The shelter will have to close on August 1 due to lack of funding, according to Mental Health Colorado. But the facility is worth more than mourning to Housekeys Action Network Denver, which argues that Mental Health Colorado's Centennial shelter is exceptionally successful compared to others.
"It is an incredible program beloved by residents and staff," said Terese Howard, the lead organizer for HAND during a demonstration on Wednesday, July 16 outside of the MHC offices at 303 East 17th Street. "Never before have I run into a program where almost every single resident loves it, loves the staff, wants it to keep going. There's a mutual respect between residents and staff, that's extremely rare, and to have the success rate they have."
Mental Health Colorado opened the SAFER shelter in Centennial in 2020, giving recently released inmates on-site case management that helps them transition into permanent housing as a way to prevent homelessness. Shortly before it opened, a 2018 study statewide study by the state Department of Public Safety found that about 40 percent of inmates across Colorado facilities reported that they would be homeless after their release.
According to Howard, upwards of thirty residents currently live at the SAFER shelter. Mental Health Colorado notified residents at the beginning of the month that they would have until July 17 to leave, but the nonprofit has pushed that date back by two weeks.
In a statement, Mental Health Colorado CEO Vincent Atchity says the nonprofit is too small to keep SAFER going. According to Atchity, nonprofits nationwide are struggling to find grant funding. The cost of operating the program was roughly $200,000 a month, which largely came from grants, he says.
The organization plans to sell the building and return to the money to funders who had kept it running.
"Mental Health Colorado deeply regrets the closure of SAFER and shares the disappointment felt by the community," Atchity's statement continues. "As a small nonprofit with limited resources, we exhausted every potential funding option before making this incredibly difficult decision. The funding crisis affecting state and local agencies, health care organizations and nonprofits like ourselves has sadly made continuing SAFER impossible."
Activist at HAND want Mental Health Colorado to transfer ownership of the shelter, though Howard didn't specify to whom. The group also wants Mental Health Colorado leadership to be more open about its funding and use of funds delivered by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), a 2021 federal COVID relief bill. Howard points out that the SAFER shelter building, a former hotel, was purchased with ARPA funding allocated through Arapahoe County, which she argues makes it partially funded by taxpayers.
Find a New Owner?
"They should transfer ownership and operation of the building to another entity," Howard said. "The CEO, he needs to be transparent about the funds. He refuses to answer questions, and we need to know what's happening to the money. For the most part, this is public money we're talking about."Howard said "it's very rare" to find a shelter where the people staying there love it. Shelters run by other nonprofits like the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, Salvation Army and Colorado Village Collaborative as well as city-run shelters and micro-communities are often confronted with complaints by residents about cleanliness and security, she notes. According to Howard, SAFER also boasts a low recidivism rate, with less than one percent of residents returning to prison or jail.
"I understand that they have a lack of sustainable grants," Howard said. "What I can't buy is that they are not seeking another entity to take over the program. That's clearly the right choice instead of closing the program."
Steve Bhattacharyya has been staying at the SAFER shelter since March after nearly a decade in federal prison for intent to distribute more than 500 grams of meth. At the Wednesday demonstration, he credited the therapy he received at SAFER with getting him over an addiction to meth and teaching him how to rebuild his relationship with his family.
"I came here, and I've maintained my sobriety here, something I've never been able to do," he said. "I've matured more in the last four months at SAFER than I have, ever, and it's given me opportunities to reconnect with my family and friends. I see my mom and sister once a week, and I'm completely sober every interaction."
Kenji Shoeboot was in the Denver County jail and is now on probation for battery. At the demonstration, he said that SAFER staff came to him while he was in jail because they had found his case and thought he would be a good fit. They then advocated for him to be let out of jail on probation, which a judge allowed. He moved into the shelter a few months ago, and he said the therapy he receives there for his bipolar disorder has made him feel better about himself.
"SAFER has made an exponential difference in my life," Shoeboot said. "SAFER literally got me out of jail. They gave me a lot of confidence that I can be outside, free and be able to live my life, and be a better person in society. They helped me gain confidence back in myself, raised my self-esteem and gave me courage to be an adult, to do what's responsible."
The shelter's closure is very sudden, Shoeboot added, and he wants more time for him and his fellow SAFER residents to pack up.
Shoeboot says he has "not the slightest clue" about where he's going to go after SAFER closes in a little more than two weeks.
With the closure approaching, Bhattacharyya is trying to get a unit at Sober Apartment Living, a nonprofit in Wheat Ridge, but the expected cost is around $1,000 month. At the same time, he's still struggling to find a full-time job.
"Keep it open," Bhattacharyya pleaded. "It's saving lives. This is a program that works. It should remain open for as much success as it's had."
"SAFER has made an exponential difference in my life," Shoeboot said. "SAFER literally got me out of jail. They gave me a lot of confidence that I can be outside, free and be able to live my life, and be a better person in society. They helped me gain confidence back in myself, raised my self-esteem and gave me courage to be an adult, to do what's responsible."
Bhattacharyya's frustration with Mental Health Colorado leadership does not extend to SAFER staff, who are just as upset about the news of the closure as the residents, he said.
"The immediate staff, they care. You can tell they're devastated as well," Bhattacharyya said. "They gave me room to do it on my own. I've been in a myriad programs all over the state, and there's nothing like SAFER."
Shoeboot agreed, saying that the staff are the secret behind the shelter's success.
"The immediate staff, they care. You can tell they're devastated as well," Bhattacharyya said. "They gave me room to do it on my own. I've been in a myriad programs all over the state, and there's nothing like SAFER."
Shoeboot agreed, saying that the staff are the secret behind the shelter's success.
"The people there are like no other place," Shoeboot said. "They're not just complete clinicians. A lot of people have situations with addictions, with court, with mental health, and they understand more intricately."
The shelter's closure is very sudden, Shoeboot added, and he wants more time for him and his fellow SAFER residents to pack up.
"This is happening so immediately. If [Mental Health Colorado] really cared about mental health like they say they do, they would have allowed us more time to find somewhere to stay," Shoeboot said. "I would love for them to keep the place open, at least, for a few months. Right now, it's just a matter of having to hurry up and scrambling to find a place."
Shoeboot says he has "not the slightest clue" about where he's going to go after SAFER closes in a little more than two weeks.
With the closure approaching, Bhattacharyya is trying to get a unit at Sober Apartment Living, a nonprofit in Wheat Ridge, but the expected cost is around $1,000 month. At the same time, he's still struggling to find a full-time job.
"Keep it open," Bhattacharyya pleaded. "It's saving lives. This is a program that works. It should remain open for as much success as it's had."
