Migrants accept Denver’s offer for shelter, encampments swept
DENVER (KDVR) — More migrants are off the streets of Denver and in city-funded shelters. This comes after the city swept two encampments in one day.
The city has repeatedly cleared out camps and encouraged migrants to move into shelters, but it has not always worked, which is why camps continue to reappear. But that changed Wednesday when the city offered even more help.
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“We were trying to resolve the encampment this morning. We found that pretty much everyone, most of the people there, had dispersed overnight,” said Jon Ewing, with Denver Human Services.
A group of migrants left an encampment under Central Park Boulevard Tuesday night. Some took the offer of shelter from the city.
“There were a few families still there,” Ewing said. “We offered them shelter and they took it. So we had around 18 people go into shelter this morning, all of them families.”
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The remaining migrants moved their encampment under the A Line near Peña Boulevard in far east Denver. The city then swept up that camp, but not without adjusting their offer to these folks.
“This time we said, for the singles, the individuals without kids,” Ewing said. “We said how about seven days in shelter. It’ll be a hotel shelter. Seven days, aggressive case management.”
Singles had previously only been offered 72 hours in a city-funded shelter.
“Getting a full week with case management is a huge win,” said Amy Beck, an advocate for the migrants.
Beck and other advocates called it a win. The city has often been at odds with these folks, who are voluntarily offering their own guidance to migrants.
“I think it can cause some problems when you have multiple factions running an encampment, or something along those lines,” Ewing said. “We saw that happen and it caused a lot of confusion, and there were a lot of people who felt like they were being torn different ways.”
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With the encampment cleared out and migrants off the street, all sides are hoping they will start to earn their own keep.
“With intensive case management,” Beck said, “there’s a good chance that many of them will get housed and be able to stay in our community.”
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