The onetime Doubletree hotel at 4040 N. Quebec St. in Denver is now a homeless shelter operated by the Salvation Army. (Google Street View)
Several members of the Denver City Council on Monday expressed disappointment with two nonprofits paid millions to provide services to the homeless — and said the city needs alternatives.
“There has to be a process in the city where we’re looking at diversifying,” said Councilman Darrell Watson.
The discussion at the council’s weekly meeting was initiated by Councilwoman Shontel Lewis, whose district includes Quebec Street on the edge of the Central Park and Park Hill neighborhoods.
The stretch houses multiple facilities operated by the Salvation Army and Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, or CCH.
Shontel Lewis
Lewis said the Salvation Army “has not actually been a good partner” and that “I literally hear about the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless every single day.”
“I do think it’s time for us to maybe have a larger conversation about how we might be able to expand the number of service providers that we have and maybe even bring in smaller ones,” she said.
Lewis worked for CCH as vice president of equity, inclusion and diversity from October 2019 to September 2022, according to her LinkedIn profile. She was elected to City Council the following year.
Watson, who represents a neighboring district that includes Five Points, said Denver has become too reliant on the two organizations, which operate shelters. The organizations have received more contracts following Mayor Mike Johnston’s push to reduce tent encampments along city streets by housing people in hotels.
Darrell Watson
“We need to have a strategic discussion on whether some of these large contracts are creating a too-big-to-fail situation,” Watson said.
Councilman Chris Hinds, who represents Cap Hill and downtown, framed it differently.
“Maybe they’re too big to succeed,” he said.
Lewis criticized the Salvation Army in particular for failing to communicate with her regarding operations in her district. She also said Denver is letting homeless service providers take the reins.
“I think right now the relationship is a bit lopsided and … we are really less in control of our accountability and our service metrics,” Lewis said. “Our service providers are really driving that conversation. I think it should be the other way around.”
The related matters before council on Monday were whether to award or extend various contracts with the two organizations, including:
• Paying CCH an additional $3.7 million, for a new total of $17.8 million, to extend a case management contract through the end of December
• Paying CCH $3 million to provide outreach services, some subcontracted to the St. Francis Center, to homeless people throughout 2025
• Paying the Salvation Army an additional $1.2 million to staff a shelter in the former Best Western hotel at 4595 N. Quebec St. through the end of March
• Reducing a $10.1 million contract with the Salvation Army for the management of a shelter in the former DoubleTree hotel at 4040 Quebec St. by $808,000, and extending the contract through the end of March
• Paying the Salvation Army an additional $394,000, for a new total of $1.62 million, to operate a shelter at 2741 N. Federal Blvd. through the end of December
• Paying the Salvation Army an additional $280,000 to provide “rapid resolution services” to the homeless through the end of December
“I don’t want to vote no on these contracts because I recognize there are a lot of vulnerable folks who are reliant on these services,” Lewis said.
Nevertheless, Lewis did vote no repeatedly. The contracts still passed easily, as the remainder of the council voted yes, although Councilwoman Sarah Parady joined Lewis in voting no on one item.
“I’ve heard from many CCH staff across many different programs that they are experiencing low morale, increased turnover, difficulty providing the services that they provide because they keep losing colleagues,” Parady said.
Sarah Parady
Parady, on leave from a career in employment law, also alluded to the fact that CCH employees have said the organization pushed back against a staff unionization effort.
The council members acknowledged that CCH and the Salvation Army may be getting city contracts repeatedly for a reason.
“I know these services are hard to provide. I know it is hard to staff these contracts,” Parady said.
But Lewis said the organizations take advantage of that.
“They understand that we don’t have a large pool of service providers to pull from and thus have to accept the services that we are receiving even if we know that it’s not improving the lives of those in our care,” she said.
At the meeting Monday, an official with Denver’s Department of Housing Stability told council members that the city is “committed to contracting with a diverse provider pool and will continually look to pursue opportunities for a varied provider mix to support our shelter system.”
Britta Fisher, president and CEO of CCH, previously led Denver’s Department of Housing Stability.
CCH spokeswoman Cathy Alderman told BusinessDen the 850-employee organization operates in three distinct areas: emergency response/street outreach services, owning and operating housing and as a federally qualified health care center.
“They see our name a lot because we have to contract for all our distinct services separately. It may seem like it’s bigger than we are,” Alderman said of the council members.
If Denver wants alternatives to CCH, Alderman said, the main option on health care is Denver Health, whose finances are challenged enough that the organization requested (and received) a sales tax increase from city voters this past November. Other organizations do supportive housing, but they “do it to the tune of 200 units, or maybe 100.” About 1,400 of CCH’s 1,800 units are supportive housing.
But Alderman said CCH is open to change and already regularly adjusts how it delivers services.
“We are not afraid of criticism. … We consider ourselves to be a continually improving organization,” Alderman said.
Salvation Army spokeswoman Jennifer Forker said in an email to BusinessDen the organization is open to speaking with Lewis and “addressing her concerns in a timely manner.” She said the organization is “committed to ensuring the safety of those in our care.”
