Michael Hancock Announces Second Push To Reduce Homelessness

DENVER, CO —Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and the Department of Housing Stability (HOST) announced earlier this week the launch of a second 100-day push to house persons experiencing homelessness in the city.

The announcement comes on the heels of last fall's housing push in which the city and several partners got 340 households —which included 576 people —into housing. The effort far exceeded its goal of placing 200 households, the city said.

The city said the goal of its latest effort is to find stable housing for 400 more households by May 11.

"Together with our partners, we're housing people every day, including individuals from shelters and those living on the streets," said Hancock, who said the housing surge is part of the economic recovery package he initially announced last summer.

Hancock added: "Through this boosted push, we're further aligning the good work of many providers and deploying additional resources to achieve an even greater impact."

According to the city, housing surges —which involve the coordination of several partners to connect people to available housing resources —are being used across the country to help people back into housing after many lost their homes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The recent efforts have been aided by new emergency housing vouchers made available through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds in the American Rescue Plan Act to the Denver Housing Authority. The city said it also has leveraged its voter-approved Homelessness Resolution Fund.

The city said it is working toward its housing goals together with a broad coalition of partners, including: the Denver Housing Authority, Metro Denver Homeless Initiative, Community Solutions, Homebase and the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless.

"Our community is fortunate to have such an incredible number and caliber of service providers that are committed to resolving episodes of homelessness day in and day out," said HOST Executive Director Britta Fisher. "We learned from last fall's surge effort, and we're grateful for the federal resources to help us quickly transform as many individual lives as possible."

Information about housing resources is available on the Department of Housing Stability page on the City of Denver website. The city said case managers also have been informing people in shelters and on the street about Denver's housing push.