August 12, 2024 • 16 mins
CAN WE TALK ABOUT FUSION STUDIOS? Fusion Studios provides permanent supportive and bridge housing to move people out of homelessness and into successful lives. One resident who is trying to get back on his feet has been sharing the problems there with me and others and I've asked Cathy Alderman, Chief Communications and Public Policy Officer to join me on the show to talk about it. From internet issues to people attacking other people while on drugs, Fusion hasn't shown to be the safe space many would hope for.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Kathy Alderman. She is the chief Communications and public policy
officer at the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless and Kathy,
I'm glad you came on the show. I appreciate it
and wanted to ask you specifically about some of the
issues at Fusion Studios, which is supportive housing and bridge
housing for people who are trying to exit homelessness rights.
(00:21):
Is that a fair way to say what Fusion is.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Yes, the Coloral Coalition for the Homeless owns and operates
Fusion Studios, which is a former hotel that was turned
into studio apartments to serve people exiting the cycle of
homelessness or for people who are high risk of becoming homeless.
And on that site we have one hundred and thirty
nine units of supportive housing where we provide case management services,
(00:45):
we provide some clinical services on site, we have property
management on site, and really it's a pathway for folks
who are exiting the cycle of homelessness to stabilize in
housing and hopefully get connected to the things that they
need to stabilize the rest of their life so they
can be successful in all areas of their life moving forward.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Now, I have been in contact with a resident at
Fusion Studios and he has said, look, the case managers,
the people on site at Fusion are amazing, Like, he
has nothing bad to say about anyone, and he appreciates
the support he gets. And we're not specifically talking about him,
but in his case, or in everyone's case, the Internet
(01:26):
has become a huge problem and for people who are
either trying to get or do work and need that
online connectivity, this has been a big source of irritation,
especially because Fusion just got an infusion of many millions
of dollars to fix this issue. So what is the
status of the Internet at Fusion Studios.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Well, and it's great to hear that people have positive
things to say about our staff. I have the honor
of getting to talk about the great work we do
and the great people who do that work.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
So it's good to hear it coming from community as well.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
I want to I want to go back to the
question about this infusion of funding into Fusion Studios. So
it is true that Denver City Council approved a one
million dollar grant several months ago from the Department of
Public Health and Environment Dinverse Department of Public Health and
Environment to support our mental and behavioral health services on site,
(02:21):
both at Fusion.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
And at other properties.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
This grant allowed us to hire some additional behavioral health
staff and case management staff for some of our properties,
and it's also allowing us to do mental health first
aid training throughout our organization. We have eight over eight
hundred employees in our organization and many of them will
undergo this training.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
A very small.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Portion of that contract was for some internet upgrades at
Fusion Studios so that our clinical staff could access the
electronic health records and provide better telehealth service. WIBI is
made available to all of the residents, but it's not
it's not necessarily a guarantee because really the reason Wi
(03:05):
Fi exists on that property is twofold. First is for
our staff and clinicians to provide.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
The care that we need to do.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
And because it was an old motel, we couldn't wire
the building so that every individual room could have their
own Internet access, and so we thought providing Wi Fi
might be a better way to deal with the infrastructure
of the building. But also, you know, to give people
the option to use the.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Wi Fi that we make available.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
So why has it been so intermittent at some points
it's out all the time, and then it comes back on,
and then I'll be on for a little while. And
I realized that this isn't something that you guys are
sort of promising. But at the same time, in today's age,
it is impossible to apply for a job unless you
have the ability to go online. There's so many things
(03:52):
that have to happen to be a functioning member of
society that you need internet access for. So, I mean,
why has it been such a challenge that up for
the residents.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
So when we did go in and do some of
the upgrades on property, we know that there were several
days where access was.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
A little bit more limited to our residents.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
But since that time, I've been speaking with our IT
department and our property management team pretty regularly, and you know,
most days we have more than one hundred and thirty
devices logged onto the Wi Fi. So people are using
the Wi Fi for their phones, for their TV services,
for gaming, you know, whatever people use Wi Fi for.
(04:35):
Many people on site are are able to access it.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
And you know, obviously if you do.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Have that many people and that many devices on one system,
sometimes it does get slow, or sometimes it does provides
more intermittent service than than folks would like.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
But we certainly.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Recognize the importance of internet access. We have a computer
lab on site that we allow people to access to.
We work our case managers work with individuals both on
their own devices and as well as you know, taking
them to the library if that's necessary, because we do
recognize that getting access to internet is critical for job
applications and you know, for getting access to appointments for
(05:17):
health care and for you know, mental health care. So again,
it is a service that we provide on site as
a as a courtesy because of the building's infrastructure. But
it's not it's not something that is written into our
residence leases, nor is it a guarantee.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
And frankly, we just don't.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Have the IT capacity to support one hundred and thirty
nine individuals at that property to make sure that their
devices connect. We certainly try when we can, but we
just don't have we don't have an IT team that
is dedicated to uh, you know, to our residents at
any of our property. Right.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Okay, so let me let me switch gears a little
bit and ask about safety and security at Fusion because
as recently, fairly recently, there was an attack on one
resident on the other and the staff was very supportive
of the victim in this case and encourage them to
report it to police. But from what I'm hearing, and
(06:15):
this is again anecdotal, these issues of people being very
high on drugs or alcohol and then coming in and
either breaking things or pulling fire alarms in the middle
of the night, things of that nature that make this
a very difficult environment for someone who is either a
trying to stay sober. That's the first thing, Like, if
you're trying to stay sober, this is a very challenging environment.
(06:38):
But what kind of screening if any goes into who
comes into fusion, Are there requirements of sobriety in any way,
shape or form. How does that look?
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Well, So, I first want to say that, you know,
the safety of our clients, of our residents, of our
staff is you know, primary importance to us, and it's
why we have security on staff, and it's why we
have off duty police officers outside, you know, kind of
walking the property with some frequency or coming by the
(07:10):
property with some frequency.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
And it's why we check in.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Regularly on our residents in their units through our case
managers and clinicians, is to make sure people are feeling safe. However,
we certainly know that there have been some incidents of violence,
and unfortunately that violence has been perpetrated against residents of
the property, and in those instances, it is our primary
concern to ensure that that person is safe and that
(07:32):
they are cared for that you know, they need to
go to the hospital that we're you know, we're getting
them there, and as you mentioned that that we're following
up with police to make sure that the perpetrator can't
continue to engage in that type of behavior on the property,
which often leads to evictions for people who behave in
a violent way in our property. I'll also mentioned that
(07:54):
because of the nature of the property, we've had quite
a bit of violence perpetrated against the building and so
people who don't live there who unfortunately will throw things
through windows or you know, breakdoors, and so that can
lead to a lot of maintenance that we have to
do to take care of the property, which again is
our responsibility because we you know, we want it to
(08:15):
be a safe and welcoming place for folks to live.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
In terms of.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Screening clients or potential residence. So the calor pollution of
the Homeless operates on a housing first model. That means
that we help people resolve their homeless homelessness by getting
them into housing, and then we work with those individuals
on all of the issues that led to their homelessness.
And in some instances that's job loss, some instances, it's
a family breakup. In some instances, it's mental or physical
(08:41):
health issues.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
In some instances it's substance use issues.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
But we don't tell people that you only deserve housing
if you fix these things first. So our model is
that we bring you into housing, we help you to stabilize,
and then we know that we will have much more
success in addressing the issues that led to your homelessness,
and maybe even perpetrated or major homelessness experience more lengthy
(09:04):
and so you know. And so at times that does
mean that we are housing people that are involved with
the criminal criminal legal system, and it's our goal to
resolve that help them resolve that issue so that they
can be successful in housing long term.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
And in some.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Instances does mean that people are using substances oftentimes because
of their experience of homelessness, and we will work with
them to address that substance use disorder once they're stably housed.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
So in theory, there could be a person with a
with a violent criminal history that lives at Fusion Studios.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
In theory, there could we do you know, we do
have some screening processes in place in terms of, you know,
like somebody here who may have committed a murder. We
would screen that person much differently than we might if
somebody had been found guilty of theft. So we do
work with the individuals to make sure that it's going
(09:59):
to be good a good option for them. But again
we don't think that there you know, there are so
few options for people that are involved with the criminal
legal systems for housing that we do want to provide
that pathway to recovery and stability.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
So is Fusion These are studios, so these do you
serve families at all?
Speaker 3 (10:19):
Or is it just adults?
Speaker 2 (10:22):
The Color Pollution for the Homeless does serve families, But
we don't serve families at Fusion Studios. That's not to
say that we wouldn't preclude a couple or maybe a
single mother or some or a single parent from staying there.
But I think we you know, again, we are very
person centered. We work with individuals to find out what
housing solution is going to be best for you and
can we meet it Because we own and operate twenty
(10:45):
one other residential properties comprising about two thousand units of
housing in the Denver area, and so oftentimes, if if
one property doesn't work for an individual, then you know,
we can find them another another property in another part
of town.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Without you know, going into great detail or any specific cases,
I have heard anecdotally from not just the person that
I am in contact with on a regular basis, but
from a few other people who said the level of
disconnect or the range of challenges that live at Fusion
Studios is across the spectrum. You have people that are
(11:22):
just coming in from long term situations on the streets that,
for lack of a more compassionate way to say it,
have almost become feral in some ways and don't necessarily
know how to be a part of a collective unit.
And then you have people that have been either at
Fusion for several years and they've had the ability to
sort of put things back together. Is there any opportunity
(11:43):
or any future plans for the coalition to create some
kind of step housing So people that are closer to independence.
If that is the endgame, could live in a more
sort of I hate to say it, but stable environment
with more stable neighbors who are on the same path
they are.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
Yeah, that's a.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Great question, and it is and it is a model
that we embrace in terms of we embrace transitional and
bridge housing options and so that's kind of what you're
seeing the mayor and his office embrace in terms of
micro communities and using motels for shorter term stays. We
recognize that people coming directly from shelters and directly from
the streets often benefit from a short term stay in
(12:26):
a stable environment while they, you know, kind of I guess,
get out of the chaos of homelessness and start thinking
about long term housing.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
And so we do embrace that model. Fusion Studios was.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Intended to be long term housing for folks exiting the
cycle of homelessness. Now we know that there are people
that are in different phases of their you know, path
to stability, and our hope is that it's going to
be that everyone in the in the building is going
to be able to live and function and have their
needs met there on a long term basis. And we
(12:58):
also know that some people, just by virtue of being
in that property for a long time, may start looking
for opportunities still live somewhere else, and we want to
help them on that pathway.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
So that is that for me. It seems to be
the biggest issue for the people that I've spoken with
because they are further along in the process, and it's
just it's discouraging when someone is trying to do the
right thing and they feel stymied, and especially I'm guessing
you know better than I do. This is a population
that doesn't do well with setbacks. So it's one of
(13:28):
those things that I hope is there anything that could
be done on a longer term basis about the Internet
at Fusion or other properties like this bridge, because I
just don't see it. It seems to me it would
be impossible to move forward without having that steady access.
And I get your point that there's just so many
people on one of you know, on one Wi Fi,
(13:49):
that it's just overloading the system. But what about people
who genuinely just say, look, I need this to work.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
I mean, I would say that, you know, while we
have certainly heard of instances where you know, connections have
been slow and some people haven't been able to connect
on a daily basis.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
We have multiple.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Devices connected and using Wi Fi. We have staff using
Wi Fi every single day and so so so I
think that you know, the service is there, and then
in some instances, it's going to take an additional step
I think for some individuals to use it in the
way that they need to, and we will work with
those individuals to the very best of our ability to
(14:28):
make sure that that is.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
A smooth process.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
But it's like I said, we don't necessarily have the
IT capacity to have you know, an IT department on
site to fix every issue as it may arise every
single day, and so you know, we really rely on
the residence in the building to alert us when the
Wi Fi is down, and you know, like just like
your computer home, every now and again we have to
reset it. But we do have many more access points
(14:54):
through the building than we did before. But the Wi
Fi is again used by staff in clinic, and so
there are certain firewalls and protections in place to protect
client and personally identify able data that it's covered through HIPPA,
and so we have to have some of those firewalls
in place to make sure that the information that our
staff are collecting on site is safe.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Well, that is all well and good. This person just said,
can you get a second Wi Fi?
Speaker 3 (15:20):
Like businesses?
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Due, I think everybody's looking for the easy solution here
and trying to help move us towards that so people
can be successful.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
And and I'm not an it person, so I don't
know what it means to get a second Wi Fi,
but I know that there are you know, I know
that there is a Wi Fi channel for staff to
access and a Wi Fi channel for residents to access,
and oftentimes they overlap, but it's the same system, so
I you know, I can't really speak to what it
would mean to put in another system. I can just
(15:54):
speak to kind of what I what we know today
about how many devices are actually using the Wi Fi
on a regular all.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Right, Kathy Alderman with the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless.
I appreciate your time today, and I appreciate the efforts.
You know, fundamentally, I disagree with the no sobriety option.
I'm a big fan of step Denver, but I know
you guys are all trying to do the same thing,
so I really appreciate you making time today and explaining
what's going on over there. Sure, thanks for having me today,
(16:23):
all right, Kathy, thank you
Kathy Alderman. She is the chief Communications and public policy
officer at the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless and Kathy,
I'm glad you came on the show. I appreciate it
and wanted to ask you specifically about some of the
issues at Fusion Studios, which is supportive housing and bridge
housing for people who are trying to exit homelessness rights.
(00:21):
Is that a fair way to say what Fusion is.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Yes, the Coloral Coalition for the Homeless owns and operates
Fusion Studios, which is a former hotel that was turned
into studio apartments to serve people exiting the cycle of
homelessness or for people who are high risk of becoming homeless.
And on that site we have one hundred and thirty
nine units of supportive housing where we provide case management services,
(00:45):
we provide some clinical services on site, we have property
management on site, and really it's a pathway for folks
who are exiting the cycle of homelessness to stabilize in
housing and hopefully get connected to the things that they
need to stabilize the rest of their life so they
can be successful in all areas of their life moving forward.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Now, I have been in contact with a resident at
Fusion Studios and he has said, look, the case managers,
the people on site at Fusion are amazing, Like, he
has nothing bad to say about anyone, and he appreciates
the support he gets. And we're not specifically talking about him,
but in his case, or in everyone's case, the Internet
(01:26):
has become a huge problem and for people who are
either trying to get or do work and need that
online connectivity, this has been a big source of irritation,
especially because Fusion just got an infusion of many millions
of dollars to fix this issue. So what is the
status of the Internet at Fusion Studios.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Well, and it's great to hear that people have positive
things to say about our staff. I have the honor
of getting to talk about the great work we do
and the great people who do that work.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
So it's good to hear it coming from community as well.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
I want to I want to go back to the
question about this infusion of funding into Fusion Studios. So
it is true that Denver City Council approved a one
million dollar grant several months ago from the Department of
Public Health and Environment Dinverse Department of Public Health and
Environment to support our mental and behavioral health services on site,
(02:21):
both at Fusion.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
And at other properties.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
This grant allowed us to hire some additional behavioral health
staff and case management staff for some of our properties,
and it's also allowing us to do mental health first
aid training throughout our organization. We have eight over eight
hundred employees in our organization and many of them will
undergo this training.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
A very small.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Portion of that contract was for some internet upgrades at
Fusion Studios so that our clinical staff could access the
electronic health records and provide better telehealth service. WIBI is
made available to all of the residents, but it's not
it's not necessarily a guarantee because really the reason Wi
(03:05):
Fi exists on that property is twofold. First is for
our staff and clinicians to provide.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
The care that we need to do.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
And because it was an old motel, we couldn't wire
the building so that every individual room could have their
own Internet access, and so we thought providing Wi Fi
might be a better way to deal with the infrastructure
of the building. But also, you know, to give people
the option to use the.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Wi Fi that we make available.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
So why has it been so intermittent at some points
it's out all the time, and then it comes back on,
and then I'll be on for a little while. And
I realized that this isn't something that you guys are
sort of promising. But at the same time, in today's age,
it is impossible to apply for a job unless you
have the ability to go online. There's so many things
(03:52):
that have to happen to be a functioning member of
society that you need internet access for. So, I mean,
why has it been such a challenge that up for
the residents.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
So when we did go in and do some of
the upgrades on property, we know that there were several
days where access was.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
A little bit more limited to our residents.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
But since that time, I've been speaking with our IT
department and our property management team pretty regularly, and you know,
most days we have more than one hundred and thirty
devices logged onto the Wi Fi. So people are using
the Wi Fi for their phones, for their TV services,
for gaming, you know, whatever people use Wi Fi for.
(04:35):
Many people on site are are able to access it.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
And you know, obviously if you do.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Have that many people and that many devices on one system,
sometimes it does get slow, or sometimes it does provides
more intermittent service than than folks would like.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
But we certainly.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Recognize the importance of internet access. We have a computer
lab on site that we allow people to access to.
We work our case managers work with individuals both on
their own devices and as well as you know, taking
them to the library if that's necessary, because we do
recognize that getting access to internet is critical for job
applications and you know, for getting access to appointments for
(05:17):
health care and for you know, mental health care. So again,
it is a service that we provide on site as
a as a courtesy because of the building's infrastructure. But
it's not it's not something that is written into our
residence leases, nor is it a guarantee.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
And frankly, we just don't.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Have the IT capacity to support one hundred and thirty
nine individuals at that property to make sure that their
devices connect. We certainly try when we can, but we
just don't have we don't have an IT team that
is dedicated to uh, you know, to our residents at
any of our property. Right.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Okay, so let me let me switch gears a little
bit and ask about safety and security at Fusion because
as recently, fairly recently, there was an attack on one
resident on the other and the staff was very supportive
of the victim in this case and encourage them to
report it to police. But from what I'm hearing, and
(06:15):
this is again anecdotal, these issues of people being very
high on drugs or alcohol and then coming in and
either breaking things or pulling fire alarms in the middle
of the night, things of that nature that make this
a very difficult environment for someone who is either a
trying to stay sober. That's the first thing, Like, if
you're trying to stay sober, this is a very challenging environment.
(06:38):
But what kind of screening if any goes into who
comes into fusion, Are there requirements of sobriety in any way,
shape or form. How does that look?
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Well, So, I first want to say that, you know,
the safety of our clients, of our residents, of our
staff is you know, primary importance to us, and it's
why we have security on staff, and it's why we
have off duty police officers outside, you know, kind of
walking the property with some frequency or coming by the
(07:10):
property with some frequency.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
And it's why we check in.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Regularly on our residents in their units through our case
managers and clinicians, is to make sure people are feeling safe. However,
we certainly know that there have been some incidents of violence,
and unfortunately that violence has been perpetrated against residents of
the property, and in those instances, it is our primary
concern to ensure that that person is safe and that
(07:32):
they are cared for that you know, they need to
go to the hospital that we're you know, we're getting
them there, and as you mentioned that that we're following
up with police to make sure that the perpetrator can't
continue to engage in that type of behavior on the property,
which often leads to evictions for people who behave in
a violent way in our property. I'll also mentioned that
(07:54):
because of the nature of the property, we've had quite
a bit of violence perpetrated against the building and so
people who don't live there who unfortunately will throw things
through windows or you know, breakdoors, and so that can
lead to a lot of maintenance that we have to
do to take care of the property, which again is
our responsibility because we you know, we want it to
(08:15):
be a safe and welcoming place for folks to live.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
In terms of.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Screening clients or potential residence. So the calor pollution of
the Homeless operates on a housing first model. That means
that we help people resolve their homeless homelessness by getting
them into housing, and then we work with those individuals
on all of the issues that led to their homelessness.
And in some instances that's job loss, some instances, it's
a family breakup. In some instances, it's mental or physical
(08:41):
health issues.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
In some instances it's substance use issues.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
But we don't tell people that you only deserve housing
if you fix these things first. So our model is
that we bring you into housing, we help you to stabilize,
and then we know that we will have much more
success in addressing the issues that led to your homelessness,
and maybe even perpetrated or major homelessness experience more lengthy
(09:04):
and so you know. And so at times that does
mean that we are housing people that are involved with
the criminal criminal legal system, and it's our goal to
resolve that help them resolve that issue so that they
can be successful in housing long term.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
And in some.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Instances does mean that people are using substances oftentimes because
of their experience of homelessness, and we will work with
them to address that substance use disorder once they're stably housed.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
So in theory, there could be a person with a
with a violent criminal history that lives at Fusion Studios.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
In theory, there could we do you know, we do
have some screening processes in place in terms of, you know,
like somebody here who may have committed a murder. We
would screen that person much differently than we might if
somebody had been found guilty of theft. So we do
work with the individuals to make sure that it's going
(09:59):
to be good a good option for them. But again
we don't think that there you know, there are so
few options for people that are involved with the criminal
legal systems for housing that we do want to provide
that pathway to recovery and stability.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
So is Fusion These are studios, so these do you
serve families at all?
Speaker 3 (10:19):
Or is it just adults?
Speaker 2 (10:22):
The Color Pollution for the Homeless does serve families, But
we don't serve families at Fusion Studios. That's not to
say that we wouldn't preclude a couple or maybe a
single mother or some or a single parent from staying there.
But I think we you know, again, we are very
person centered. We work with individuals to find out what
housing solution is going to be best for you and
can we meet it Because we own and operate twenty
(10:45):
one other residential properties comprising about two thousand units of
housing in the Denver area, and so oftentimes, if if
one property doesn't work for an individual, then you know,
we can find them another another property in another part
of town.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Without you know, going into great detail or any specific cases,
I have heard anecdotally from not just the person that
I am in contact with on a regular basis, but
from a few other people who said the level of
disconnect or the range of challenges that live at Fusion
Studios is across the spectrum. You have people that are
(11:22):
just coming in from long term situations on the streets that,
for lack of a more compassionate way to say it,
have almost become feral in some ways and don't necessarily
know how to be a part of a collective unit.
And then you have people that have been either at
Fusion for several years and they've had the ability to
sort of put things back together. Is there any opportunity
(11:43):
or any future plans for the coalition to create some
kind of step housing So people that are closer to independence.
If that is the endgame, could live in a more
sort of I hate to say it, but stable environment
with more stable neighbors who are on the same path
they are.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
Yeah, that's a.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Great question, and it is and it is a model
that we embrace in terms of we embrace transitional and
bridge housing options and so that's kind of what you're
seeing the mayor and his office embrace in terms of
micro communities and using motels for shorter term stays. We
recognize that people coming directly from shelters and directly from
the streets often benefit from a short term stay in
(12:26):
a stable environment while they, you know, kind of I guess,
get out of the chaos of homelessness and start thinking
about long term housing.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
And so we do embrace that model. Fusion Studios was.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Intended to be long term housing for folks exiting the
cycle of homelessness. Now we know that there are people
that are in different phases of their you know, path
to stability, and our hope is that it's going to
be that everyone in the in the building is going
to be able to live and function and have their
needs met there on a long term basis. And we
(12:58):
also know that some people, just by virtue of being
in that property for a long time, may start looking
for opportunities still live somewhere else, and we want to
help them on that pathway.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
So that is that for me. It seems to be
the biggest issue for the people that I've spoken with
because they are further along in the process, and it's
just it's discouraging when someone is trying to do the
right thing and they feel stymied, and especially I'm guessing
you know better than I do. This is a population
that doesn't do well with setbacks. So it's one of
(13:28):
those things that I hope is there anything that could
be done on a longer term basis about the Internet
at Fusion or other properties like this bridge, because I
just don't see it. It seems to me it would
be impossible to move forward without having that steady access.
And I get your point that there's just so many
people on one of you know, on one Wi Fi,
(13:49):
that it's just overloading the system. But what about people
who genuinely just say, look, I need this to work.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
I mean, I would say that, you know, while we
have certainly heard of instances where you know, connections have
been slow and some people haven't been able to connect
on a daily basis.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
We have multiple.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Devices connected and using Wi Fi. We have staff using
Wi Fi every single day and so so so I
think that you know, the service is there, and then
in some instances, it's going to take an additional step
I think for some individuals to use it in the
way that they need to, and we will work with
those individuals to the very best of our ability to
(14:28):
make sure that that is.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
A smooth process.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
But it's like I said, we don't necessarily have the
IT capacity to have you know, an IT department on
site to fix every issue as it may arise every
single day, and so you know, we really rely on
the residence in the building to alert us when the
Wi Fi is down, and you know, like just like
your computer home, every now and again we have to
reset it. But we do have many more access points
(14:54):
through the building than we did before. But the Wi
Fi is again used by staff in clinic, and so
there are certain firewalls and protections in place to protect
client and personally identify able data that it's covered through HIPPA,
and so we have to have some of those firewalls
in place to make sure that the information that our
staff are collecting on site is safe.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Well, that is all well and good. This person just said,
can you get a second Wi Fi?
Speaker 3 (15:20):
Like businesses?
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Due, I think everybody's looking for the easy solution here
and trying to help move us towards that so people
can be successful.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
And and I'm not an it person, so I don't
know what it means to get a second Wi Fi,
but I know that there are you know, I know
that there is a Wi Fi channel for staff to
access and a Wi Fi channel for residents to access,
and oftentimes they overlap, but it's the same system, so
I you know, I can't really speak to what it
would mean to put in another system. I can just
(15:54):
speak to kind of what I what we know today
about how many devices are actually using the Wi Fi
on a regular all.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Right, Kathy Alderman with the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless.
I appreciate your time today, and I appreciate the efforts.
You know, fundamentally, I disagree with the no sobriety option.
I'm a big fan of step Denver, but I know
you guys are all trying to do the same thing,
so I really appreciate you making time today and explaining
what's going on over there. Sure, thanks for having me today,
(16:23):
all right, Kathy, thank you
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