The city of Durango and organizations such as the Neighbors in Need Alliance and Manna soup kitchen are collaborating to identify space for an emergency warming shelter for people experiencing homelessness.
A council focused on emergency warming centers is researching best practices.
The council includes Neighbors in Need Alliance board members and representatives from Manna soup kitchen, American Red Cross of Western Colorado and Community Compassion Outreach, and members of the public. It’s collaborating research with the city.
Durango Public Library Director Luke Alvey-Henderson, who is doing research on warming centers, said NINA and Manna helped Donna Mae Baukat, founder of Community Compassion Outreach, hostan emergency warming center last winter. But the building used for the center was not suitable for overnight sheltering.
At a mid-May City Council retreat, Jayme Lopko, director of the city’s Community Development Department, said CCO’s building lacked a fire sprinkler system – a major concern if a fire were to start overnight while users were sleeping.
She said shelters face multiple challenges. They are typically located in commercial areas near neighborhoods and may be considered a nuisance, especially because of the unpredictable traffic associated with the operations.
Safety is another key concern.
“We don’t want to put people in danger putting them in a building for sleeping overnight,” she said.
She said Community Development is evaluating three to four buildings in Durango that could work for an emergency warming center.
“This is a perennial question: Why do we not have an emergency warming center or safe parking or a managed camp?” Alvey-Henderson told The Durango Herald.
The answer, he said, is that it’s difficult to secure a suitable space and adequate funding. Other cities similar to Durango are facing the same challenges, he said.
He is researching other communities that operate emergency warming centers to identify strategies that could be scaled to Durango.
“What does it cost? How many volunteers do they provide? What is the training necessary? What safety methods do they have? What rules do they have? What is the enforcement of those? What is their capacity?” he said.
So far, trends show many organizations require some form of registration, set capacity limits and allow pets in emergency situations. But he’s still gathering information about volunteer-to-client ratios and other operational details.
If the city identifies a suitable property for an emergency warning center, Alvey-Henderson said he does not anticipate any insurmountable challenges for partner organizations operating it.
“It’s almost cruel to invite larger numbers of individuals to live in an outdoor environment when it gets cold,” Durango Police Chief Brice Current said in an interview. “I’ve seen way too many frozen bodies in my lifetime. I don’t ever want to see another one.”
At the City Council retreat, he said based on conversations with Manna, there are likely between 150 and 200 unhoused people in the Durango area. That includes people who are couch surfing, living in RVs or vehicles – including at Fort Lewis College – and those participating in Manna’s Bridge Housing Program.
In addition to common causes of homelessness – job loss, high living costs and limited affordable housing – Current attributed the increase in homelessness to Colorado’s relaxed drug laws and the availability of local services and supplies.
“Anything less than 4 grams of any hard drug is a misdemeanor in Colorado. And we’ve had transportation and food and very generous people in town,” he said.
Alvey-Henderson said significantly more research is needed before bringing anything to City Council for consideration. The general idea is to present a plan detailing the operation and location of an emergency warming center for review.
cburney@durangoherald.com
A former version of this story erred in stating city of Durango staff are members of the council for an emergency warming center. The city is collaborating with the council but has no representation on it.
The story also incorrectly gave the impression Community Compassion Outreach is in charge of a current warming center. It hosts the center, which is ran by an emergency warming center council, which CCO has representation on. The Durango Herald was given incorrect information.
