2 The Independent
October 28, 2021
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Speakers discuss homelessness in Littleton and the surrounding metro area during a community forum on Oct. 21.
‘As a nation we’ve become so divided, we’ve become very polarized. The one thing you can do right now is step forward … and get to know the people around you.’ Rich Allen, systems supervisor for Bemis Library,
HOMELESS FROM PAGE 1
Foundation in collaboration with GraceFull Community Cafe, the City of Littleton, and Change the Trend, an organization founded to bring together stakeholder groups to address issues around homelessness. Hosted inside the South Fellowship Church off Broadway, at least 100 community members filled the seats to hear from McFadden as well as social workers, community managers and a Littleton police officer about the stigma and struggles surrounding homelessness. Dane Fowler, a clinical supervisor for AllHealth Network, a community mental health center, said homelessness should be understood through a lens of trauma, rather than associating people who are homeless just with mental health issues or addiction problems. “There are a wide spectrum of reasons why someone may find themselves without a home,” he said. People can suffer from unsafe homes in which they are the victims of emotional abuse and neglect, said Fowler, and once someone becomes homeless this trauma compounds and can lead to or exacerbate issues of mental illness or addiction. “When you think of trauma and how that can impact a person’s sense of self … and how it can
d m t t a PHOTO BY ROBERT TANN s make them feel powerless, it can v help us understand why someone h may be more likely to experience a B mental health challenge or choose w to use substances to relieve that m pain,” Fowler said. 5 Hal Mandler, commander for the Littleton Police Department, t said officers typically act as the l “Band-Aid of the situation” when p responding to 911 calls made about a homeless people. f “Where we fall short, as a poR lice department, is we don’t have the ability to provide medium- or t long-range solutions,” he said, add- t ing that officers typically choose between sending a person to jail or a hospital depending on the situation. The department, Mandler said, is now partnered with AllHealth to provide clinicians to accompany officers who are interacting with people who are homeless in order to provide them with better care and resources. One of those clinicians is Andrea Martin, who said her team’s focus is on preventing incarceration by getting people what they need in the moment. She said she hopes her team can grow in the future with more funding and community awareness. Speakers also gave an overview of homelesness in Littleton and the surrounding Denver metro area, which they said the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated. Jeanne Hildreth, who works with SEE HOMELESS, P3
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