DENVER — The Denver City Council extended three contracts on Monday that will allow the city to continue providing temporary housing in hotel rooms for some people experiencing homelessness during the COVID-19 crisis.
Denver’s shelter capacity has been sliced by 56%, or about 1,200 beds, because of social distancing requirements related to the pandemic, according to Britta Fisher, executive director of Denver’s Department of Housing Stability. To create more space, city officials stood up two emergency homeless shelters last year at the National Western Complex and the nearby Denver Coliseum and also secured more than 800 hotel rooms for people without housing who were affected by or at risk of catching the coronavirus.
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On Monday during the council's second meeting of the year, members voted to keep the hotel rooms running through February, with the option to extend the contracts up to an additional four months.
The council approved adding nearly $1.8 million to an agreement with DHF Denver Operating V, LLC, doing business as Hampton Inn and Suites Denver-Downtown, for a new total of $4.6 million, securing 151 rooms.
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