Denver Homeless Advocates Hope Coronavirus Lessons Last Long-Term
DENVER (CBS4) - The city of Denver says 55 people experiencing homelessness have now tested positive for COVID-19. With its first auxiliary shelter at capacity, homeless advocates say more hotels and motels need to step-up.
"I know the governor did request that hotels and motels participate with providers in giving these rooms. I think we probably need to do a little bit more to encourage participation whether that be incentives or just kind of of commandeering the spaces. Hopefully we won't have to go that far, and we'll continue to find good partners, but this is a real critical need, not just in Denver, but across the state," said Cathy Alderman, Vice President of Communication and Public Policy for the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless (CCH).
Alderman says CCH has been working tirelessly on the ground to get auxiliary spaces set up. With food, more space, WiFi showers and access to healthcare, the 736 spaces inside the National Western Complex were claimed immediately.
"I think we thought that would happen kind of over time and instead, it happened practically on the first night. And then with the weather over the last few days, we've seen a lot of people needing to access shelter space which is why some of the shelters that thought they might be consolidating into that area have reopened," she said.
Next week the Denver Coliseum will open around 300 beds for women experiencing homelessness, and CCH says it has secured 135 hotel rooms set to open to homeless more susceptible to the virus.
To date, CCH has secured 288 hotel rooms and the city of Denver has secured 150, but Alderman says if we truly want to keep our homeless safe, we need more saying the auxiliary spaces are not a good long-term solution to prevent the spread of the novel virus.
RELATED: Latest Updates On The Coronavirus Outbreak In Colorado
"One of our biggest concerns right now is what we're learning about asymptomatic transmission. One of the ways that we're trying to address that while we wait for additional resources to come online, is to get high-risk individuals out of those settings and into motel spaces."
While her primary concern is on the immediate future, she is also hopeful these massive undertakings to help the homeless will evolve into longer-term solutions.
"One of the things that we are really trying to focus on is can we put systems in place today that will be sustainable after this crisis to help resolve homelessness especially with more funding coming our way, more coordination between the city and the providers and the community and hopefully with more coordination from the state. It'll be a real shame if we get people inside and get them safe and then tell them that they have no option, but to go back outside and sleep on the streets."
