Aurora pallet shelters a revolving door for homeless

Aurora houses people experiencing homelessness in pallet shelters for up to 30 days.Photo byCity of Aurora

Aurora’s pallet shelters for people experiencing homelessness, which only allow a maximum 30-day stay, have been cycling the same individuals in and out, city staff told council members Thursday. Many return to street encampments when their time in the pallet shelter runs out, Jessica Prosser, homeless services director for the city, said. Then, the city sweeps the encampment again, and they get to come back to the shelter for another 30 days, Prosser explained. This process can repeat multiple times.

The issue was discussed during the Public Safety, Courts, and Civil Service Committee meeting. Prosser said it takes longer than 30 days to get a person moved from an encampment into housing or another shelter. She noted that even veterans, who have more resources available to them than most people experiencing homelessness, must wait 30 days just to get an appointment for an intake for a Veterans Administration housing voucher.

Hancock: Limit shelter stays

Council member Stephanie Hancock said shelter dwellers should not be allowed to stay indefinitely. She said she hopes city staff will build into the management of the new homeless navigation center a requirement that guests be “active participants in their own lives.” Many people experiencing homelessness are profoundly mentally ill or addicted to drugs, according to dozens of service providers on the Front Range. Stabilizing them can take months or even years.

Hancock said something needs to be done about the “frequent fliers” who repeatedly set up camps on Abilene across from Sam’s Club. She said the site has been swept at least seven times. She suggested the city put some kind of monuments or sculptures in the area to prevent tents from sprouting again. This technique is known in homeless advocacy circles as “hostile architecture.”

Staff said it would help get people into housing or another shelter if their stay could be extended beyond 30 days. However, staff said the city wants to keep pallet shelters available for encampment closures. City Attorney for Public Safety Pete Schulte said the recent Supreme Court decision for Grant’s Pass, Ore. maintained cities can sweep encampments without offering shelter. Of course, the problem with doing that, as has been done in Denver, is the encampments simply will re-appear somewhere else, and eventually end up right back at the same spot they were swept from.

Homeless campus will add beds

Prosser said the issue will be moot when Aurora opens its regional homeless navigation campus in a former hotel. The campus will offer emergency shelter and tiered accommodations for those who engage with case management for substance abuse treatment, mental heath care and jobs, according to city staff. Prosser said they likely will eliminate the pallet shelters once the new homeless campus opens.

The Aurora City Council voted in January to buy the Crowne Plaza Hotel at 15500 E. 40^th Ave. for $26.5 million. Council members Curtis Gardner, Alison Coombs and Ruben Medina voted against the purchase. Gardner said he believes the goal of creating a homeless navigation campus could be achieved more inexpensively. Coombs said the purchase does nothing for helping homeless families because the center would only house individuals.

The hotel is in very good condition and boasts 255 rooms, an industrial kitchen, industrial laundry, congregate space, and space for service providers to do case management and other services, according to city staff. There are bus lines outside the hotel and Gateway Park light rail station is nearby.

Not Housing First, but 'Work First'

Mayor Pro Tem Dustin Zvonek stressed that Aurora buying a hotel for the homeless does not mean they are replicating Denver’s model, known as Housing First. Zvonek said he believes Housing First is a failure, and Aurora will pursue a Work First model.

The city has almost $40 million set aside for a homeless navigation center, according to city staff. Funding comes from a variety of sources and mostly is comprised of American Rescue Plan Act funding, staff saisd. Arapahoe and Adams counties each chipped in $5 million, staff explained.