Cold Weather Shelter Access
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In January and February of 2024, Housekeys Action Network Denver (HAND) surveyed 46 houseless people about cold weather sheltering. This survey asked 23 questions about access to cold weather shelter, experiences at cold weather shelters, and suggested improvements to these shelters. We surveyed houseless people in a variety of locations including near downtown shelters like St. Francis Center and Denver Rescue Mission, at day centers like The Gathering Place, at large encampments, and at scattered street locations where individual houseless people spend time. All surveys were done in Denver. Houseless people who did the survey were given a bus ticket as compensation for their time.
Reports directly from houseless people seeking shelter, data from City shelter records, and experiences of advocates assisting houseless people seeking shelter all collectively paint the same picture – a Denver that does not have enough shelter space for all houseless people seeking shelter in cold weather. HAND’s Cold Weather Shelter Access Survey results showing 66% of people being turned away from night shelters aligns with the City-acquired shelter data showing shelters being over-capacity nearly 67% of nights.
Until Denver secures enough real housing for all in need – which would be the best way forward! – Denver needs to open enough emergency shelter space for everyone seeking shelter, especially in the winter.
Furthermore, as houseless people speak to in our survey, top priority needs for this sheltering include:
- Open shelter access to all hours (with no curfew)
- Open shelters in various parts of town to reduce travel time
- Offer transportation to shelters (though not mandated to get in)
- Have better treatment by staff
- Allow people who have been ATL’d from other shelters
At the same time, survey respondents are clear that there are many reasons for why individuals (24% of survey respondents for day shelters and 21% for night shelters) do not stay at shelters – even in the cold. While some of these reasons can be addressed by improving the shelter system, the number one reason given – not wanting to be around a lot of people, whether other guests or abusive staff – cannot truly be addressed within the shelter system unless individual rooms are provided. Real housing, or at least emergency hotel rooms in cold weather, must be secured in order to address the full cold weather shelter need. Any emergency cold weather hotel rooms must be tied to outreach, transportation, a halt of sweeps in cold weather, and emergency gear for those for whom going indoors is not a viable option.
Human beings are not built to live outside during cold Denver winters without protection from the elements and additional heat. Humans get sick – hypothermia, frostbite – and even die. In fact, 2023 was a record year in terms of unhoused deaths (at least 311 reported), the majority of which were overdoses. Last year, a scientific study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published data illustrating what those on the streets and their advocates/providers have known forever – the existence of a strong correlation between increases in overdoses and sweeps of unhoused people with nowhere to go . Denver should not be a City where death is considered acceptable if you are poor and houseless… Especially not when the City considers it “too expensive” to secure needed shelter but instead uses the City budget for increased policing and pickleball. Allocating sufficient resources so that all Denverites can have basic access to protection from the freezing cold is the bare minimum that should be done.
Every human being needs access to shelter in the cold… Period.
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