City Council addresses rising homelessness in Cheyenne

Sep. 17—CHEYENNE — As the number of homeless families and individuals in Cheyenne rises, city officials and local organizations came together Friday to look for solutions.

Homelessness for members of the community is not a new issue for the Cheyenne City Council to address, but it has increased over the past year due to the pandemic. Many people in Wyoming, and across the United States, have lost their jobs, experienced eviction or been negatively impacted financially.

The last report to come from the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness was in January of 2020, which said 612 people in Wyoming had no housing. This has been difficult to update over the past year and a half, due to the upheaval COVID-19 spread has caused nationally.

Robin Bocanegra, executive director of the COMEA House and Resource Center, said the data can no longer be accurate, and current numbers highly exceed the report. This year alone, the local shelter has served 400 individuals in Cheyenne, according to her case manager.

Other organizations in Cheyenne, such as Family Promise, are seeing a rise in families asking for assistance and shelter, as well. Director Rachel Martinez said the number of families she is serving is triple what it was last year.

Both directors told the council members this increase is not just due to local community members losing housing, it is a symptom of nationwide homelessness.

Bocanegra said people started coming in from out-of-state in droves once they were aware Wyoming had lower COVID numbers and job opportunities. At the peak last winter, nearly 100 people per night were staying in COMEA's shelters.

"We only have so much space," she said.

In response to this influx, the state implemented a policy that only allowed residents or individuals with previous ties to Wyoming to receive services from the shelter. Many organizations in Cheyenne adjusted their policy requirements anyway, in order to keep out-of-state people who were without housing off the streets.

COVID-19 hasn't just impacted the number of people needing services, it also complicates the way in which organizations can provide care. Risk of infection is higher due to a mobile population without masks, little desire to quarantine and substance abuse or mental health issues impacting their ability to respect rules.

Nonetheless, Bocanegra and her staff are working to mitigate the spread. Unlike other agencies in town that serve the homeless, they require masks, have frequent testing and implement social distancing. This sometimes results in people leaving the shelter because they don't want to adhere to guidelines, but COMEA even goes so far as to provide individual motel rooms for those in dire need.

"We feel like we're being very careful," Bocanegra said, "and doing the best we can."

Leaders at COMEA and Family Promise said they don't want to turn away anyone, especially families with children, but it is getting harder to provide for them. As the homeless population gets larger, the budget, space, resources and available employees to serve them further shrinks.

Space and housing seem to be the most immediate issues for the organizations. Their permanent housing is filled, the churches are not available as shelters due to COVID-19, and even the cheapest motels in Cheyenne are no longer a feasible source of emergency housing for the organizations.

Martinez said she used to be able to house a family in a motel room for $350 per week, which would be around $1,400 a month. The usual number of families she housed in the motels was three, so $5,000 of her agency's budget would go toward that.

Now, she says, she can't find a room for less than $100 per night. She has to spend around $1,800 per week to house one family. When money becomes as large a constraint as the organization is currently experiencing, she said she has to remind herself why she is doing this.

"I'm doing it for the kids," she said.

This is where the City Council has the opportunity to play a part. Although there are multiple issues to address, one of the larger concerns the directors asked the council to consider is their current struggle with zoning requirements in Cheyenne. Both COMEA and Family Promise have received grants and funding to go toward expanding their housing services.

COMEA has a $500,000 grant, which expires next summer, to buy transitional housing for homeless families and individuals. Every property they have looked into has been rejected by the planning department, because under the COMEA label as a "shelter," they are not allowed within 500 feet of a residential area. Family Promise is on the similar pathway and has run into the same roadblocks.

Bocanegra's response to this was, "Why wouldn't they want to be in residential housing?"

She is trying to find an environment for those without housing to become independent and successful community members. Being in an area that reflects those goals might be beneficial, she said.

The two organization leaders explained many other ways in which the council could support them in their endeavors, but no official solutions have been reached. It was clear from the response council members gave that this is just the beginning of the conversation.

"I think we see these individuals every single day on these streets," said council member Michelle Aldrich, "and unfortunately, a lot of times they become invisible."

Jasmine Hall is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's education reporter. She can be reached by email at jhall@wyomingnews.com or by phone at 307-633-3167. Follow her on Twitter @jasminerhphotos and on Instagram @jhrose25.