Denver opens first ‘micro-community’ to house homeless people
The opening marks a milestone for Mayor Johnston, potentially reaching over 1,100 homeless people who moved indoors under his direction in 2023.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s administration opened the city’s first “micro-community” on New Year’s Eve Sunday, a day after the mayor claimed the city reached his promise of housing 1,000 homeless people by Dec. 31. The “micro-community,” located at 12033 E. 38th Ave in northeast Denver, is poised to house 54 homeless people in pallet shelters before the New Year’s ball drops on Sunday night. It took the city 45 days and 10 different organizations to complete construction, which, the mayor said, “should have taken 18 months.”
“That is the spirit of what these folks put in,” the mayor said. “Not just because they believed in the mission, but because they believe in the neighbors that they needed them to deliver these sites on time so no one had to go into New Year’s and stay outside in the cold.”
“This is such a symbol of what we wanted to create,” Cole Chandler, the mayor’s homeless czar, told The Denver Gazette while surveying the site. “It wasn’t just about getting people indoors, but it’s about bringing people back to life and helping people thrive. And you see that in this space.”
The newly opened site sits in front of the former Stay Inn hotel, which the city plans to convert into affordable housing units.
Onsite services at the micro-community include treatment, employment, and counseling, a care area for pets, a smoking area, and larger community units. Homeless people on Sunday arrived at the micro-community, registered, and were assigned Pallet units, which feature a bed, desk and a storage shelf. One separate unit holds two bathrooms with a shower. Another unit stores laundry machines.
“We’re grateful at Pallet to be part of what’s happening here,” Pallet PBC, Inc. CEO Amy King told The Denver Gazette. “We have over 120 sites across the country. And we’re excited about this one here, considering the volume of the crisis here.”
The Denver City Council approved a $5.1 million purchase order with Pallet PBC for 200 units – over a quarter of which were earmarked for Denver’s new “micro-community.”
“The site happened quickly,” King said. “Everybody came to the table and put all the pieces together to make it happen.” The Denver Gazette analysis shows Denver’s first micro-community is costing the city almost $3.7 million between the units, community centers, and the site’s service provider.
You start dying when you stop dreaming.