Arvada homeless ministry in talks with city to move out of Olde Town

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BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Months after the City of Arvada held a study session to address the issue of homelessness within the city, city team members have begun meeting with representatives from Mission Arvada — a homeless ministry based at e Rising Church in Olde Town — to discuss moving Mission Arvada out of the historic district.

e homeless ministry has been at the center of a debate between city stakeholders over its location in the heart of Arvada’s most tra c commercial district.

Additionally, Mission Arvada (while the two names are sometimes used interchangeably by stakeholders, Mission Arvada refers to the homeless ministry and e Rising refers to the church congregation) is struggling to pay its employees because the City of Arvada declined to sign o on Mission Arvada’s application for a Department of Housing and Urban Development Emergency Solutions Grant last September, according to Mission Arvada Program Director Karen Cowling. Mission Arvada serves about 60-65 homeless individuals a day — roughly 500 per quarter — and has helped over 165 people get into permanent housing over the past two years, according to Cowling. e ministry works with people experiencing homelessness and works to help them apply for jobs, housing, mental health and career support, and other necessities.

Arvada City Manager Lorie Gillis explained that the decision to decline signing o on Mission Arvada’s application was prompted by the ministry’s location in Olde Town — a factor that Gillis said also in uenced the city team to begin examining the possibility of helping Mission Arvada move locations.

“We just recognized that there’s an opportunity for e Rising to be in a space that’s more functional and e cient for them to continue doing the good work they’re doing,” Gillis said.

“We’re just working with them on considering locations, there really isn’t an agreement as far as what, transactionally, the city will be doing,” Gillis continued. “We’re just trying to help them out. ey’re in Olde Town, in close proximity to an elementary school and commercial units, so it’s not an ideal place for a navigation center for unhoused individuals. ere have been some unfortunate incidents as a result.”

As the jurisdiction where Mission Arvada is located, the City of Arvada

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Now, Cowling says the ministry will lose its funding for the salary of Berzette Green — a case manager who Cowling says has been instrumental in helping homeless individuals get into permanent housing.

“My case manager is a person with prior lived experience with homelessness,” Cowling said of Green. “She helps support her mother and daughter who both have disabilities. She has to have a full salary. ...We’re on a string and a prayer right now.” e ministry has set up a fundraiser that has been sent out to e Rising’s community, but Cowling says that despite the help, she is struggling to see how the ministry will a ord to keep Green on past the next few months.

A recent grant has freed up $15,000 for Green’s salary, plus an anonymous donation of $5,000, which, combined, should keep Green gainfully employed through roughly December. Past that, Cowling says, lies uncertainty.

Ongoing debate about Mission Arvada’s location

Cowling asserted that Mission Arvada is the only true wraparound homeless service center in Je erson County. e ministry o ers a variety of services including housing navi- gation, showers, laundry service, mental health assistance and vital document recovery. ree years ago, Je erson County stated its desire to build two homeless navigation centers in the area to provide a full spectrum of services for unhoused people.

Last March, the City of Arvada spent $2.75 million for a property located at 51st Avenue and Marshall Street in order to submit a bid for one of the navigation centers. e county is still in the process of deciding which sites will become home to the navigation centers, and ground has not been broken on either one.

Former Arvada City Manager Mark Deven — whose tenure with the city ended with his retirement e ective Oct. 7, 2022 — cited the county’s plan in an email to Cowling explaining why the city wouldn’t sign o on the HUD grant application, according to an email obtained by the Arvada Press dated Sept. 27, 2022.

“ e City of Arvada has been asked to support the Emergency Services Grant Application that Mission Arvada/ e Rising has been invited to submit to the Colorado Department of Local A airs,” Deven said. “Respectfully, the City of Arvada has declined to support this application.

“ e City is currently engaged in a regional collaboration to establish two housing navigation centers in Je erson County… As part of this initiative, the City Council approved the purchase of a site for the North Je co Housing Navigation Center at 5045 Marshall Street,” Deven continued.

Deven then went on to say that he felt that Mission Arvada’s location in

Olde Town precluded it from being a suitable homeless ministry.

“Mission Arvada’s location in Olde Town is within close proximity to a private elementary school as well as businesses and residential units,” Deven said. “ is is not an appropriate location for a housing navigation center… ese conditions have become a burden to the Olde Town

Deven concluded his email by recommending that Mission Arvada nd a new location.

“In the course of discussing your request with council members and City team members, it was suggested that Mission Arvada could seek a partnership with another service provider wherein navigation services could be provided in a more appropriate location,” Deven said.

“ e City and the community must focus on a more permanent, sustainable, well coordinated and systematic approach to addressing the needs of unhoused individuals and families within a more appropriate location,” Deven continued.

Moving Mission Arvada out of Olde Town is a position shared by other important power brokers in the community. In emails between local stakeholders obtained by the Arvada Press exchanged around Christmas of 2022, Arvada Mayor Marc Williams seemed to support the idea of shuttering the homeless ministry.

“As you know, there are several of us who want to shut down the Rising in Olde Town,” Williams said. “I get emails from their supporters, but their support is misplaced… Enough is enough.”

Steven Howards, an Olde Town building owner, echoed Williams’ sentiments.

“I too own a signi cant amount of property in Olde Town and am very frustrated,” Howards said. “ e Rising Church is a crummy neighbor that lacks compassion for the Olde Town community, which is a sad, sad commentary.”

Cowling attributes a lot of the issues discussed by stakeholders to communication breakdowns between di erent government agencies and service providers in their jurisdictions.

“I think part of the issue is that there’s some breakdown in collaboration with the county and with the cities and how to make that all happen in terms of funding and whatnot,” Cowling said. “So yeah, we’re the only navigation center and housing navigation center and a shelter in pretty much all of Je erson County that does what we do.”

An unlikely partnership

Despite both sides seemingly being at odds with each other, the Arvada city team and Mission Arvada sta have come together recently to discuss a solution. On the table, Cowling said, is a move out of Olde Town.

“We’ve been working with the city,