Seventeen people from Denver homeless housing surge die

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Seventeen people who moved into hotels or tiny home communities as part of the city’s All In Mile High campaign to house people experiencing homelessness have died.

Denver homeless czar Cole Chandler made the revelation Friday during a quarterly meeting with the homeless community at Caldwell African American Library in Five Points. A member of the crowd shouted out, “How many?” as a woman described an overdose death at the former DoubleTree Hotel, 4040 Quebec. Chandler replied “17,” and said his number comes from the public-facing online dashboard for All In Mile High. He said not all the deaths were the result of overdoses.

The city must meet with members of the homeless community once per quarter as part of a lawsuit called the Lyall Settlement. People experiencing homelessness can bring up issues at the meeting and city officials respond.

HAND live streamed the quarterly meeting on Instagram. Almost 2,000 encampment dwellers have been sheltered in city-owned hotels and tiny home villages since last year, according to the dashboard.

Complaints about homeless shelters

Several people experiencing homelessness criticized shelters in the city. They said employees kick people out or let people stay based on favorites. Chandler announced the city now will open cold weather shelters at 25 degrees instead of 20 degrees and they will be open 24 hours during the cold snap. But members of Housekeys Action Network Denver, or HAND, had lobbied for the temperature to be raised to 32 degrees.

Staff said raising the temperature threshold to 32 would have meant shelters would be open most of the winter. Staff said the city would require another shelter. Officials noted the city already is spending three times as much money in 2025 on cold weather sheltering than in 2024.

One man said a shelter threw out people who brought their medications with them. City staff said everyone should always be allowed to have their medications at the shelters and they would investigate the complaint. Others suggested the shelters always have Narcan on hand in the event of overdose. Chandler said most sites should already have a supply.

City considers RV solutions

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City staff asked the approximately 100 people in attendance at the meeting if they had any input regarding living in RVs. RV encampments have proliferated in the city even as tent encampments have been dismantled, according to city staff. One woman who did not give her name said the city should stop ticketing people who live in RVs. Homeless advocate Ana Miller told the group that impound fees are so high there is no way to catch up and people end up losing their vehicles.

Staff said the city is considering developing a strategy for addressing RVs. V. Reeves of HAND asked whether people with lived experience could offer their input on the proposal. City officials said input would be welcomed and they would be happy to meet with the group. Reeves formerly worked as a case manager for the Colorado Safe Parking Initiative, she said.

How do you get a hotel room?

Several people asked how they could get into housing at one of the city-owned homeless hotels or tiny home villages. Miller said she knows for a fact that rooms are available but are not being used. Chandler said the city is working on processes for bringing new people into hotels now. More than 250 guests that came from decommissioned encampments have moved on to more permanent housing, according to the online dashboard.

Several people asked about how they can reclaim animals lost during encampment sweeps. Staff said it’s best to go to the city shelter and inquire about your animal.

Some people who attended the meeting complained about parks being closed. They said people experiencing homelessness have a right to use the parks and should not be punished for the bad deeds of a few. Others said housed people who are white aren’t ticketed for violating the camping ban at parks such as Cheesman.