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Douglas County HEART reports steady outreach, seeks $528,000 from HUD NOFO for street outreach
Summary
Douglas County HEART reported June casework and outreach trends—14 enrollments, 15 exits, 33 households served—and said the county will apply for $528,000 from a Metro Denver HUD NOFO to fund five HEART navigators and a supervisor for street outreach next year.
Tiffany Marcita, lead of the HEART outreach team, told the Douglas County Homeless Initiative on July 9 that HEART enrolled 14 new clients and exited 15 in June, served 33 households last month and provided 215 services ranging from transportation and food boxes to housing applications and referrals.
"We enrolled 14 new clients and exited 15," Marcita said, noting HEART handled 260 referrals last month and that 43% of referrals came from Highlands Ranch. Her June by-name list counted 38 unhoused individuals: 13 sheltered, 22 sleeping in vehicles and three sleeping outside.
Marcita announced the county will participate in a locally timed summer point-in-time count on July 27 (the region-wide count follows July 28) and said HUD’s recent Metro Denver NOFO will award about $37 million across the continuum. "We are requesting $528,000 for street outreach, for the salaries of five HEART navigators and a supervisor for next year," she said, adding the county board will review the application before the July 17 deadline.
Marcita also highlighted operational touches: HEART's text hotline has seen more traffic (55 incoming texts and 21 sustained text conversations in June), the team distributed business outreach materials, and navigators completed crisis-intervention training with the sheriff's office. She credited local faith and nonprofit partners with helping clients secure short-term assistance, citing one case in which a client received hotel vouchers, a bus ticket and partner support to relocate to Austin and pursue housing and employment.
Commissioner Abe Laden praised the HEART team's outreach and noted that proactive engagement — including drone-identified outreach to a tent in a creek bed — also reduces public-safety risks such as wildfire exposure. "You guys are the ones on the ground making a difference," Laden said.
What happens next: the county will file the MDHI application by July 17 and the board will consider the application at its next meeting; HEART will carry out the summer point-in-time count on July 27 and a regional count on July 28.
Sources: Remarks by Tiffany Marcita at the July 9 Douglas County Homeless Initiative meeting.
