HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 9/21/2021 - Memorandum From Brittany Depew Re: September Homelessness Updates
Social Sustainability
222 Laporte Avenue
PO Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522
970.416.8055
MEMORANDUM
DATE: September 15, 2021
TO: Mayor Arndt and Councilmembers
THRU: Kelly DiMartino, Interim City Manager
Kyle Stannert, Deputy City Manager
Jackie Kozak Thiel, Chief Sustainability Officer
Beth Yonce, Social Sustainability Department Director
FROM: Brittany Depew, Homelessness Lead Specialist
RE: September Homelessness Updates
Purpose: The purpose of this memo is informational to provide Council with monthly homelessness updates.
Library Park
• The City continues to hear from Library Park neighborhood residents about concerns related to disruptive
behaviors in the area.
• Staff have been scheduling regular meetings with residents in the Library Park neighborhood to discuss
these ongoing issues and concerns and are looking to continue these meetings on a regular (monthly)
cadence.
• Ongoing engagement with the Mennonite Fellowship.
o Outreach Fort Collins has been regularly engaging with both staff and those utilizing the space,
and they report that conversations have been productive as they work to co-create an
engagement and response plan.
Seasonal Overflow Shelter Plan Update
• The Seasonal Overflow Shelter (SOS) season, which runs November 1 through April 30, requires
additional cross-sector collaboration to increase shelter capacity during the coldest months.
• The planning team consists of representatives from Catholic Charities, Fort Collins Rescue Mission,
Homeward Alliance, and the City’s Social Sustainability Department.
• The City is planning to provide partial financial support to SOS services through American Rescue Plan
Act (ARPA) funds and/or City Seasonal Overflow Shelter funds.
• Options explored include faith-based organizations (internal or external space), locations that have been
utilized in the past, City buildings, newsletter blurbs, and a real estate search is being pursued.
• If no location is secured for 24/7 shelter for expanded winter capacity, staff and partners will work to
secure a location or rotating locations willing to operate on inclement weather nights only.
• Some challenges these coordination efforts have faced:
o Buildings being closed to use due to uncertainty around COVID-19 and the Delta variant
o City Building Code restrictions re: temporary structures
o Potential locations not being zoned for shelter
• Staff may seek Council support to ensure a location can be secured before winter.
Fort Collins Rescue Mission
• Currently able to serve 80 men overnight and 60 during the day for 24/7 shelter.
• An average of 78 men served per night since their return to Linden St. location on May 1.
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o Note: If fewer than 80 men are served in a night, this typically indicates that beds were assigned
but not all guests showed up to claim their space.
• An average of 5 men turned away per night due to space limitations.
• An average of 10 meals served per day at the Murphy Center to guests who do not receive a bed space
overnight (either due to personal choice or space limitations).
• The Rescue Mission has submitted an application for an additional $30k in American Rescue Plan Act
(ARPA) funds to continue 24/7 shelter through October 2021.
• Since beginning 24/7 shelter on May 1, 50 clients have gained employment and 8 have secured
permanent housing, and nearby businesses have continued to provide positive feedback while noting a
sharp decline in neighborhood impacts.
Catholic Charities
• Catholic Charities implemented 24/7 shelter on August 1, which has so far gone well.
• Served an average of 32 women per night in August, and no one was turned away.
• The Gabriel House Project, a resource for expectant mothers and families with young children, was
recently rebranded as Marisol Family.
Murphy Center
• The Murphy Center had over 35,000 interactions between January and July 2021.
• There were 1616 unduplicated people served between January and July 2021.
Chronic Homelessness Data
• At the work session for 24/7 shelter on July 27, Council asked about the demographic breakdown of the
569 people experiencing chronic homelessness in Fort Collins in Q2 2021. According to the Homeless
Information Management System (HMIS) lead agency, Homeward Alliance:
o 379 of those are single adult men
o 179 of those are single adult women
o Approximately 10 single adults identified as transgender or declined to specify their gender.
o The remainder identified as women or men who are part of a household without children.
• Additionally, during Q2, 50 people experiencing chronic homelessness were housed.
Success Story
• Stephen came to Fort Collins a couple years ago from Arizona, and he stayed with the Rescue Mission
off-and-on throughout the years where he had both good and challenging moments at the shelter. The
rougher times resulted in him receiving a temporary shelter ban. About a month ago, staff at the Rescue
Mission decided to offer him a permanent bed. “Since he accepted this bed space, Stephen has done a
180 with us and his life. He has been a model community member and is growing in many ways. During
this month with us, he has obtained employment with a construction company and is working on his
Domestic Violence classes, which he had stopped going to. He is working on reestablishing his
relationships with his 5 daughters who are still in Arizona. He has been a very inspiring story for our staff
to watch develop and we are overjoyed on how things are working out for him.”
Next Steps
• Secure location and finalize plan for Seasonal Overflow Shelter.
• Meeting with partners on September 24 to discuss next steps for the “24/7 shelter plus” engagement and
planning process resulting from the work of the Homelessness Advisory Committee (HAC).
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