Denver Mayor Mike Johnston made reducing unsheltered homelessness a top priority when he was elected in 2023. Governing reports over the next two years people living on the streets of Denver went down some 45 percent. The reduction has occurred despite the fact the number of unsheltered in the Mile High City has continued to rise. Johnston has assembled multi-disciplinary “tiger” teams to tackle the issues of homelessness, including “transitional” housing, sometimes known as micro-communities. Homeless encampments in Denver are disappearing, nine by the end of December.

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Denver’s progress on the homelessness issue has not been a smooth process. Governing also reports an investigation by the Denver Auditor’s Office in 2024 found reasons to be concerned about resident safety and deficiencies in tracking expenses by agencies hired to help fix the issue.

Last November, Mayor Johnston dismissed Jamie Rife, the head of the city’s Department of Housing Stability, which was responsible for managing the homelessness initiative, according to Colorado Politics.

To read the Auditor’s report, please see:https://www.denvergov.org/files/assets/public/v/2/auditor/documents/audit-services/audit-reports/2024/city-shelters-november-2024-final.pdf

To get a sense of how Denver’s homelessness problem prompted action, please see:https://www.cohmis.org/soh2024