Credit: Regis University
Safe Outdoor Space
This newest site at Regis University will open June 1 and will be able to host 60 people. It will be set up in a parking lot on campus and cover 19,000 square feet. The space will have staff working 24/7 and be equipped with on-site services like Wi-Fi, power, showers, laundry and medical services.
Cohen said providing this space aligns with the values of the University to help out others whenever they can.
“If not for this, these folks would be on the street, which is a very vulnerable place to be,” Cohen said. “So, by providing a safe, secure place for them to sleep and get services, they can transition and hopefully find permanent housing quite quickly.”
Aspen Human Services Officer Braulio Jerez leads one of the weekly meetings at the Intercept Lot encampment for residents of the camp and case managers to discuss updates with the camp on Thursday, April 8, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
When a team of local officials established a Safe Outdoor Space at the Brush Creek lot last April, they thought the camp for people experiencing homelessness might exist for several months through tight COVID-19 restrictions.
“We certainly didn’t anticipate that the temporary Safe Outdoor Space would be here a year later,” said Nan Sundeen, Pitkin County’s director of human services.
Denver Safe-Camping Site Program Continues as Readers Debate What to Do About Homelessness westword.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from westword.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Now, some neighborhood advocates are pushing to ensure that when the pandemic subsides, the safe-camping concept doesn t disappear in Denver, which has at least 1,000 people sleeping on the streets every night.
In March, a collective of representatives from neighborhood organizations that cover Capitol Hill, Uptown, City Park West, RiNo and Curtis Park, among other areas, signed on to a letter sent to Mayor Michael Hancock and Denver City Council members pitching the idea of keeping safe-camping sites as a tool going forward. The two existing Safe Outdoor Space (SOS) sites.have had some remarkable success in their short tenure and it is time to scale them to provide temporary, yet sustained support to our most vulnerable, Frank Locantore, executive director of the Colfax Ave Business Improvement District, wrote to the elected officials in the March 10 letter. Proponents of the safe-camping site model say that it helps homeless individuals connect more easily with services whil
A group of advocates in Denver created a safe outdoor space for people experiencing homelessness to live safely during the pandemic, and for the veterans and residents who call this space home, having their own bed is helping them heal mentally and physically.