The same day that Aurora passed that measure, Denver City Council approved a budget that is key to Denver's approach to dealing with homelessness.
However, a truly housing-first approach requires enough deeply affordable housing, as well as supportive services, to meet everyone's needs. According to, Denver is about 19,000 deeply affordable units short of fully accommodating a housing-first approach. The recently approved Denver budget for 2023 earmarks approximately $254 million for housing and homelessness, some of which will chip away at the affordable-housing shortage.
"The newly passed resolution defines a specific direction for a campus-like setting with a focus on putting the resources behind those who want to change their behavior by getting sober, seeking mental health care, getting job training and becoming employed, with the goal of moving as many of the homeless population as possible to self-sufficiency," says Coffman.
Coffman's description of how people can advance from one area to the next defines the"work-first" approach to homelessness. The resolution approved November 14 touches on this by stating that Aurora's new approach to homelessness will rely on"community support rather than federal support if such support comes with inflexible requirements."Since the pandemic began, the City of Denver has moved much of its emergency sheltering program to 24/7 models. That way, people staying in shelters can leave their belongings behind for the day in order to go to work or access services elsewhere.
Instead of relying solely on the Comitis offerings, the City of Aurora will bring its primary shelter onto the new campus that includes the three approaches to homelessness.
Hmmm letting people just take over public lands seems like a great idea. Nothing could go very wrong.