No Freezing Sweeps Survey Key Findings 

No Freezing Sweeps Survey Key Findings 

In December 2023, 34 houseless people shared their experiences and input regarding freezing sweeps and emergency shelter. We (HAND) did this survey to build off one conducted by B-Konnected also on freezing sweeps. People shared their direct experiences with being swept in the freezing cold. 

Have you been swept before during freezing temperatures?

• Yes – 76% 
• No – 18% 

What was that experience like?

• Lost property – 35% (12 of 34)
  • “I thought I was going to die – I burned everything. It sucked really bad – told me I had time to go to bathroom I said yes but then when came back everything was taken. It was freezing, had just got out of hospital”
  • “Ran off from a bus shelter in the blowing snow. Left w/o anything to keep warm”
  • “tossed everything away”
• Emotional strain – 29% (10 of 34)
  • “it throws everything off – up ends your life – … is gone w/ property & location, take away stuff & safety & security. In cold no time to pick up stuff in an hour – lost stuff in cold”
  • “Sad and disrespectful, and they removed all of my things and home”
  • “Violating”
• Physical strain – 29% (10 of 34)
  • “with freezing hands, running nose, coughing, not having enough weather gear, not having enough bags, luggage”
  • “that one night his feet stopped working because of so much cold.”
• Got sick – 12% (4 of 34)
  • “Terrible. Can’t take most of your things cause it’s cold & then you have to find a place to go while freezing. You get sick & down for days. I have health conditions so it’s bad.”
• Had to move again – 12% (4 of 34)
  • “It was really messed up, cold, didn’t want to move more than 3 time, got sick”
  • “I have been swept many many times in the passed almost four years of homelessness. Especially the winter. Depending on the weather the day of a “freezing sweep”, bone chilling cold slows shit down, snow, ice, water, it all freezes everything metal, wood, cloth.”
• No time – 9% (3 of 34)
  • “hard to move in a short time”
• Death – 6% (2 of 34)
  • “My friend Jared froze to death being the Burger King in Leetsdale. He was an apprentace electrician & friend of mine. They swept all my stuff including a memorial to him.”
• Nowhere to go – 6% (2 of 34)
  • “exhausting, cold, was never warned, do not know where I’m going”
• No notice – 6% (2 of 34)
  • “20th & Market St.- We weren’t expecting it, we kept it clean. They took our stuff – sleeping bags, gear, clothing, Pulled up a dumptruck, and threw everything away”
• Hotel voucher – 3% (1 of 34)
  • “Yes, they gave us voucher to hotel, but left our tent, and everything. When we checked out, we were left with nothing”

How do you access information about cold weather shelters, warming centers, etc?

Do you have any additional feedback you’d like to provide?

• “ability to choose when & how you move is best”
• “comfort , safety taken away every two weeks added  to every other stress – anxiety – end up in hospital”
• “Kicked out of the 48th St. Did CPR, Staff watching, then kicked out”
• “Last year I utilized one of the warming shelters, it is helpful. I was incapable of caring for myself & on probation for trespassing just for sleeping somewhere… Streets not safe, got hit by a car, sexually assualted, would rather go to jail – couldn’t afford any safe place to recuperate”
• “Making sure the vulnerable are safe”
• “Please help us get housed”
• “put us in housing – especially us vets”
• “Shelters are unsafe – Employees know that”
• “should stop doing freezing sweeps – affecting people who can’t afford housing”
• “The struggle is real”
• “To get more notification before a sweep than just within less than 24hrs”
• “When we are swept in freezing temps, the health danger is so great. I’ve always gotten & stayed sick once swept in the first freezing day. I almost always get [undecipherable] a horrific upper respiratory infection [undecipherable] which limited my ability greatly to be around my little girl with cystic fibrosis. When she was alive that is”
• “would like them to not do freezing sweeps”

In conclusion, sweeping houseless people in freezing weather leads to sickness and injury, loss of needed gear, emotional strain, and does not connect people to shelter or indoor spaces. Sweeps should be stopped in all cold weather to save lives and treat people as human. 

Housekeys Action Network Denver – info@housekeysactionnetwork.com – 701-484-2634