Residents, advocates urge Arapahoe County to probe SAFER closure and pause sale of ARPA‑funded building

At the July 22 meeting of the Arapahoe County Board of Commissioners, more than a dozen residents, program alumni and SAFER’s founder urged commissioners to investigate the abrupt closure of the SAFER transitional housing and supportive‑services program and to halt a proposed sale of the program’s building purchased with county ARPA funds.

The public commenters said SAFER serves people with serious mental illness and substance‑use histories who are at risk of homelessness and criminal‑justice involvement. Phoenix Noire, who identified herself as having participated in the program and speaking on behalf of SAFER and Centennial, told commissioners, “I have found there's a missing $1,800,000 in their coffers that I can't account for,” and asked the board to investigate the organization that now oversees SAFER.

Why it matters: Speakers described SAFER as a program that reduced recidivism and overdoses and provided housing and wraparound services to people exiting incarceration or living with severe mental illness. Several residents and…