Denver's Urban Alchemy touts successes 6 months since taking over Aspen shelter
A homeless shelter that's previously been at the center of management scrutiny and safety concerns is now outperforming city goals six months after city leaders chose Urban Alchemy as the new provider of the Aspen.
"When we first walked into the Aspen, one of the things we didn't feel [was] a community, that sense of love, that sense of safety and that sense of peace," said Tyler Thompson, Practitioner and the Denver Director of Operations for Urban Alchemy.
Since Urban Alchemy took over, they have ramped up services inside the facility, including behavioral health referrals, substance use treatment, and employment support, all things they said were previously lacking under former management.
They've also worked on establishing community partnerships with outside organizations and establishing touch points with those experiencing homelessness in the Denver Metro through their CARE program (Compassionate Ambassadors), a group of locals that go out into the community to build trust with the homeless population.
As for the safety component, two practitioners are now assigned per floor at the Aspen, and they've also enhanced safety and wellness checks among the resident population.
"You'll walk in, you'll see practitioners addressing guests and other practitioners by their first name, dapping each other up, smiling," said Thompson. "[There's a] lot more community involvement and then [we've] also beautifying the place."
"There has been a culture change there," said Cole Chandler, Executive Director of HOST.
On Tuesday, Urban Alchemy addressed their achievements in a housing and planning committee meeting with city leaders. Urban Alchemy says they've surpassed each of the performance metric goals set by the city's Department of Housing and Stability. This includes occupancy rate, rapid conversion, case management, and being active in the community.
It's the kind of accountability Urban Alchemy says is needed to help shelters across the metro improve outcomes.
"It forces us as an organization to build an authentic relationship with our guests; if you don't build that authentic relationship with a guest, they're not going to listen to you," said Thompson.
Still, Thompson and city leaders recognize more work needs to be done. In the same meeting, HOST leadership shared data that included a section where the Aspen had a slightly higher percentage of people who exit the program, 46%, go back into homelessness in 2026 versus 34% in 2025. The number of people who went into permanent housing dropped from 58% in 2025 to 34% in 2026.
"Sometimes we're just not the right fit for everyone, and sometimes our guests are just not ready," said Thompson.
Chandler says part of the reason for those numbers involves the current challenge the city is facing with a decrease in federal housing vouchers.
"Some of the people that are coming into shelter are actually able to exit quickly, but some of our longer stayers, we need to work on additional solutions for, and with the lack of federal vouchers, that becomes really difficult," said Chandler.