BOULDER - As temperatures continue to rise in the coming months heading into spring, the homeless population of Boulder may momentarily take a breath of fresh air after experiencing the harsh realities of living on the streets during the cold winter months.
Boulder historically has not offered adequate support for individuals experiencing homelessness, especially during the winter months.
Ordinances approved on July 22, 2021 by Boulder city council called for the immediate removal of tents and propane tanks in public spaces as part of the Boulder camping ban, which makes it illegal to sleep in public spaces.
Tents and propane tanks are used by the homeless population to survive the harsh Colorado winter. Under this ordinance law enforcement can fine abusers up to $1,000 and 90 days in jail at the moment that the tent is erected or that a propane tank is spotted.
Jennifer Livovich, founder of Feet Forward, a non-profit organization that aids homeless people in the fight to get stable housing, and a former homeless person herself says, “In my height of involvement with the criminal justice system, I received fifty-one citations, forty-six of those were from the municipal court system, largely for things associated with homelessness and sleeping outside. So camping and trespassing is another clever way that they will write a ticket for people who are sleeping outside. I spent 266 nights in our jail, essentially for lacking a home. Did that end my homelessness? No, what it did was it cost our community at large a lot of money, in fact $141 and some change a night.”
The enforcement of this ban calls for a four-person encampment cleanup team, and funding for two unarmed park rangers and six specially trained police officers, costing the city $2.7 million over the course of 18 months.
“There is definitely a stigma around homelessness, essentially homelessness is largely associated with anything negative. Ok, so we're talking about, homeless people are criminals, homeless people are all drug addicts, and or running around with rampant mental health conditions. I think one of the ways to help reduce that stigma is through storytelling. We just did a $2.7 million police increase at the beginning of the year. And are you seeing any reduction of people outside? I don’t think so” says Livovich.
These harsh measures are not anything unusual to how homelessness is dealt with in Boulder. The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado (ACLU) in July sent a letter to Boulder City Counsel addressing the city’s “unconstitutional and inhumane” treatment of the homeless population.
The letter refers to two policies in particular: a requirement that states “a person must live in Boulder for more than six months before being eligible to stay at a homeless shelter,” and the city’s enforcement of the urban camping ban.
A person must live in Boulder for more than six months before being eligible to stay at a homeless shelter
Many community members, working as allies for the homeless here in Boulder, have petitioned the city to open a daytime shelter that would also operate as an emergency overnight shelter for nights of particularly bad weather.
In January, the Boulder Safe Camping Initiative, Bridge House, the Colorado Safe Parking Initiative, Feet Forward, Mother House/The Lodge and TGTHR, sent a letter to city officials laying out the plan for the day shelter, that would cost the city a potential annual cost of up to $1.4 million. The shelter would include other services such as navigation and support services, day and night sheltering programs, supervised camping and more, supporting people with a variety of needs. It would be considered a low barrier shelter meaning IDs are not required, pets are welcome, no background checks, and sobriety is not a requirement of occupants. The overall thought process being to get as many people off the streets as possible.
The letter states, “The needed shelter program, fully developed as a services center with a full range of programs, would be sized to provide services to those entering homelessness, those working to achieve their homelessness exit plans, and those in homelessness not yet ready for exit-oriented programming.”
Boulder, a city that boasts progressive attitudes, has a lot of work to do in regards to supporting the homeless adequately, particularly across all seasons. As we enter into warmer months the homeless will experience a new onset of problems that comes with hot weather.
The needed shelter program, fully developed as a services center with a full range of programs, would be sized to provide services to those entering homelessness, those working to achieve their homelessness exit plans, and those in homelessness not yet ready for exit-oriented programming.
