Westminster homelessness e orts a steady but slow process

BY LUKE ZARZECKI LZARZECKI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

e goal for Kate Skarbek, a homeless navigator for Westminster, is to get people into housing. But it’s not so simple, and this time of year proves busier than the colder months.

During the summer months, she sees an increase in homelessness compared to the winter since it’s warmer and there aren’t emergency shelter beds during the cold nights. “ e work is being done, it is just slower going than we’d like it,” she said.

Homelessness in Westminster has proved to be a big issue. Multiple people at city council meetings speak during the public comment period and at Town Hall meetings, asking the city council to do something,

“ ere’s got to be something that happens,” said Zach Taylor from Westminster’s Art District.

Taylor said he owns a business in front of Dry Creek and often sees people experiencing homelessness in front of his building. He’s pleaded with members of the city council to do something.

Mayor Pro Tem David DeMott emphasized that things are being done — but law and order take time.

City Councilor Obi Ezeadi said that addressing homelessness comes from the roots, and compared it to a garden.

Sta ’s e orts

According to City spokesperson Andy Le, the city provides services to individuals to help them nd and get housing, services like transportation, rental assistance, legal services, case management, healthcare and more.

Before Skarbeck and her team can house someone, other steps like getting a birth certi cate, other documentation that may have been lost, getting treatment, or meeting other goals come rst.

It’s a long process and can take anywhere between six and eight months to get someone housed, she said. e navigators also aim to make sure their clients are getting the federal bene ts they qualify for, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funds for food or Medicaid for health issues.

Getting a housing voucher for government programs takes about four months for most, but less time for veterans. Sometimes it proves longer because a relationship needs to be established.

“ ey’re not going to necessarily trust the navigator right o the bat,” Skarbek said.

“Sometimes it’s life skills. Maybe someone has never before been on a lease. If it’s someone who has aged out of the foster care system, for instance, they aged out at the magic age of 18 without knowing how it works to lease an apartment or to own a home, and so helping them gure out what that looks like,” she said.

Largest contributing factor

Skarbeck said that nancial issues are the largest cause of homelessness.

“If a couple is together and they cannot a ord housing on their own, if neither one of them makes more than $30 an hour, they do not qualify for a single-bedroom apartment in the Denver Metro area,” she said. e same is true for mental health.

And because of that, domestic violence also comes into play. If someone in a relationship can’t nancially support themselves on their own but the relationship has deteriorated, they may be forced to stay with that person.

“ en as the relationship and the stresses of that (relationship) deteriorate further then there are typically high levels of domestic violence,” she said.

She said inverse relationships to multiple problems come into play.

Skarbeck said that drug use, despite public perception, seldom leads to homelessness. However, homelessness does lead to drug use.

She pointed to how mental health issues have risen among people since the COVID-19 pandemic, but the same isn’t true for homelessness.

“If all of those people experienced homelessness as a result of mental health, we would have a much higher rate of homelessness in this country,” she said.

Skarbeck said caseworkers tell her their clients come to them prior to becoming homeless without showing any signs of mental illness. But once that person becomes homeless, signs of mental illness become

PUBLIC NOTICE CITY OF WESTMINSTER COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD & PUBLIC HEARING DRAFT ANNUAL ACTION PLAN (2023)

NOTICE is given that a draft of the City of Westminster’s Program Year (PY) 2023 Annual Action Plan (AAP) for the use of federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) will be available for a 30-day public comment period and a public hearing to allow the public to review and make comments.

The PY 2023 AAP is developed each year to fund activities that address the housing and community development needs identified in the Consolidated Plan. It was noticed by HUD that in PY 2023 Westminster will receive an estimated $577,464 in CDBG funds. HUD funds are intended to benefit low- to moderate-income persons in Westminster. The proposed budget includes:

Administration (20%): $115,493

Housing LIFT Program: $281,971

Emergency and Essential Home Repair Program: $180,000

Public Input Meeting: A public input meeting was held on June 20, 2023, to review and gather feedback on the 2023 AAP. For more information, please contact CDBG@cityofwestminster.us

30-Day Public Comment: Citizens can view the draft AAP from July 6, 2023, to August 6, 2023. The plan can be viewed on the city’s website at: https:// www.westminstereconomicdevelopment.org/housing/cdbg/. All comments are welcome and can be submitted to the Economic Development Department, 4800 West 92nd Avenue, Westminster, CO 80031 or emailed to: CDBG@cityofwestminster.us.

Public Hearing: A public hearing will be held at a regularly scheduled City Council Meeting on July 24, 2023, at 7:00 PM, during City Council at Westminster City Hall Chambers (4800 W. 92nd Ave., Westminster, CO 80031). Comments can be submitted in writing to the email address above, or they can be submitted verbally in advance by calling 303-706-3111 by 12 p.m. (noon) the day of the meeting. Recorded messages are limited to 5 minutes, and the system will disconnect automatically after the time limit is reached. All recorded messages are played back at the meeting in the order they are received. For more information, please contact the City Clerk’s office at 303-658-2161.

Accessibility: All Westminster residents are welcome to comment on the AAP and anyone requiring Spanish and/or ASL interpretation should contact the City in advance. Please email CDBG@cityofwestminster.us to request translation services. To request accommodations concerning rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act, to attend or participate in any public meeting, and/or to obtain this notice in alternate formats, contact the City Clerk at 303-658-2161 as soon as possible before the public hearing.