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Denver homeless coalition absolves itself of Fusion internet problems
Residents of Fusion Studios, a homeless hotel owned by Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, have complained for months that the internet in the building often does not work. Now the Coalition has posted a sign about the outages saying that is just the way it is going to be.
The sign went up Wednesday. It reads, “Notice to residents. The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless is pleased to offer complimentary basic wi fi at this property as a courtesy. Please be aware of the following: Device compatibility. While CCH strives to ensure that all devices can connect, we cannot guarantee compatibility for every device. Support. CCH cannot provide ongoing IT support for troubleshooting devices for connection. Wi fi speed. Connection speeds may vary depending on the number of devices connected to the network. Internet service. While we provide basic wi fi as a courtesy, internet service is not a landlord provided utility under the lease provisions at this property.”
On its website, the Coalition lists that it provides internet at several of its properties, including Fusion Studios. It does not report that the internet is substandard.
What happened to the million dollars?
This reporter has relentlessly written about the internet issue. I reported in June that the City and County of Denver had awarded the Coalition $1 million which was supposed to be used in part to improve the internet at Fusion. Council members expressed dismay when they learned the internet was not working properly.
“There have been ongoing issues with the internet (at Fusion Studios), and IT has been out multiple times and not solved the issue,” Gonzales Guttierez told city staff at the meeting. “The internet has not been working well for three weeks now, and the residents of the building feel that their complaints go ignored by the staff, who all still have access. (Resident David Heitz) has only had internet for two of the last 24 hours and has lost income due to not being able to work. While we are all too aware that internet issues take time to fix, it is important to remember that the folks living in these buildings are sometimes in precarious financial positions and $300 of lost income is a significant amount."
Council members asked DDPHE staff whether the Coalition plans to use the same IT company for updates and installation of expanded internet capabilities that it has been using. They also said they would like to see a “formalized mechanism for residents to file complaints, and what if any accountability measures will be in the contract to ensure that residents are getting the intended services.”
Still shoddy internet service at Fusion
Since then, nothing has changed with the internet at Fusion. On Wednesday, the head of maintenance pointed out the new sign to Heitz. “We just don’t have the bandwidth,” he said as he pointed to the sign.
Heitz purchased a hot spot from PCs for People and no longer has internet problems. The box cost $60 and the service is $16 per month. You must be on government assistance such as Medicaid or food stamps to qualify.
As of Tuesday night, the internet still was not working properly, according to multiple residents.
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