Six cities in Colorado's Jefferson County make new agreement for cold weather shelters that "takes us to the next level"

Winter weather will be here soon in Colorado, which means Jefferson County's homeless population needs a place to get indoors.

"It's life-saving and necessary," said James Ginsburg, who helps run RecoveryWorks in Lakewood.

Last year, just before the start of the cold weather season, the severe weather shelter network announced they would cease operations in the county. Many nonprofits, from RecoveryWorks to Mission Church in Arvada, had to step up and absorb the increased foot traffic. While they were largely successful last year, the cities got together to expedite a project that has been discussed in council chambers for a long time: pooling resources to have a response network of their own.

Six cities -- Arvada, Edgewater, Golden, Lakewood, Westminster and Wheat Ridge -- along with the county voted to enter an intergovernmental agreement (or IGA) in order to properly coordinate the resources needed for their own shelter network. It includes roughly $2 million dispersed around the cities to renovate, improve or set up their cold weather shelters. When the Jefferson County Health Department announces a health advisory due to extreme weather, the network will activate. Cities can also access county resources and shelter spaces.

"It takes us to the next level in terms of thought about the response where we're more thoughtful and more prepared to respond," said Ginsburg.

While projects like RecoveryWorks handle issues more closely related to housing and transitionary services, the new network will be a place that they can refer people on the street to in order for vulnerable populations to stay safe when the coldest or most dangerous weather comes.

"Hopefully it's an opportunity for broader funding to combat homelessness overall," he added.

The project will be in effect for five years with each city getting an out after one year if they don't feel the program is achieving satisfactory results. But the broader discussion is around a potential bigger plan that pools resources from major cities and the county itself.

"Homelessness doesn't recognize city borders or county borders," said Amanda Harrison, spokeswoman for the city of Wheat Ridge. "This is an issue of that we all have to solve and this intergovernmental agreement does that."