DENVER — In October, the city of Denver experienced its third wave of increased migrant arrivals in the past 12 months. The first influx came last December, and the second in May. Families are able to stay for 37 days, and individual adults can stay up to 14 days.
Due to the sheltering time limits, sometimes hundreds of people are exiting the shelters on the same day.
Earlier in the year, service providers and nonprofits were helping migrant families with their first month's rent, deposit or applications. Most those organizations have run out of funding and no longer have the means to provide those kinds of resources.
Now, migrants must find housing on their own. In many cases, they struggle to find work and affordable housing in Denver.
"I didn’t expect this, but it’s what I have to do," said Arianna, who is staying in a tent with her son and her husband.
Her husband leaves the encampment every day to go and find work. He hasn't been able to find anything consistent since arriving in Denver.
"What can I tell you? No one feels good about it, but you do what you have to do. What else can we do? We don't have housing. We don't have anything, so we do what we have to with a tent. It's difficult because with this cold – Imagine," Arianna said.
Her family is one of four staying at the homeless encampment alongside couples and adults who traveled alone. The encampment was previously on land owned by Denver Parks and Recreation. Rangers swept the camp and the group moved across the street onto land that is part of the public right-of-way.
"Yes, you feel sad because you start thinking and sadness hits you. You have never been like this. I have never lived like this," Arianna said.
Even in her situation, she believes she is better off on the streets of Denver than in her home country of Venezuela. There, she says her family struggled to find work, food and other necessities. In the United States, she says, there are solutions or options you can at least find to better their lives.
"Here it is a new life, starting from scratch," Arianna said. "Starting from scratch."
At another camp in Denver's Globeville Neighborhood, migrants leaving the nearby shelter are staying under a bridge to protect them from the cold and wind.
"[This is] the first night I am going to spend out here underneath the bridge," said Javier, who was previously squatting at a vacant home when police arrived with the owners to order them out.
He doesn't have a tent, food or water while staying underneath the bridge.
"I never thought I would arrive her and be like this, how I am," Javier said. "Whatever happens with this situation that we are going through right now, it’s necessary. Yes."
He plans on leaving the encampment every day until he finds a stable job to pay for housing. He hopes that money can also go to his kids and his mother in Venezuela toward a better life.
"I have a lot of strength. I am going to continue moving forward. I never regret anything, never," Javier said. "I am going to continue moving forward with faith in God and God’s will."
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