Several were with Housekeys Action Network Denver, which brought together a couple dozen people for a rally outside of City Hall while the October 16 Denver City Council meeting was going on inside. They criticized Mayor Mike Johnston's effort to house 1,000 homeless Denver residents by the end of the year, saying that he's broken promises and demanding that he stop sweeps and provide more housing for those in need.
"We're holding this rally today to call on Mayor Johnston to end the lying and broken promises made around his House1000 initiative," said Ana Lilith Gloom, a HAND advocate. "Mayor Johnston said on the campaign trail and in office that he would end houselessness in Denver. We all understand how difficult this is and the time it will take to succeed."
The group also went into council chambers to repeat their complaints during the public hearing portion of the meeting, and demanded they be allowed to speak past the designated time; many council members left during the confusion, then returned to finish up business. Among other things, they voted to extend Mayor Johnston's homeless emergency declaration to November 13, and also approved adding $3,666,000 to a Salvation Army contract for additional programming at New Directions, the former Best Western that is now a city-owned shelter.
Terese Howard, the lead organizer for HAND, said that Johnston had met with the group last week to hear the demands, and offered "some openness to considering some of the demands."
"But that openness was not an actual commitment to action," Howard added. "So we're here today to make that still loud and still clear. We're not going to be silenced just because he meets with us."
"We have questions, and they give us a textbook answer. That's supposed to be okay, and it's not," Mark Doyle, a homeless resident, said at the rally. "They said they were helping people. They ain't helping us."
"But that openness was not an actual commitment to action," Howard added. "So we're here today to make that still loud and still clear. We're not going to be silenced just because he meets with us."
"We have questions, and they give us a textbook answer. That's supposed to be okay, and it's not," Mark Doyle, a homeless resident, said at the rally. "They said they were helping people. They ain't helping us."
HAND wants "action to be taken," Howard explained, "because he's already broken his promises."
Advocates at the rally decried ongoing sweeps of encampments, noting that Johnston had promised to stop sweeps except in cases involving public health and safety risks. They were especially concerned about the use of soft sweeps, where police show up to tell homeless individuals they're violating the city's camping ban but don't issue tickets.
"Yes, sweeps continue," Lilith Gloom said. "Coupled by aggressive daily use of soft sweeps or camping ban enforcement that he claims to have no power over. This narrative is a lie."
Howard suggested that Johnston "inform the police department that it can't go out here and conduct soft sweeps under the camping ban with no notice every day. He has the power to tell the police department that."
HAND advocates also demanded that the mayor "prioritize vulnerability over visibility." Howard suggested that the city is giving housing only to people at encampments that are the most visible because they're swept first, but instead "should set aside housing units for people who are most in need."
"He has also had a policy in place that completely ignores those who are extremely vulnerable in favor of visibility," Lilith Gloom added. "This is downright cruel. How can anyone actually tell a person who is in a vulnerable situation, 'Sorry, you just happen to not be in the right camp."
The protesters also took issue with the type of housing that Johnston plans on using to house 1,000 people by the end of the year. "These hotels and micro-communities are not housing," Lilith Gloom said. "They are shelters."
"Shelters are not a home," said Jerry Burton, a homeless individual previously featured in Westword. "A hotel room is not a home. Tents is not a home. That mini bullshit (micro-communities) he's talking about, that's definitely not a home. It's wasteful money that could be going to putting people in real housing."
The crowd did include a strong supporter of Johnston's efforts, however. Eric Ahlunius considers himself a "success story" of a form of transitional housing that Johnston is using. He lived in a safe outdoor site after being homeless for ten years.
"They're talking about the old system," Ahlunius says of the others who spoke at the rally. "This has nothing to do with Mike. That's the old system, and he's only been in for so long. Give him time."
While Ahlunius believes Johnston's plan to house 1,000 will succeed, he says that even if it fails, people should appreciate that the mayor is trying to help homeless residents.
"If he only gets 999, that's what the story will be, because he didn't get there," Ahlunius adds, "but he's totally committed to this. Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you land in the stars."
