HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 10/11/2022 - Memorandum From Brittany Depew Re: Homelessness Updates
Social Sustainability
222 Laporte Avenue
PO Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522
970.416.8055
MEMORANDUM
DATE: October 5, 2022
TO: Mayor Arndt and Councilmembers
THRU: Tyler Marr, Interim Deputy City Manager
Josh Birks, Deputy Director, Sustainability Services
Meaghan Overton, Housing Manager
FROM: Brittany Depew, Homelessness Lead Specialist
CC: Beth Yonce, Social Sustainability Department Director
RE: Homelessness Updates
Purpose: The purpose of this memo is informational to provide Council with regular homelessness updates.
Bottom Line: Addressing homelessness in Fort Collins is a collaborative, multi-sector effort that involves
dedicated, cross-departmental staff and funding resources from the City, the Northern Colorado Continuum of
Care, nonprofit organizations, and community members to make homelessness rare, brief, and nonrecurring.
Ongoing efforts address both short-term, immediate response and long-term, systemic approaches.
Camping & Enforcement
Between January-September, Natural Areas cleaned up approximately 360 sites with an additional 90
sites flagged for cleanup.
The three September cleanups totaled 68 camps, 165 sharps, 50 cubic yards of general waste, and the
diversion of 10 cubic yards of metal, electronics, and bulky plastics.
Staff continue to explore a potential Safe Parking program with collaboration and input from the Larimer
County League of Women Voters, Colorado Safe Parking Initiative, Colorado Village Collaborative, and
interfaith partners. A panel discussion is being scheduled for early-mid December, and additional details
will be shared in a future memo.
Extreme Heat Events
A collaborative team from Environmental Services, Emergency Preparedness & Security, Social
Sustainability, and Colorado State University designed a heat response plan focused on supporting the
safety and health of people experiencing homelessness during extreme heat events.
The pilot heat response program ran from June-September 2022.
The trigger for plan activation occurs when hour-by-hour temperatures are forecasted to reach 99
degrees according to the National Weather Service.
The plan was activated a total of 3 times, on July 9, 10 and 22, during which the Murphy Center remained
open until 9:00 p.m. for people to access a cool indoor location until after sunset.
Seasonal Overflow Shelter
The Seasonal Overflow Shelter (SOS) season runs from November-April, during which time shelter
capacity is increased so people seeking shelter are not turned away into inclement weather due to
capacity constraints.
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The proposed location for this year’s overflow site is 212 W. Mountain Ave., a City-owned building on
Mountain between Howes & Mason.
Fort Collins Rescue Mission plans to operate the site with support from a third-party security firm.
This year’s SOS program will be funded with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars, which will
require a competitive bid for security. This RFP went live Friday, September 30 and closes Friday,
October 21.
A virtual neighborhood meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 19 from 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. for this
proposed overflow shelter site.
The ordinance will be brought before Council for first reading on October 18.
If the ordinance is passed, the shelter will open on November 11 and be open every night through April.
Prevention & Supportive Services
The Murphy Center is now open Monday-Friday from 8:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. for indoor day shelter and
appointments, and from 11:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. for outdoor shelter and indoor appointments. Core services
they offer include showers, laundry, mail, and computer access.
Outreach Fort Collins expanded to midtown in early September, and their new expansion area runs along
College Ave from Laurel south to Trilby, and a couple blocks east and west. This midtown expansion was
adopted as a Council priority, and $100,000 in ARPA funding was allocated to this expansion via the
2022 budget process.
After the departure of their former Regional Director, Catholic Charities officially named Joe Sarr as the
new Regional Director in June, and Taylor McDonald was promoted to Director of Operations in July.
Crossroads Safehouse’s Rapid Rehousing program, Road to Home, currently has 12 families enrolled
with the goal of 20 by the end of the year, and they have received funding for 1-2 resource navigators.
Funding
The City allocates funds to support partner organizations that provide direct services to people
experiencing homelessness and increase the availability of housing options including rapid rehousing,
permanent supportive housing, and affordable housing.
$760,000 of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding has been designated for community partners to
increase case management and resource navigation ($220,000), support ongoing 24/7 shelter efforts
($198,000), seasonal overflow shelter ($146,000), and interim bridge shelter ($160,000).
$201,000 of additional ARPA funding was approved through midcycle ARPA allocations. This funding will
provide City support to Rapid Rehousing programs at Homeward Alliance and the Family Housing
Network. Rapid rehousing provides short-term housing support for families and individuals needing
temporary support while working toward self-sufficiency. The two contracts for this funding are in the
process of being signed.
As mentioned, $100,000 in ARPA funding will support Outreach Fort Collins’ expansion to midtown and
$25,000 will help maintain current level of service in their previous expansion area of north Fort Collins.
Evaluation, Metrics and Reporting
Quarterly, Homeward Alliance and Outreach Fort Collins share data with the City to demonstrate impact
of funding and services, current number of program utilizers, and to help analyze community trends.
These reports include numbers of people experiencing chronic homelessness, accessing services, and
being transitioned into housing, and how many businesses and residents OFC engages with each
quarter.
All ARPA-funded programs will be required to report into the Homeless Management Information System
(HMIS) and share quarterly reports outlining the impact of these funds. The first reporting deadline is
October 21.
The total number of people experiencing chronic homelessness in Q3 was 741. In comparison, there
were 671 people experiencing chronic homelessness in Q1 and 764 in Q2. The growth between Q1 and
Q2 is largely due to an increase in the number of agencies reporting into the HMIS.
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Strategic Planning
A “level-setting” strategy session will be held on Friday, October 7 with representatives from Social
Sustainability, City Manager’s Office, Poudre Fire Authority, Parks, City Attorney’s Office, Planning,
Development & Transportation (PDT), Outreach Fort Collins, UCHealth, SummitStone, and Fort Collins
Police to discuss current homelessness response and future goals, related to both the general systemic
approach and specific emergency response system.
Website Updates
In response to Mayor Arndt’s request for better communication to the public as to the City’s
homelessness response efforts, staff created a landing page for information located under the Social
Sustainability Department. Information includes definitions, types of homelessness, funding, and
frequently asked questions.
This site will be regularly updated as Council and staff hear trends in questions and concerns, and with
seasonal shifts of sheltering and other services.
The updated website can be found at https://fcgov.com/homelessness