Vol. 127, No. 110 Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Robert Wagner is against the Sit Lie Ban on the principle that it’s wrong. PHOTO BY JULIA TROWBRIDGE COLLEGIAN
OPINION
SPORTS
A&C
AGGRESSIVE RELIGIOUS RECRUITMENT CAUSES HARM
QUARTERBACK COMPETITION BEGINS FOR CSU
“LOVE, SIMON” IS PRETTY GAY
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Sam Odoidobahl has been homeless for four years due to his bad luck with rent and previous girlfriends.
Jason Kenbel is a member of Fort Collins for Progress and stands against the Sit Lie Ban because it’s a “matter of equality.”
Nick “Ghost” Jones is twenty years old and living on the streets. PHOTO BY JULIA TROWBRIDGE COLLEGIAN
Homeless in Fort Collins Growing City reckons with resources for homeless population PHOTO BY JULIA TROWBRIDGE COLLEGIAN
By Gabriel Go @rgabrielgo
When 49-year-old Kurt Schroeder became homeless in July 2015, he had only $300, slept out of his car on the west side of Fort Collins and subsisted on Taco Bell. A Fort Collins native of almost 50 years, he never would have guessed he would become homeless. Three years later in 2018, Schroeder is still homeless and has been looking for an affordable home since then. Schroeder’s story is one of at least 300 other accounts of long-term homelessness in Fort Collins, which Homeward 2020, a City-wide think-tank dedicated
to making homelessness “rare, short-lived and non-recurring,” defines as being homeless for six months or longer. According to Homeward 2020, there were 364 individuals in Fort Collins suffering from homelessness between October and December 2017. During that same time period, 22 people entered chronic homelessness. Chronic homelessness is defined as being homeless for a year or more or with four or more episodes of homelessness in the past three years, and the head of the household must have a longterm disability. The numbers represent a rise from 2016, in which 290 people were counted as being
PHOTO BY JULIA TROWBRIDGE COLLEGIAN
homeless in January 2016. The 2017 report also states that 66 percent of chronically homeless individuals suffer from some kind of disability. Of all recorded individuals in the report, 69 percent identify as males while 30 percent identify as females; 10 percent have veteran status and 1 percent identify as androgynous. Homelessness has been a prominent social issue in Fort Collins. The Fort Collins City Council recently voted against funding lockers for the homeless at the Fort Collins Mennonite Fellowship, prompting the church to fundraise on GoFundMe instead. The City also faced backlash
from local activist groups for an ordinance that would have prohibited lying and sitting on public spaces such as sidewalks, benches and plazas. An amended version of the ordinance passed last year, which does not prohibit lying or sitting on sidewalks. While homelessness remains a salient issue in Fort Collins, Schroeder says that compared to other cities, Fort Collins is rather forgiving. A plethora of services, nonprofit organizations and businesses exist and are available in the City for the homeless. “I was speaking to a couple of young ladies from Louisiana (who became homeless in Louisiana) ... there’s nothing
there for the homeless,” Schroeder said. “There’s nothing like any shelters or Catholic Charities. There’s no food. These two were saying at one point that they were digging out of dumpsters.” Although services, such as the Fort Collins Rescue Mission and Catholic Charities, exist for the homeless, not all their needs are met through these services. Some of the most pressing needs of the homeless population include healthcare and hygiene. Schroeder said he suffers from anxiety attacks. Around 1991, his anxiety attacks worsened, and Schroeder was prescribed see HOMELESS on page 4 >>
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