A Letter from the Mayor

Three years into Denver’s 10-year plan to end homelessness, we are on track to meet the initiative’s ambitious goals.  The progress is tangible and encouraging.

• 1,243 new units of housing for the homeless have been created

• 957 families have received eviction assistance

• 3,278 homeless people have received employment assistance

• 415 families have been mentored through the faith initiative

In reducing both overall and chronic homelessness, Denver's Road Home is ahead of schedule. In fact, just three years into the initiative, we have created 60% of the housing stock for the chronically homeless called for in the plan and we are on track to meet this goal by 2010.  As the subject of more than 60 newspaper articles and ongoing radio and television interviews, Denver’s Road Home has been acknowledged locally and nationally for its strategic innovations.  Our donation meter project and annual pajama party continue to bring attention and funds to the initiative. The Downtown Denver Partnership this year recognized Denver’s Road Home as having a key impact on the downtown community.  Meanwhile, Project Homeless Connect continues to connect the community with the homeless, and the homeless with services. Six Project Homeless Connects later, we have connected more than 3,200 homeless with more than 3,800 volunteers— progress that has prompted recognition from the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness.  Through public, private and foundation support, Denver’s Road Home has exceeded its fundraising goals for the first three years of the plan. We simply couldn’t have succeeded without this generous support and we will continue to look to the community to fully fund this initiative.  This plan is truly a community plan that owes debts of gratitude to:

• The Denver City Council for its ongoing efforts to create housing, services and more strategic polices for the homeless of Denver.

• The Homeless Commission and the more than

300 community leaders and volunteers who helped us put this plan together in 2003.

• The foundation and business communities and the homeless providers who have tirelessly worked to implement this initiative and ensure that no one has to live on the streets.

• The hundreds of men, women and children in our community who have moved into housing and have shown that ending homelessness in Denver is possible.  Denver’s Road Home is not just the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do. Moving the homeless off of the streets and into housing not only improves their quality of life and the health of the community, it also saves money.  With seven years to go, 3,900 homeless men, women and children still need our support. While we are on the right track, our work is not done.

If you have already joined the community in supporting Denver’s Road Home, I thank you. If you have not, I urge you to come on board. Together we can end homelessness.

John W. Hickenlooper

Mayor of Denver

Denver’s Road Home is working!

Mayor John Hickenlooper and the Commission to End Homelessness created Denver’s Road Home, a plan to end homelessness in the City & County of Denver. Find out more about the plan.

Since implementation of the plan in 2005, Denver has seen an 11% reduction in overall homelessness and a 36% decrease in chronic homelessness. And, panhandling on the 16th Street Mall has dropped by 92 percent.

During our first two years, in collaboration with the extraordinary leadership of our homeless providers:

• 789 new units of housing have been developed.
• 2,455 homeless people have been assisted in finding work.
• 1,667 individuals accessed public benefits and treatment services.
• 563 families received eviction assistance.
• 233 families have been partnered with our faith-based mentoring teams.

All this puts us ahead of schedule to meet our five-year goal of a 75% reduction in chronic homelessness.

Denver's Homelessness Crisis.

There are more than 3,900 homeless men, women and children living in Denver. This is a sobering statistic, especially when you consider that:

• 60% of the homeless are people in families with children.
• 29% percent of homeless respondents in Denver are women.
• 40% of the homeless are working.
• The most commonly reported reasons for homelessness reported in Denver are loss of a job (28%), housing costs (23%) and the breakup of a family (20%).

These men, women and children must have access to affordable housing and the services they need to return to self-sufficiency.

"Helping our homeless is the right thing to do and it will save Denver millions of dollars a year."