Homelessness in Greeley: consulting firm offers early look at Greeley’s biggest hurdles, concerns
By Kelly Ragan
As part of the City of Greeley’s efforts to address growing homelessness in the city, it brought on a community development consulting firm Denver-based Urbanity Advisors, for $71,000.
While a formal report is set to come out in mid-April, the NoCo Optimist reached out to see what early themes have thus far emerged.
In January, James Roy II, the founder of Urbanity Advisors, went on a tour of the city to get a sense of where the shelters were, where people tended to camp out overnight and where panhandling was common.
In an interview with the Optimist, he said he noticed a few recurring concerns.
Those included:
Lack of affordable housing
Interest in better coordination between nonprofits to improve their impact
Interest in prevention
Substance abuse prevention and resources
Mental health treatment and resources
What it means when folks are turned away from shelters when they are experiencing addiction or mental health issues
Roy II said Urbanity Advisors is continuing to analyze the data and evaluate the best practices and solutions that may make sense for Greeley.
In the next phase of the project, that will mean providing some answers to questions such as:
Where should a shelter go?
Where could more affordable housing go?
What can Greeley, in partnership with Weld County, Evans, Garden City and United Way do to meet needs?
Part of that process, he said, is studying some of the best practices across the country.
“One of the main projects we have looked at is Arroyo Village,” Roy II said.
The Denver-based project, which opened in 2019, was co-developed by Rocky Mountain Communities and The Delores Project, according to The Delores Project website.
The village aims to offer to care for folks experiencing housing instability.
According to the website, the village includes a new shelter as well as 35 low-income permanent units for the homeless and 95 affordable housing units for individuals and families in the workforce.
“Creating Arroyo Village in partnership with Rocky Mountain Communities allows The Delores Project to ensure 35 individuals who have experienced homelessness will have access to very low-income housing,” according to the website. “These individuals will receive supportive services on site to help ensure their ongoing needs in physical and behavioral health, life skills, and social engagement – all of which are crucial to maintain housing – are met.”
The project was publicly funded through the federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit program.
“One of the main things we’re stressing though,” said Roy II, “is that you can’t take one solution and put it into another community without thinking of the context.”
The next phase of the project will include recommendations. This is where we can expect Urbanity Advisors to present an estimation on recommended projects, potential development and operating costs, financial feasibility, funding options, and next steps.
Make your voice heard
If you missed the community engagement sessions but would still like to voice your thoughts, concerns or questions, go to https://greeleygov.com/government/cmo/special-programs/homeless-and-housing-services to learn more.