The city of Durango is engaging with a local faith-based organization to inform the community of the efforts in La Plata County to get housing for people who don’t have it, city officials said.
Leadership at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church will meet with the faith-based community April 4 to discuss a potential solution to people sleeping outside when they have nowhere else to go, Assistant City Manager Kevin Hall told City Council on Tuesday.
“The idea is for the city and county staff to stand back and let them take the lead of the conversation,” Hall said of faith-based organizations. “It’s their initiative as to what they can do to house some of the homeless folks.”
Caroline Kisner, a parishioner at St. Mark’s, said she and others at the church have been talking about what could be done to help people without homes and decided to organize the faith-based community to cull time and resources to address the issue.
The invitation-only event is intended to be an informational session to inform faith-based organizations about all that’s being done to address homelessness in La Plata County and how the groups can fit into what’s already being done, Kisner said.
“We knew the faith community – they can volunteer, raise money, be advocates – but it’s bigger than we can really do,” Kisner said.
The city has been adamant that it is not in the business of housing people experiencing homelessness – but it recognizes city government needs to participate in the solution.
In an attempt to address its role in the process, city officials have been meeting with a variety of stakeholders for at least five months to discuss how nonprofits, government entities and law enforcement can collaborate to solve the complex issue of homelessness.
The only “unified opinion” of the group is that any type of facility needs to be managed, Hall said. Officials have learned through last year’s efforts to address the issue that people congregating in a confined area cause conflict among community members, he said.
While the city does not plan to lead or facilitate the discussion at St. Mark’s church, city councilors have asked staff to report back to the council about what happens at the meeting.
“We need to come back to the table as soon as possible,” said Councilor Melissa Youssef. “We need to collaborate, cooperate and understand what that plan is because it makes a big difference for all of us.”
But Hall tempered expectations, saying that although this is a step in the right direction, there’s no solution to the issue of people sleeping outside when they have nowhere else to go.
“There’s not a fabulous end to the story,” Hall said. “But the story continues, and there are positive things going on that will get us moving forward.”
bhauff@durangoherald.com
