Email follow up from us with questions for CEO —
Vincent Atchity,
In our last email we asked for the following information:
- Breakdown of the budget for operating SAFER
- List of solutions attempted to keep SAFER open
- What is the plan with the building
Your response was that SAFER operates on 200k a month, and that the building will be sold as soon as possible.
While we appreciate some answers here, these answers still leave much to be understood and do not answer the question on attempted solutions to keep SAFER open at all.
Some level of transparency is needed here as you are abruptly closing down this program with no transparency.
We are asking for answers to the following questions before Monday when residents, government officials, providers, the broader community, (and you if you change your mind and join as we continue to ask you to) will be meeting.
- Breakdown of the budget for operating SAFER – meaning a line by line budget showing what SAFER money is spent on and what incoming money SAFER has. AKA if it is 200k a month, how is that 200k spent and where does the money come from.
- List and proof of solutions attempted to keep SAFER open – meaning a detailed outline of funders you asked for more funding, re-structure options considered, efforts to use medicaid billing, or whatever solutions were pursued to keep SAFER open before choosing to close it down.
- Did you try billing medicaid for services as this program is a natural fit for medicaid reimbursement? If so, why is that not happening? If not, why not?
- What is the plan with the building – now knowing the plan is to sell it right away, what will be done with the money from the sale of the building?
- Since Mental Health Colorado received at least $2mil in ARPA funding last year to purchase the building, and now 6 months later are shutting down, can you explain how you did not know the unsustainable financials prior to receiving this ARPA grant and purchasing the building?
There is serious concern of mismanagement of funds here. In order to really understand what is possible for keeping SAFER open, transparent answers to these questions are needed.
SAFER is not like other recovery programs. You all, thanks greatly to the on ground staff, have created an amazing unique program. Ending this abruptly has devastating effects on the mental health of residents – the mission of your organization. Residents deserve clear answers to these questions. Please send this information to us by Monday morning.
Sincerely,
Terese Howard on behalf of
Residents, Family, Friends, and HAND
Email from CEO in reply on July 9th —
Hi, Teresa.
With apologies, as stated previously, Mental Health Colorado is closing Safer.
We do not grant permission for a public meeting on our private property, out of consideration for residents and staff and because there is no meeting space.
,
You are all, of course, welcome to meet elsewhere to propose pathways for expedited relocation of Safer residents.
I will be unable to join.
Responsible ongoing operations of the Safer shelter would require a minimum of $200K per month.
The building will be sold at the earliest possible opportunity.
To reiterate, our top priority now is ensuring all residents are safely and appropriately transitioned. And while we need to transition people expeditiously, we are doing so thoughtfully and carefully, and taking the time required to find appropriate shelter and housing. We are working with staff, partners, and community organizations beyond Safer to support residents during this transition.
Email sent back to CEO on July 9th —
Dear Vincent Atchity – CEO Mental Health Colorado,
Thank you for your response, however, this response says nothing about how you will work with the broader community to keep safer open. Residents and community need answers and action, not just a statement that keeping SAFER open is too hard and you have given up (after only giving residents 3 weeks notice!!!). With a planned closure date of July 17th, we are only 8 days away – and residents still do not have any housing to move to.
We – residents, family, friends and supporters – demand that you meet with us as well as with federal, state and local officials, providers, funders, and others who may have solutions to keeping SAFER open. By bringing everyone together with a mind towards solutions we can work together to come up with a plan to keep SAFER open.
We ask for this meeting to take place on Monday July 14th at 11am at the SAFER building (9799 E Geddes Ave Centennial CO 80112).
We are inviting key people and organizations who may have resources or ideas needed to save SAFER. These will include congressional representatives, state representatives, city council and mayor’s office, other providers, and funders. If you have people in mind who could be helpful in identifying solutions here please invite them!
Before this meeting it will be critical to have information on SAFER shared so all going in can understand what is needed to keep SAFER open. This information should include:
- Breakdown of the budget for operating SAFER
- List of solutions attempted to keep SAFER open
- What is the plan with the building
Please send this information to us prior to the meeting on July 14th.
Let me know if you have any questions. Please confirm with us that you can be there on July 14th at 11am to meet (if you need to adjust the time, please let us know asap so we can try to coordinate that with others attending).
We must keep SAFER, one of the most effective transitional housing and recovery programs in the state, open!
Sincerely,
SAFER Residents, Friends and Family, Housekeys Action Network Denver
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Email from CEO received July 8th —
Dear Safer Residents, Friends, Families, and Community Members:
Thank you for your heartfelt letter and for sharing such powerful statements about the impact of the Safer program. We hear you, and we share your sorrow and frustration.
The decision to close Safer was an incredibly difficult decision based on irrefutable economics and is not a reflection of the program’s success. We know the program has helped hundreds of people build healthier, more stable lives, and we are proud of our incredible outcomes and grateful to everyone who made them possible.
Mental Health Colorado is a small nonprofit advocacy organization. We stepped in during a critical time to operate Safer utilizing the COVID relief funds which supported the start-up of the effort, but we cannot continue without reliable, sustainable funding. We have worked tirelessly to identify other funding sources and engaged in extensive efforts to secure new resources. Unfortunately, the fundraising landscape is currently not what it was during COVID nor as robust as it needs to be, for Safer and for many other nonprofit organizations.
Our top priority now is ensuring all residents are safely and appropriately transitioned. And while we need to transition people expeditiously, we are doing so thoughtfully and carefully, and taking the time required to find appropriate shelter and housing. We are working with staff, partners, and community organizations beyond Safer to support residents during this transition.
We thank you for your advocacy. While we understand that the closure of Safer is deeply disappointing, we remain committed to making the case for broader, systemic solutions so that programs like Safer which provide healthful alternatives to homelessness and incarceration can take root and thrive in the communities that need them.
Sincerely,
Vincent CEO Mental Health Colorado
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Email sent to CEO on July 7th —
Dear Vincent Atchity – CEO Mental Health Colorado,
We – residents of SAFER, friends and family of SAFER residents, and community at large – are writing to demand that SAFER be kept open. SAFER has proven to be an exceptionally successful program with only 1% of SAFER residents returning to jail after being housed there, compared to Colorado Department of Justice’s recidivism rate of 28%.
We need you to step up as CEO in your role as solution finder. Whatever it takes, a solution must be found to the funding shortfall that enables SAFER to stay open.
30 residents, and 12 family/friends/supporters have written statements on why SAFER should stay open. Please read these statements here or attached.
If Mental Health Colorado does not have the funding to continue the program, a wide and public ask for help and other innovative solutions must be employed.
If after extensive time and efforts, these wide and public asks cannot secure the needed funding to keep SAFER open long term, SAFER must at least be kept open long enough for all current residents to secure housing. Staff cannot be expected to magically pull housing for all residents out of a hat in less than a month! Time and investment is needed to keep these 30 residents from landing back on the streets and in jail – the very reason this program was created! It is simply not ok to abandon the people in your care.
We appreciate your leadership in starting SAFER. Now we need your leadership in keeping it, and its current residents, alive!
Sincerely,
SAFER Residents, Friends and Family, Housekeys Action Network Denver
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