overdoses, he added.
Three-times-a-day room checks — day and night — also have Bobby on edge. Shelter workers have walked in on him while he was showering and woken him up when he was sleeping, he said, leaving him exhausted.
A ‘Four Seasons’ experience?
CEO Lena Miller says Urban Alchemy aims to create a “Four Seasons-like experience for guests.
“Your safety, comfort and peace of mind truly matter to us,” the organization wrote to guests. “Keeping our staff close allows us to provide steady, caring support while maintaining a warm and welcoming environment.”
Urban Alchemy also prides itself on employing staff who have experienced homelessness and can relate to what residents are going through. The vast majority of the nonprofit’s staff have felonies and served prison sentences.
Chocolate says she supports people with felonies having jobs and giving back to the community, but as she sees it, the staff are acting more like prison guards than advocates since the nonprofit took over.
“This is not jail,” she said.
The organization said it was taking away keys to create more communication between staff and residents, since they would have to interact more frequently.
“The safety and well-being of our guests is at the heart of everything that we do,” Urban Alchemy spokesperson Jess Montejano wrote. “Our policy is guided by trauma-informed care and is grounded in dignity, respect, and compassion. It helps to strengthen connection, promote stability, reduce risk and ensure no guest is ever left without support when they need it most.”
In a statement, city housing officials mirrored that argument and expressed support for the policy, which they noted came from the nonprofit.
Montejano said the policy was a response, in part, to city priorities.
Urban Alchemy took over the shelter contract after months of controversy over how it had been operated under previous management.
“We heard from the City of Denver that there was a greater need for accountability and ensuring guests receive more regular touchpoints with staff, which our policy provides,” Montejano wrote.
Thus far, the city is pleased with Urban Alchemy’s work.
“Urban Alchemy has done a terrific job leading a smooth transition, and we are confident their work will save lives and provide tremendous results in helping individuals fully exit homelessness,” wrote Julia Marvin, a spokesperson for the city housing department..
But residents of The Aspen lack trust in shelter staff. That started long before Urban Alchemy took over on Jan. 1.
Over the years, the site has seen murders, overdoses and an alleged sexual assault perpetrated by a former Salvation Army staff member with a criminal history.
Shelter residents are also concerned about Urban Alchemy’s long history of legal trouble in the various cities it operates in. Denverite found 27 lawsuits that named the company as a litigant.
Lawsuits have involved allegations of sexual harassment, stolen belongings, discrimination, civil rights and labor law violations. The nonprofit has paid more than $1 million in settlements; many other cases are still winding through the courts, and others have been dismissed.
So far, no legal actions have been filed against Urban Alchemy in Denver, and Denver City Council has approved multiple contracts with the group, even as council members have expressed concerns.
The group will get $30 million to run The Aspen through 2028.
Urban Alchemy, founded in 2018, says its goal is to employ formerly incarcerated people and help people get out of homelessness and lead healthier, more stable lives.
Want to share comments or concerns about The Aspen or another Denver shelter? If so, we want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected].
