What services are offered?

A variety of services are offered for both short and long term assistance, including services to prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place as well as employment, substance treatment, mental health and permanent housing.

Call 2-1-1 for more information about these services.

Where can I view additional details about the plan?

The full plan is detailed here: Denver's Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness (PDF). A Report to the Citizens of Denver by the Denver Commission to End Homelessness. Approved by Mayor John Hickenlooper May 2005; approved by City Council September 2005.

View the 2009 Updated Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness (PDF)

Is it realistic to think we can actually end homelessness?

Americans are able to achieve great things when we strive to do something that was once thought impossible. The same principle applies here—we can end homelessness as we know it with a vision and a plan.  After two years of implementation, we saw an 11% reduction in overall homelessness and a 36% decrease in chronic homelessness.  Denver is on track to meet our five-year goal of a 75% reduction in chronic homelessness.

What is Denver's Road Home going to cost?

The costs will be $7.7 million in the first year (beginning July 2005) and $12.7 million per year thereafter. This is a small fraction of the $70 million per year that the City & County of Denver currently pays for services to homeless people. And, studies show that providing "supportive housing" (housing coupled with supportive services, like healthcare, mental health and substance abuse counseling and employment training) pays for 90% of the costs associated with providing those services. Implementation of the plan is the ethical and cost-effective thing to do.

How is Denver’s Road Home to be paid for?

Funding for the first four years of Denver's Road Home is coming 50% from governmental sources, 25% from foundations and 25% from individuals and corporations.

Will this plan get panhandlers off Denver's streets?

The plan includes a public education campaign designed to discourage people from giving to panhandlers and to instead support long-term solutions that directly help/serve homeless people. We have put 18 outreach workers on the streets and two full-time Denver Police Officers dedicated solely to serving Denver’s homeless. They also work closely with the 16th Street Ambassadors to help engage people who are homeless in services. The plan also includes ordinances, passed by City Council in Fall 2005, that made lying down in public illegal, which will curtail some of the behaviors that occur in our City's downtown areas.

Increased outreach is successfully moving people off the streets and into services and is reducing panhandling and other loitering.  Since the plan’s inception in 2005, panhandling on the 16th Street Mall dropped by 92%. Businesses report fewer panhandlers and homeless people loitering in the downtown area.

Additionally, the implementation of donation meters has redirected the money given to panhandlers into initiatives that provide meals, job training, substance abuse counseling, housing, and other programs for those in need. This grassroots campaign has raised roughly $100,000 per year giving the general public a constructive way to help Denver’s homeless.

Does this plan ask and expect enough of homeless people?

The plan blends a compassionate "housing first" solution for people in need with a strategy of responsibility and self-reliance. For example, the plan requires that people hold a job if they are able to work. It also requires that substance abusers enter treatment as a condition of receiving housing and that no person using illegal substances be allowed to stay in housing. Most of the homeless contribute 30% of their income toward their rent.

Will the plan make Denver a "magnet" or sanctuary for homeless persons, attracting them here from other cities?

There are over 450 communities across the country currently creating housing plans for homeless people in their community, eliminating the incentive for those individuals to relocate to Denver. Further, Denver Human Services is coordinating with neighboring counties through the Metro Denver Homelessness Initiative (MDHI) and the Governor's Office to implement a regional strategy for ending homelessness in the metro area.

Will homeless persons who are illegally in the country be provided services under this plan?

Implementation of the plan will be in accordance with federal immigration laws. It is important to note, however, that the majority of homeless people are not illegal immigrants. Our goal of decreasing homelessness by 75% over five years can be achieved without ever extending services to an illegal immigrant.

What does this plan do for homeless persons who don't want services or refuse to participate in them?

There will be consequences based on behavior. Individuals will ultimately be arrested if they continue to live in parks, panhandle aggressively and refuse services.

Will the new housing units for homeless people be massive housing "projects"? Will they put neighborhoods at risk and drive down property values?

The era of large government housing "projects" is long over. When the government supports any large developments, they are mixed-use developments that enhance a neighborhood's quality of living for all residents. And, experience tells us that developing facilities for people who were formerly homeless has not hurt property values.

As a citizen of Denver, what does this plan ask and expect of me?

Get Involved. Call 2-1-1 and become a volunteer or give to help end homelessness.

Give a Better Way. Please do NOT give to panhandlers and advise your friends against giving. Give instead to solutions that will have a lasting impact on the lives of homeless people. Put extra change into one of our Donation Meters instead!

Reach Out. Contact a local partner organization to find out how you can help a homeless person by offering a job as an opportunity to get off the streets or encourage groups and organizations where you are a member to get involved in mentoring a family that is homeless through the Family and Senior Homeless Initiative.

Donate today. Support programs that will have a lasting impact on the lives of panhandlers and the homeless.Give to solutions to homelessness through the Community Appeal managed by Mile High United Way. 

Show up. Participate in events like Project Homeless Connect and  Mayor's PJ Day or attend a Town Hall Meeting.

Who do I contact for information about homeless services or to get assistance from a street outreach worker?

Download the Denver's Road Home Resource Guide (PDF) for a complete list of local partner organizations providing services to the homeless.

Denver residents should contact the Denver Department of Human Services for assistance.

Download Denver's Cold Weather and Emergency Shelter Plan (PDF).

Is Denver hiding the homeless?

Absolutely not. We’re not hiding the homeless, we’re housing the homeless.  Ensuring the homeless have short and long term housing has always been the priority of Denver's Road Home and its partners.