DENVER — The Rodeway Inn, a hotel which has served as a shelter for homeless women, children and transgender people, will be closing as a non-congregate emergency shelter at the end of August, leaving many people displaced.
The Rodeway Inn, which is run by nonprofit The Gathering Place (TGP), will close Aug. 31 due to the City of Denver’s decision to no longer fund the space, a release from TGP says.
This week, TGP was able to secure ‘Community Access Team’ (CAT) vouchers for a portion of the residents who will be losing their access to shelter at the end of the month.
Video above: "Emergency shelter to close, leaving some scrambling to find a place to live" from July 28.
“We’re encouraged to work with the State Department of Local Affairs to provide CAT vouchers for up to 36 of our members,” The Gathering Places’ CEO Megan Devenport said. “Rodeway Inn’s residents are in desperate need of these vouchers. Our members are not only at risk of returning to living on the streets but are also the most vulnerable to abuse, exploitation, and harm while living unsheltered. It’s life and death at this point.”
The Rodeway Inn has connected more than 140 people with permanent housing by providing low-barrier, trauma-informed, and gender-specific services— with Denver’s only gender-specific non-congregate shelter closing, there will be a significant gap in services throughout the city for women, transgender, and non-binary individuals, who make up 39% of the population experiencing homelessness, TGP said.
In the release, TGP said that by working with The Salvation Army and Denver’s Office of Housing Stability, and meeting with elected officials, TGP staff has been putting their efforts toward helping Rodeway’s members find housing since the closure announcement in May of this year. TGP said the newly-elected Mayor of Denver, Mike Johnston, recently visited with TGP’s team to discuss the homelessness crisis, weeks after he declared a ‘state of emergency.’
“The Mayor shared his belief in the power of community and his understanding of the importance of shelters specifically for women, trans and nonbinary people, which was promising to hear,” Devenport added. “We were glad to meet with Mayor Johnston to share our low-barrier, community-centered model and show why our programs provide better outcomes for the most vulnerable. We look forward to continuing to be a part of the City’s coordinated effort to address the homelessness crisis.”
Those who want to help The Gathering Place can do so by going to tgpdenver.org.
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