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Residents and advocates tell Denver City Council more family shelter, oversight and services are needed
Summary
Multiple residents and organizers told the Denver City Council during public comment that family shelter capacity and services are insufficient, citing a waiting list of about 200 people, unsafe hotel placements and alleged discrimination at existing shelters; advocates asked for a city-led meeting to develop solutions.
Residents, immigrant advocates and shelter organizers used the council's public comment time to press Denver officials for more family shelter capacity, better oversight of temporary hotel placements and stronger supports for parents trying to work.
Anna Miller, a representative of House Keys Action Network Denver, told the council "there are children on the streets" and said the city is failing houseless families by relying on short-term hotel placements and contractors who, she said, have not managed shelter operations well. "Two hotel shelters that the Salvation Army ran failed miserably," Miller said, and she added that people on the connection-center waiting list "don't even answer the phone half the time." Miller said about "200 people are on a waiting list."
Vee Reese, also with House Keys Action Network Denver, described a draft list of five priorities developed with roughly 60 member families that she said should guide the city's response: more and higher-quality family shelter capacity; additional services such as employment and immigration-documentation help; addressing alleged discrimination and rule enforcement at transitional hotels and shelters; increased affordable housing; and employment supports for parents, including options with flexible hours. "We were able to break them down into 5 categories," Reese said, and asked council staff to meet with families and organizers to discuss the list.
A speaker who said she was staying temporarily in a hotel and whose funds for lodging expire "on Thursday" appealed for immediate help, saying she had contacted the connection center without getting a timely response. Another commenter said ICE enforcement keeps people from seeking work and that investing in a proposed stadium while families remain unhoused is unjust.
Speakers named specific program problems and requested concrete remedies. Miller and Reese criticized current contractors and shelter practices by name: Miller urged reconsideration of using the Salvation Army to operate connection-center functions and transitional hotel shelters; Reese said people at Tamarac and Warren Village face discrimination and described medical and disability-related evictions.
No formal action or vote was taken during the public comment period. Council staff closed the session by thanking speakers and noting the next public comment session is scheduled for Monday, January 26, with sign-up beginning Thursday, January 22.
The session record shows repeated requests from resident speakers for immediate placements and for the city to meet with affected families to develop priorities and operational fixes. Advocates asked the council to follow up with the mayor's office and city staff to arrange a meeting and to prioritize family shelter in budget and program planning.
