Salvation Army Seeks to Kick Domestic Violence Victims Back Onto Streets

Salvation Army Seeks to Kick Domestic Violence Victims Back Onto Streets

December 11th, 2023

After HOST and the Mayor’s office promise to provide safe, non-congregate sheltering to incredibly at-risk and vulnerable survivors of domestic violence following the closure of their hotel, site provider and partner Salvation Army is now going back on that claim, threatening the imminent exit of these people back onto the streets – despite statements that their arbitrary time frame of 90 days was meant as “encouragement”, not a threat, and not to be used in practice.

Earlier this year, Denver Housing Authority made the financial decision to not renew their lease with the City of Denver and to instead shut down and sell the Rodeway Inn, a hotel used as a non-congregate shelter for women and LGBTQ+ houseless people since 2020. Despite DHA’s stronghold in affordable housing as a provider of such housing, they offered only token support to the nearly 80 individuals who would be slated to lose their safety and stability by the end of August. Instead, residents alongside overworked and ill-equipped Gathering Place and newly recruited Salvation Army staff had mere months to scramble to find suitable options to continue their paths to recovery from harrowing trauma.

Thanks to Rodeway residents organizing and making their voices heard, representatives from HOST, alongside the Mayor, visited one month before the anticipated hotel shut down and made the commitment to residents that they’d provide bridge housing for those who remained diligent in their communications with case managers. This bridge housing was purported to mean safe, non-congregate hotel sheltering until they were able to secure long-term, permanent housing. They also made up in part for the huge lack of response from DHA by finding other means to secure much needed income-based housing vouchers (thanks to the Reciprocity Collective), a necessity for this population of elderly and disabled trauma victims with limited-to-no income.

Due to the short timeframe of months and the reality that finding affordable housing takes an average of 4 years, or nearly 2.5 years using housing waitlists (https://housekeysactionnetwork.com/pipe-dreams-and-picket-fences/), many Rodeway residents transitioned into the Best Western, also known as “New Directions”, under the management of Salvation Army. While this was supposed to be safe, stable sheltering until housing became available – as communicated by Salvation Army to the Mayor’s team and City Council representatives – Salvation Army chose to give different information to residents, including a written 90-day maximum stay policy in intake packets. These packets were distributed not just to former Rodeway residents, but to every individual who was brought into Best Western as part of the Mayor’s “House” 1000 initiative. When this discrepancy was discovered, Salvation Army suggested that this falsehood/threat of being kicked out had been included to inspire residents to stay connected with their case managers, but would not be used in-practice.

Today, Rodeway residents are speaking out about the continued pressure to leave, without having housing in place, that they are enduring at the hands of Salvation Army staff. One resident who has since lost their disability income and are anticipating the loss of Denver Basic Income Project payments (due to a lack of program funding in next year’s budget) included these statements in a letter pleading for help:

I’ve been told by multiple staff employees that I only have 90 days to stay here at this shelter and then I have to leave… I was told the dates I might have to leave is on the 11th or 12 of December… I originally came over from Rodeway, Women’s Shelter hotel, where the staff and employees told me The Best Western Plus Shelter we were all transferring to was to be a permanent form of housing…

Since December 1st, I feel like I have been Harassed/Peer-Pressured into getting into an apartment and signing a Lease… From staff members and Case manager on-site [staff names omitted]… “Have you gotten into an apartment yet?… Have you signed a lease?… the 11th and 12th is right around the Corner”

Just a few days ago, they were invited to a meeting by their case manager that they thought was related to a previous email about Best Western being used as permanent supportive housing… Instead, they showed up early to find the room full of five other staff members who weren’t their case manager. Based on previous comments that these people had made (as quoted above), the resident believes that this group was going to further pressure them into considering ill-suited housing options ahead of an early dismissal from the hotel – as a sort of peer-pressured ultimatum. Without any reliable long-term income or plan, this conversation would be a power struggle that could threaten the safety of their current situation at the hotel. They immediately left before the meeting could start and returned to their room.

Unfortunately, this fear is not unfounded, as this is common behavior on the part of Salvation Army. The same resident describes their experience working with Salvation Army before Rodeway closed and being offered the chance to be part of their multi-million dollar temporary rental assistance program called “Rapid Rehousing”. Providers frequently state rapid rehousing should only be used for people who are newly houseless and will quickly be able to maintain stable income – people who have been houseless for a long time and do not have stable income pathways are not considered good fits for rapid rehousing – yet Salvation Army and the City used this anyway as a way to get Rodeway residents into housing quickly – but not sustainably! 

Back when I was residing at Rodeway Shelter for Women, I was working with a Case-Manager [name omitted] who was also a part of Salvation Army housing placement team that was also trying to get me to sign a lease to an apartment complex at the time… And instead of signing the lease because I knew I didn’t have a stable income then… I called up the apartment-manager to the apartment complex she wanted me to get into, and I asked the apartment manager one very serious question: Is Salvation Army known to help to pay for people’s rent… Month after month for a full year on time?… Her response to things was, “No, sometimes Salvation Army does not pay the rent and then we’ve had to evict people”…

HAND was familiar with the name of this particular case manager as being one who pressured multiple Rodeway residents into signing leases without having the financial security to be able to maintain those leases. In fact, during the Rodeway closure, HAND again and again expressed concerns over the Rapid Rehousing program being used as a temporary relief in rental payments that could expire before leases are up, let along when one-year leases end, resulting then in individuals being served evictions and ending up back on the streets. At the time, Salvation Army attempted to justify the overuse and pressure of this program as only being used for individuals who had enough income to be able to take over such payments when the funds ran out. Instead, this was indiscriminately used as a way to get many Rodeway residents out of the hotel and into unsustainable housing… Another former Rodeway resident who was housed and promised continued wrap around services told HAND:

I’m looking at eviction, I owe $873.00 for December rent, SSI only gave me $67.00 this month and DHA won’t change rent until paperwork processed… Mayor’s promise to Rodeway and wrap around services is not happening… I have 2 disabled [family members] along with me who are struggling… They want them to take apartments that are not suitable for ADA. They are saying refused housing is grounds for not extending stay… We all [Rodeway residents] who went into leases are not receiving wrap around services and they make the process to get help Impossible…

Rodeway residents did not endure traumatic uprooting from their safe, communal environment and intense pressure from staff to relocate just to now have to face eviction and the streets again… We MUST demand that the Mayor holds his site providers accountable to the promises he has made!! He cannot claim he’s “Housing” 1000 just to then have those same individuals back outside again by forces outside of their control! This cannot be treated as a matter of numbers, nor optics, for either the Mayor, nor Salvation Army – these are people’s lives being played with. 
Express your concern. Reach out to the Mayor NOW to demand that no time limits be placed on hotel sheltering so that residents. They cannot be kicked to the streets just because there is no housing these residents can afford to move into. This is not progress! We must demand real permanent housing, not temporary payments for housing through rapid rehousing that will lead people right back to the streets!