Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Heart Operational Update topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
HEART reports enrollments and outcomes; Highlands Ranch business owner raises safety concerns
Summary
HEART reported April operational metrics (14 new enrollments, 69 referrals, 24 exits) and described outreach volume and geographic distribution. A Highlands Ranch business owner told the meeting of harassment and drug-use activity at a Safeway shopping-center bus-stop area, prompting a pledge of increased patrol and follow-up.
HEART navigators reported April operational figures May 8 and described recent outreach, shelter placements and business engagements. Meeting participants also heard a public comment from a Highlands Ranch business owner who said her storefront experienced harassment, drug activity and overnight camping linked to a nearby RTD bus stop.
Tiffany Marcito of HEART said the team enrolled 14 new people in April and received 69 referrals. HEART reported 24 people exited the program during the month. HEART also said it had 13 business engagements in April and, since the start of the year, has interacted with 89 businesses and worked with the sheriff’s office to secure 52 trespass letters.
HEART presented service and exit metrics: of 24 exits, 33% left to temporary housing (hotel or shelter), 13% to an emergency shelter of their choosing, 8% to permanent housing, and 29% were logged as no contact. Tiffany noted the team received three panhandling calls in the month; two were judged not to involve homeless individuals and one person refused services. HEART staff reported geographic distribution of referrals with Highlands Ranch and Lone Tree among the higher-volume areas.
Operational-volume context: HEART staff said their 18-month call dataset shows roughly 2,500 calls in that period and fewer than 50 calls between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. over the same timeframe, indicating most activity occurs during daytime hours. The team also reported current navigator coverage runs roughly 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. with hiring under way to expand later coverage.
During public comment, Holly, owner of School of Rock Highlands Ranch, described repeated incidents outside a Safeway-anchored shopping center and asked for more HEART and patrol attention. “We are in the Safeway Shopping Center... I will say that, you know, our, you know, people with mental health issues and or homeless, it has been much more of a problem than I thought it was going to be... We do open we're open late... We've had our children, our students that are coming and going. We've had them harassed by people out there,” she said.
Chief-level and sheriff’s representatives noted that the shopping center sits at the end of an RTD line where passengers are sometimes left; they committed to review patrol coverage and increase engagement with RTD law-enforcement partners as needed. Heart navigators and deputies agreed to follow up with the business owner and include that location in outreach and enforcement briefings.
Ending: HEART will continue hires to expand coverage, track outcomes and coordinate with dispatch and law enforcement on after-hours coverage. Staff will explore adding a text option to the HEART hotline so community members can report concerns by text as well as by phone; dispatch logistics and routing were flagged as implementation details to resolve.
