Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Is Colorado's Morning News Marty lens Ginagonde, Good morning, and
Arvada concerns over a newly proposed homeless resource center led
to a tense meeting this week, residents expressing concern over
the proposal in the city's lack of transparency.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
The proposed facility would go in the vacant Early College
of Arvada building, where the city reportedly says this would
not be a shelter. Joining us now on the KWA
Common Spirit Health Hotline is our Vada Mayor Lauren Simpson.
Mayor Simpson, thank you so much for your time this morning.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Of course, I'm happy to be here. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
We covered the story yesterday as we saw some back
and forth that took place at the city council meeting.
Can you walk us through what you mean and what
the difference we see here between this homeless navigation center
versus what's called a homeless shelter.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Absolutely so. A homeless shelter is what we all traditionally
think of when we think of the Denver Rescue Mission
or some of these other agencies. They tend to be
a place that you know, you can get food, you
can maybe get a code or something along those lines.
They may provide some services. That's usually one agency and
they're doing it and people don't have a place to say,
they come in and out, and people aren't really navigated
(01:06):
to the positions they need to be. What a navigation
center is. It's a more relatively newer model. We haven't
seen it as much here in Colorado, but it's being
heavily explored across the Front Range as numerous communities look
at this because it returns better results, much higher rates
of success. Now, the navigation center model is very flexible.
It can take lots of forms, but generally the premise
(01:28):
is is that you have all the resources that any
individual or family could need in one place. Because how
we set people up to fail is say Okay, you've
got a doctor appointment, now you have to catch this
bus take it two hours over that way, it doesn't
work for people. The idea is that it's all centralized
in one place so that people can access the resources
they need. Not said, it can be very flexible, so
(01:51):
some navigation centers do take on those more difficult cases.
In Oravada, seventy seven percent of the people experiencing homelessness
in our community are families with children. So we are
looking at models that could both prevent homelessness in our community.
That's a key goal, as well as be able to
help people get rapidly rehoused and if they need some
(02:12):
unique service, be able to help direct them to that
so that we can start to make a long term
dent in what we see in the homelessness community in
our community.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Mayor Simpsons. Some have said there's been a lack of transparency,
maybe a lack of understanding, which you laid out. There
is this an issue with some Arevata residents where it's
a kind of nimbiism. Whether it's not a shelter, but
these facilities, they don't want this in their backyard.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
So I don't want to call my residence Nimbi's. I
will say, there are some folks who don't want us
to do this at all, and I want to challenge
those folks on what their plan is because this crisis
is getting worse. But for the folks that are living
around the building we purchase I completely and totally understand
their concerns, and frankly, their concerns are valid. These are
their homes, they're raising their families there, They have their
(02:57):
parents nearby. You know, if they thought based off what
a lot of them have envisioned, I would be very
disturbed at putting a facility like that back in a
neighborhood as well. However, the concerns we hear from residents,
we can address them, and frankly, we really want to
work with them. We've purchased a building, That's what we've done.
(03:17):
Real estate transactions are kind of quiet by a law,
you know, you don't go talking about those things. And
so we've been looking at this model for a while.
This building met our needs, it met our location, it
met our size and other criteria, and now begins the
neighborhood engagement process. We have an idea about what we
want to do and a vision for the parameters and
boundaries that we have to put around it, but the
(03:40):
details still need to be filled in. And that's why
we're starting this process with the neighborhood now, because they're
going to be able to help us see the things
that they know about their neighborhood that we don't, and
improvements we need to make, cautions we need to take,
and frankly, opportunities that we can do to work together.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Mayor Sinson.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
What are some of those parameters and boundaries, like you say,
because I feel like one of the concerns we hear
when we see around the Denver Rescue Mission, while you said,
is different than the navigation center, is those standing around camping, lingering,
waiting for those facilities to open. So what are some
of the parameters or the requirements that will be at
this navigation center if initiated, that would ease the concerns
(04:19):
of some of these residents.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
So those of the things we're going to define with
the residents. I do know from conversations with my own
city council and other partners, is that we don't want
people hanging around outside potentially doing drugs. That's completely unacceptable
in a location such as this. So a great example
that the neighbor has already brought us in terms of
(04:41):
security is lights. Now, obviously, we know we need security
at this facility, that's an obvious but we did have
a folk come forward that says that it's pretty dark
along one of these streets, and so maybe we can
invest in some lighting along the block, which we hadn't
even looked at yet. So well lit areas are to
increase safety and that's exactly the kind of insights we
(05:03):
want in need from those neighbors if we're going to
create something that really works. Also, there are some more
intensive cases folks who need mental health or addiction rehabilitation treatment.
Those require specialized intake facilities that do that work. We
know we can't be everything to everyone. We don't have
the research for it, we don't have the size for it,
(05:24):
and if you try to do too much, you drown.
So we're trying to be very intentional about the audiences
we're going to serve, and we have to go through
that process to figure out exactly what that looks like.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
On that intentionality. Since you bring that up, you emphasize
this is for residents in the city of our vat
to your community. How much of this from the residence
side when they're concerned about the facilities and the greater
conversation about homelessness, maybe migrants coming into the city to
take advantage of those resources. Do you think some of
their concerns are of that conflating all those issues saying
(05:55):
do we want the migrants even though it's not meant
for that, We don't want them coming here because as
something like this is provided absolutely.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
So, again, that is one of the main concerned folks have. Obviously,
that's been a major issue here in the Denver metro area,
has been a major issue across the United States. I
understand why it's on people's minds. We actually haven't seen
too much of the migrant issue in our Vada. In
order to take care of migrants, you need to have
facilities like a hotel, you need to have comprehensive immigration services.
(06:25):
These are not things that really truly exist inside my city.
We don't have a hotel like Denver had to be
able to take over and shelter people. We don't have
comprehensive immigration resources, nor would we be looking at having
that at this center. Migrants fundamentally need an entirely different
set of resources than would homeless in our community. We
(06:48):
conplay them a lot, but truth be told, they're very different.
And I'm not going to take any kind of political
stance on the migrant issue or not. That is very
hot button and people have different feels about it. But
what I will say is, again, we are looking at
something by our community for our community. And as a
great example, we have an apartment building right now in Oarvada,
(07:10):
because federal aid has run out. We have more than
one hundred apartments that are about to be evicted, and
the vast majority of those are low income families. Yes,
some of them will be able to scramble and find
new places, but not all of them will. And so
the most important goals again we have for any navigation
center will be to prevent and rapidly end homelessness.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
With a little time we have left in wrapping up
with you, what are the next steps in this and
where could residents go if they still feel like their
concerns haven't been heard.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
So we are going to be doing an intensive neighborhood
engagement strategy. I hold folks this. At the town hall,
people were upset, you know. I hope they they hope
they were able to hear me. But I've already been
emailing these folks, and I talked with my city manager yesterday.
We're looking at doing a lot of intensive neighborhood meetings
with the folks from that neighborhood to be able to
hear from them. Now we will have a larger community
(08:04):
process as well. It is important that the whole community
be here. But for me, right now, my focus is
on Arlington Meadows. All the other neighborhoods do matter, and
opinions do matter. They're part of this city as well.
But quite frankly, sometimes you have to focus in on
the folks who are going to be the most impacted
and what their needs will be, and frankly, they know
their neighborhood best. So right now my personal focus is
(08:26):
on Arlington Meadows and we're going to be doing a
lot of work.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Are Adam may Or Laurence Simpson. Thank you so much
for coming on with us, Thank you for having me
Is Colorado's Morning News Marty lens Ginagonde, Good morning, and
Arvada concerns over a newly proposed homeless resource center led
to a tense meeting this week, residents expressing concern over
the proposal in the city's lack of transparency.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
The proposed facility would go in the vacant Early College
of Arvada building, where the city reportedly says this would
not be a shelter. Joining us now on the KWA
Common Spirit Health Hotline is our Vada Mayor Lauren Simpson.
Mayor Simpson, thank you so much for your time this morning.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Of course, I'm happy to be here. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
We covered the story yesterday as we saw some back
and forth that took place at the city council meeting.
Can you walk us through what you mean and what
the difference we see here between this homeless navigation center
versus what's called a homeless shelter.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Absolutely so. A homeless shelter is what we all traditionally
think of when we think of the Denver Rescue Mission
or some of these other agencies. They tend to be
a place that you know, you can get food, you
can maybe get a code or something along those lines.
They may provide some services. That's usually one agency and
they're doing it and people don't have a place to say,
they come in and out, and people aren't really navigated
(01:06):
to the positions they need to be. What a navigation
center is. It's a more relatively newer model. We haven't
seen it as much here in Colorado, but it's being
heavily explored across the Front Range as numerous communities look
at this because it returns better results, much higher rates
of success. Now, the navigation center model is very flexible.
It can take lots of forms, but generally the premise
(01:28):
is is that you have all the resources that any
individual or family could need in one place. Because how
we set people up to fail is say Okay, you've
got a doctor appointment, now you have to catch this
bus take it two hours over that way, it doesn't
work for people. The idea is that it's all centralized
in one place so that people can access the resources
they need. Not said, it can be very flexible, so
(01:51):
some navigation centers do take on those more difficult cases.
In Oravada, seventy seven percent of the people experiencing homelessness
in our community are families with children. So we are
looking at models that could both prevent homelessness in our community.
That's a key goal, as well as be able to
help people get rapidly rehoused and if they need some
(02:12):
unique service, be able to help direct them to that
so that we can start to make a long term
dent in what we see in the homelessness community in
our community.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Mayor Simpsons. Some have said there's been a lack of transparency,
maybe a lack of understanding, which you laid out. There
is this an issue with some Arevata residents where it's
a kind of nimbiism. Whether it's not a shelter, but
these facilities, they don't want this in their backyard.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
So I don't want to call my residence Nimbi's. I
will say, there are some folks who don't want us
to do this at all, and I want to challenge
those folks on what their plan is because this crisis
is getting worse. But for the folks that are living
around the building we purchase I completely and totally understand
their concerns, and frankly, their concerns are valid. These are
their homes, they're raising their families there, They have their
(02:57):
parents nearby. You know, if they thought based off what
a lot of them have envisioned, I would be very
disturbed at putting a facility like that back in a
neighborhood as well. However, the concerns we hear from residents,
we can address them, and frankly, we really want to
work with them. We've purchased a building, That's what we've done.
(03:17):
Real estate transactions are kind of quiet by a law,
you know, you don't go talking about those things. And
so we've been looking at this model for a while.
This building met our needs, it met our location, it
met our size and other criteria, and now begins the
neighborhood engagement process. We have an idea about what we
want to do and a vision for the parameters and
boundaries that we have to put around it, but the
(03:40):
details still need to be filled in. And that's why
we're starting this process with the neighborhood now, because they're
going to be able to help us see the things
that they know about their neighborhood that we don't, and
improvements we need to make, cautions we need to take,
and frankly, opportunities that we can do to work together.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Mayor Sinson.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
What are some of those parameters and boundaries, like you say,
because I feel like one of the concerns we hear
when we see around the Denver Rescue Mission, while you said,
is different than the navigation center, is those standing around camping, lingering,
waiting for those facilities to open. So what are some
of the parameters or the requirements that will be at
this navigation center if initiated, that would ease the concerns
(04:19):
of some of these residents.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
So those of the things we're going to define with
the residents. I do know from conversations with my own
city council and other partners, is that we don't want
people hanging around outside potentially doing drugs. That's completely unacceptable
in a location such as this. So a great example
that the neighbor has already brought us in terms of
(04:41):
security is lights. Now, obviously, we know we need security
at this facility, that's an obvious but we did have
a folk come forward that says that it's pretty dark
along one of these streets, and so maybe we can
invest in some lighting along the block, which we hadn't
even looked at yet. So well lit areas are to
increase safety and that's exactly the kind of insights we
(05:03):
want in need from those neighbors if we're going to
create something that really works. Also, there are some more
intensive cases folks who need mental health or addiction rehabilitation treatment.
Those require specialized intake facilities that do that work. We
know we can't be everything to everyone. We don't have
the research for it, we don't have the size for it,
(05:24):
and if you try to do too much, you drown.
So we're trying to be very intentional about the audiences
we're going to serve, and we have to go through
that process to figure out exactly what that looks like.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
On that intentionality. Since you bring that up, you emphasize
this is for residents in the city of our vat
to your community. How much of this from the residence
side when they're concerned about the facilities and the greater
conversation about homelessness, maybe migrants coming into the city to
take advantage of those resources. Do you think some of
their concerns are of that conflating all those issues saying
(05:55):
do we want the migrants even though it's not meant
for that, We don't want them coming here because as
something like this is provided absolutely.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
So, again, that is one of the main concerned folks have. Obviously,
that's been a major issue here in the Denver metro area,
has been a major issue across the United States. I
understand why it's on people's minds. We actually haven't seen
too much of the migrant issue in our Vada. In
order to take care of migrants, you need to have
facilities like a hotel, you need to have comprehensive immigration services.
(06:25):
These are not things that really truly exist inside my city.
We don't have a hotel like Denver had to be
able to take over and shelter people. We don't have
comprehensive immigration resources, nor would we be looking at having
that at this center. Migrants fundamentally need an entirely different
set of resources than would homeless in our community. We
(06:48):
conplay them a lot, but truth be told, they're very different.
And I'm not going to take any kind of political
stance on the migrant issue or not. That is very
hot button and people have different feels about it. But
what I will say is, again, we are looking at
something by our community for our community. And as a
great example, we have an apartment building right now in Oarvada,
(07:10):
because federal aid has run out. We have more than
one hundred apartments that are about to be evicted, and
the vast majority of those are low income families. Yes,
some of them will be able to scramble and find
new places, but not all of them will. And so
the most important goals again we have for any navigation
center will be to prevent and rapidly end homelessness.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
With a little time we have left in wrapping up
with you, what are the next steps in this and
where could residents go if they still feel like their
concerns haven't been heard.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
So we are going to be doing an intensive neighborhood
engagement strategy. I hold folks this. At the town hall,
people were upset, you know. I hope they they hope
they were able to hear me. But I've already been
emailing these folks, and I talked with my city manager yesterday.
We're looking at doing a lot of intensive neighborhood meetings
with the folks from that neighborhood to be able to
hear from them. Now we will have a larger community
(08:04):
process as well. It is important that the whole community
be here. But for me, right now, my focus is
on Arlington Meadows. All the other neighborhoods do matter, and
opinions do matter. They're part of this city as well.
But quite frankly, sometimes you have to focus in on
the folks who are going to be the most impacted
and what their needs will be, and frankly, they know
their neighborhood best. So right now my personal focus is
(08:26):
on Arlington Meadows and we're going to be doing a
lot of work.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Are Adam may Or Laurence Simpson. Thank you so much
for coming on with us, Thank you for having me
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