Aurora Regional Navigation Campus holds ribbon cutting, will support unhoused community

The city of Aurora and nonprofit Advance Pathways were finally able to cut the ribbon Thursday on their brand-new, state-of-the-art Aurora Regional Navigation Campus aimed at helping the unhoused in the community.

"Change doesn't just happen one person at a time," said Shantell Anderson, the campus' director of programs. "It happens when we build systems that honor people's dignity, potential and resilience."

No one knows how important services like this are more than Anderson. A Denver native, she herself overcame addiction and homelessness.

"It took me three years to get sober; three hard years," Anderson explained. "But, once I did, I was unstoppable. I got Section 8 housing. I reunited with my children, and I went back to school. I earned my CNA and then my LPN."

Anderson was working as a nurse but felt something was missing. That's when she decided to start giving back to people who are facing the same struggles she once did. It began with volunteering at first, but it soon became her career.

"I started as a case manager, meeting guests where they were, always letting them know is confidence, not cockiness," Anderson said. "I'm here to listen to you."

Now, Anderson is in the new leading role as director of programs at the Aurora Regional Navigation Campus. Once a hotel, the campus boasts enough space for 600 people. It uses a tiered system to providing shelter to people experiencing homelessness that provides incentives to participants to work with service providers. Providers will help them make progress on critical life goals and achieve the maximum amount of self-sufficiency possible.

Aurora Regional Navigation Campus officially opens for normal operations Monday, Nov. 17.   

Anderson says she hopes she can help more people than ever before, the way people helped her.

"To every guest who walks through the door, I say this, 'When you feel like you can't go on, fight for one more day,'" Anderson said.  "When you do, I'll be right there with you."