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September 2, 2021
JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
JeffcoTranscript.com
VOLUME 38 | ISSUE 6
Study: 1st-time homelessness doubled in metro Denver over past year BY KYLE COOKE ROCKY MOUNTAIN PBS
Frankie Wikoff stands in front of her apartment in January 2021, five months after her sons were killed while selling a gun to other teens. PHOTOS BY BOB WOOLEY
365 days of Eternity
A year after her sons were killed a mother reflects on what’s lost and wonders what remains BY BOB WOOLEY BWOOLEY@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
The first thing you notice about Frankie Wikoff is how tiny she is. At 4’11”, she doesn’t look like she weighs more than 100 pounds, soaking wet. The second is the quiet melancholy — a profound sadness that permeates every conversation you have with her. She says she doesn’t sleep much anymore — a SEE WIKOFF, P10
A grieving mother holds a photo of herself and her sons.
Every year, the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative conducts a “Point in Time Count” to determine how many people are experiencing homelessness in the Denver area. This year’s report found a “drastic increase” in the number of people in the Denver metro area experiencing homelessness for the first time, a surge that surveyors attributed to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. You can read a snapshot of the report online at tinyurl.com/MetroDenverHomelessness. The full MDHI Point in Time report for 2021, which will include individualized data for Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson counties, will be published this fall. “In 2020 there were 1,273 people in shelters that were experiencing homelessness for the first time,” said Matt Meyer, MDHI’s executive director. “This year, that number doubled to 2,530 demonstrating the devastating effects of COVID-19 on the stability of our neighbors.” This year’s survey was conducted on a single day in February. MDHI found that in the Denver metro area, 5,530 people were staying in shelters, SEE HOMELESS, P2
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 14 | CALENDAR: PAGE 17 | SPORTS: PAGE 20
PAGING READERS Book clubs a fine way to get literary
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