Homelessness is a national problem but at its core it is a local challenge, impacting cities all across the country.
Here in Aurora, where I have led as the mayor for the last six years, the city and our nonprofit partner, Advance Pathways, have developed a unique approach to addressing this seemingly intractable problem. It hinges on incentivizing individuals who have experienced homelessness to take the steps needed to stabilize their lives and to join the workforce and reach the maximum level of self-sufficiency they are capable of.
I believe this strategy, focused on meeting people where they are and giving them tangible, concrete incentives to make progress on the goals that will improve their lives, could set a new model for compassionately, and effectively helping lift people out of homelessness.
On Nov. 17, the Aurora Regional Navigation Campus (ARNC), formerly the Crowne Plaza Hotel & Conference Center, located at Chambers Road and Interstate 70, will open to serve the needs of the area’s homeless population. The facility will have the capacity to serve up to 600 individuals with a clean and safe place to stay, services to address their challenges, job training and employment opportunities. Transitional housing will be available to participants with jobs who are on a path to self-sufficiency through employment.
The entire cost of purchasing and renovating the building was $40 million, with all the funding coming from the American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA), which appropriated federal dollars to state and local governments during the pandemic. Aurora received a contribution in ARPA dollars from Adams County, Arapahoe County, and Douglas County, which are the three counties that Aurora is in, from the State of Colorado, and, of course, contributed its own ARPA dollars.
The city of Aurora will contribute approximately $2 million a year to support the ongoing cost of maintaining the facility and Advance Pathways will raise the remaining $8 to $9 million of the annual operating budget. The Daniels Fund and the Anschutz Family Foundation have already stepped up to help meet Advance Pathways’s operating budget requirements.
The program is neither a “Housing First” model, where individuals experiencing homelessness are given private rooms with the understanding that once stabilized they will want to take advantage of the wraparound services provided for them, nor is it a “Work First” model, where individuals, who have experienced homelessness, are required to work in exchange for receiving assistance.
I like the “Work First” approach but that model is only effective for individuals who have already made the decision to change their behavior. Our challenge is we want to take everyone in need whether or not they have made a decision to change their behavior.
This incentive-based program will have three separate tiers to it. Tier 1 is a low-barrier shelter for newly arrived individuals, many just off the streets, who are provided with emergency services including cots, and basic nutrition.
Tier 2 has better living conditions than Tier 1 as an incentive to participate in case-managed mental health care, addiction recovery, and job training. Participants in Tier 2 are offered semi-private accommodations, a bed instead of a cot, places to store their personal items, and better food choices.
Tier 3 is comprised of 255 private rooms set aside as transitional housing for individuals who are working full-time but are still in need of some services. Those in Tier 3 will be expected to pay a third of their income back to support the program.
Aurora and Advance Pathways are committed to accountability in the same way we ask our participants at the ARNC to be accountable. We will be tracking outcomes and reporting them in our push to reduce homelessness in Aurora by 50% by 2030.
This is not about competing with other communities when it comes to different approaches, this is about finding solutions that work and can be replicated.
Mike Coffman is the mayor of Aurora, who represented Colorado in the U.S. House of Representatives.
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