DENVER — The City of Denver has a possible idea for those experiencing homelessness: create an outdoor space where they all can gather.
City council is considering creating a temporary safe outdoor space where 50 to 100 people can stay at one time.
The majority of people in the city support that idea, according to the results of a survey put out by the city in late April.
Out of the 636 respondents, the city said 65.25%, or 415 people, strongly support the city creating a "Temporary Safe Outdoor Space." The results show that another 17.77% (113 people) somewhat support it.
Denver Homeless Out Loud (DHOL) has been advocating for an outdoor space for a while, but said they want it to be much bigger and called the city's proposal a photo opp.
>> The video above is about a proposal to built a supervised campsite for the homeless.
The survey was open from April 26 through May 3 and was distributed through Denver’s citywide Registered Neighborhood Organization (RNO), Inter Neighborhood Cooperation (INC), by the sponsoring organizations involved in the proposal, through newsletters/social media, and by several council offices.
RELATED: Auxiliary shelters for homeless launched at beginning of COVID-19 pandemic still seeing visitors
The survey says to respond to the risk of COVID-19 among those experiencing homelessness, Denver has spent more than $14 million to:
- create two, new, 24/7 auxiliary shelters to create enough space for almost all shelter guests in Denver to socially distance
- transform existing overnight shelters into 24-hour spaces
- provide health screening, a health clinic and other services at the new shelters
- secure more than 550 hotel rooms, with services, for those with symptoms, positive tests or at high risk due to age or health
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