DENVER, Colorado — For many of Arvada's homeless community, they go to Mission Arvada of the Rising Church in Olde Town to find life's necessities.
Mission Arvada turns into a day shelter where the unhoused community can receive meals and clothing. They can also do their laundry there and take a warm shower.
The day shelter is open until 1pm every day. Afterward, they're on their own for dinner and to find a place to stay for the night.
"If didn't have this church, I'd probably be dead or in jail or I don't know. So, yeah, I'm here at the Rising Church," said Zeno Matsumoto, who drove from Florida to find a better life in Colorado.
"So, I drove about 1,800 miles from Daytona Beach, Florida to escape poverty and trauma and the things that are going on there," Matsumoto said.
Matsumoto discovered the Rising Church when he got off a bus and randomly discovered the services. Since then, he's gone there every day.
"If it wasn't for the daily services that the church has, I would not eat, like, period," Matsumoto said.
Mission Arvada has less and less funding with each passing day.
In September, the city of Arvada refused to sign off on a grant application that would allow the church and shelter to apply for and potentially receive funding from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
The grant requires that for sheltering, the jurisdiction must sign off on the application. In this case, the city of Arvada is considered the jurisdiction.
"We were applying for our emergency shelter funds and they refused to sign off on the grant for us," said Karen Cowling, director of the Mission Arvada of the Rising Church.
Three full-time employees, including Cowling, have had to go to zero pay as a result of the significant financial bind without the opportunity for grant funding.
Cowling said the city refused to sign off on the grant because of the current location of Mission Arvada in the heart of Olde Town.
"They don't like our location. They've told us that many times. I call this a gem for the city of Arvada - this area, Olde Town," Cowling said. "Lots of restaurants and bars and activity and a lot of tax base."
To Cowling, it feels like a 'not-in-my-backyard' mentality from the city who has instead positioned itself to help them find a new location. However, the first location they showed Mission Arvada was 6,000 square feet smaller than the space they're in now, according to Cowling.
"They're citizens of our community," Cowling said. "They happen to be homeless, but they're not lesser people. They deserve to have everything that all of us have, you know, including a roof over their head."
Last September, former City Manager Mark Deven sent an email to Cowling. In part saying, "Respectfully, the City of Arvada has decline to support this application [HUD grant]."
It goes on to read, "This is not an appropriate location for a housing navigation center. Unhoused individuals who seek services at the Mission Arvada often remain encamped near and within Olde Towne under conditions that are unsafe and unsanitary. These conditions have become a burden to the Olde Town community."
"I think that there's a better place for them to provide services," current City Manager Lorie Gillis said.
Gillis said the city is "partnering" with them because the city believes there is an opportunity for them to be in a facility that they can more effectively deliver their services.
"There is an opportunity for the city to help broker a transaction for the purchase of their existing building so the proceeds from the existing building can be used for them to purchase a new place of operation," Gillis said.
Gillis said she would be open to signing off on grant applications if City Council is also supportive. She said the city is "not holding them hostage" in the way of grant money.
"They are not able to apply for that individual grant because we did not sign off in support because we are being responsible to our businesses, our community, our patrons in the old town area," Gillis said, adding that there have been additional complaints from community members and business owners.
Gillis said they could also try to seek other grants that may not require jurisdiction approval.
"We're trying to manage balancing the needs of all of Old Town and not just Old Town of the city and the needs of the unhoused," Gillis said.
Cowling said she does believe the city is committed to finding them a new location. With their building already owned and paid off, they would otherwise have no interest in moving.
Without any other funding, Cowling said the shelter's case manager may have to go to zero pay in the upcoming months as well. In the past two years, she has been able to get more than 150 people off the streets and into long-term housing.
Cowling also added that even if their current location changes, it would not necessarily mean less unhoused people in Olde Town Arvada.
"There will still be homeless people. At the same time, if we're not here, we're not going to be able to enforce rules that we have," She said.
Some of the rules include no smoking in front of the library, no using drugs out in the open, no violent behaviors and no carts in Olde Town. Cowling said if they see their rules being broken, they will ban those individuals from the property.
As a result of the lack of grant funding, they are currently asking for additional private donations.
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