In Arapahoe County, the homeless are surveyed in shelters and also in unsheltered areas but Denver does the count differently. “Hey newslady! Tell ‘em we need hats and gloves,” Shirley said. They also volunteer, driving the streets looking to help people who are stuck, the way they used to be. “We ate on that for a week,” said Shirley.īoth 63 years old, the Burns share a house now. Shirley and Steven Burns met at a food bank where she said he saved her a whole turkey. Veterans, elderly, families, singles and couples. Some sat in the dining room with a cup of hot coffee brewing in a huge percolator. On Tuesday, Giving Heart - Englewood’s day shelter - was filled with homeless people who used computers set up there for them to apply for jobs or funding assistance. She said that rents for a one-bedroom apartment in Arapahoe County are around $1,200 per month, which doesn’t cut it when “people on disability only receive $841 per month on average.” “It’s getting worse because landlords are pricing people out, especially seniors.” “Many suburban areas don’t have shelters because county commissioners don’t want to admit that there a problem in their area,” said Shauna Whitworth, Arapahoe County’s Housing Resource Navigator. People who work in the unending job of housing the homeless bemoan the fact that there is only one shelter in all of Arapahoe County - the Comitis Crisis Center in Aurora. In Arapahoe County, the South Platte river and parts of the Highline Canal are common spots to camp, according to Shropshire. The homeless stay in churches, in their cars, at bus stops or in tents. The vouchers are often arranged by the Homeless Action Awareness Task Force, which raises money for the rooms through donations and grants. One question asked why she didn’t use any type of shelter services.Īrapahoe County has two hotels where the homeless can stay for the price of $65-$70, depending on how many are in the room. "Is this the first time you’ve been homeless?" To the multiple choice question: “Where did you spend Monday night, January 30 th?" she checked off the answer, “Tent/improvised structure.” She postponed the hamburger and baked bean lunch being served at an open window to take the PIT survey. In Arapahoe County, the homeless are surveyed in shelters and in unsheltered areas by volunteers and shelter staff members.Īfter a horrible night, Cayou, looking tired yet relieved, sat down to relax at Englewood’s Giving Heart Day Shelter on South Broadway. Their answers give policymakers insight into how to eradicate the problem. assessing the frozen street situation but saw very few homeless outside.Īfter the initial count is over, homeless people are asked to take a survey, which include questions about various issues they face and how they live. We could come out tomorrow and see twice as many people as we did today,” said Cameron Shropshire, Arapahoe County’s Housing and Homeless Program Manager, who was up at 4 a.m. The numbers help HUD make regional funding decisions. HUD requires the count on one evening into morning in the last 10 days of January each year to get an idea of how many people are on the street on a given night. Department of Housing and Urban Development, is an annual rundown of homeless people in both sheltered and unsheltered settings. Cayou was one of thousands of homeless people from the seven-county Denver metro area who participated in this week’s annual Point in Time (PIT) national survey.
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