The Salvation Army will stay on as operator of the Crossroads emergency homeless shelter in Denver after a split City Council on Monday approved a contract extension.
The nonprofit group has faced scrutiny for months from advocates for homeless people who say several violent incidents at Salvation Army shelters in the city prove it can’t protect its staff or the people it serves.
“People are in unsafe conditions, and it is our responsibility to make sure that we are taking care of them, and we’re not. We’re failing — and we’re choosing to fail,” said Councilwoman Shontel Lewis, who voted no on the extended contract.
Nine of the 13 council members approved the $4.5 million contract extension for shelter operations in 2025. Some said that while they were concerned about the allegations against the Salvation Army, they didn’t want to shut down the shelter.
“What worries me about it is (that) it would immediately affect 300 folks who need someplace to go tonight, and tomorrow night, and the night after that,” said Councilwoman Jamie Torres, who voted yes.
The Crossroads shelter, at 1901 29th St. in the River North Art District, primarily serves men ages 18 and older. The Salvation Army’s most recent contract to operate it began in 2021 and was valued at $14.8 million through the end of 2024. The newly approved extension covers all of this year, ending Dec. 31.
Jamie Rife, the executive director of Denver’s Department of Housing Stability, said during the meeting that if the contract were to be voted down, the shelter might not stay open.
“We would immediately have to go into some sort of contingency plan, and it would be very difficult to continue operations at the site,” she said.
Council members Sarah Parady, Chris Hinds and Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez cast the other three votes against the contract.
The city bought the Crossroads shelter from the Salvation Army in 2019 in a $10.5 million deal. Since then, the organization has been awarded city contracts to operate the facility it used to own.
In March, the council rejected another contract with the Salvation Army, for its part in a rapid rehousing program, after Lewis pointed to the incidents at its shelters. She said at the time that she had “deep, deep concerns” about the group.
One of those incidents occurred in March when a Salvation Army employee was charged with sexually assaulting a woman staying at a former hotel that’s now a shelter in northeast Denver. Last year, the same shelter — part of the expanded shelter network opened by Mayor Mike Johnston as part of his homelessness initiative — was the site of a double homicide.
Housekeys Action Network Denver, which advocates for people who are homeless, organized a protest in April outside of the nonprofit’s headquarters.
“The absolute hope is to remove Salvation Army from all houseless services in Denver,” said Ana Miller, a HAND advocate, in a recent interview. “They have shown time and time again that they are not able to do the job that they have been contracted to do.”
City officials are in the process of considering which providers will operate its shelters next year. New contracts are set to come before the council in September.
Miller said she hoped to see that process change this time around.
“There needs to be better oversight, in general, of what is going on in these buildings,” she said. “There’s no oversight for the security contractors that are at these hotels. And that’s a glaring, glaring issue.”
During Monday’s meeting, there was an extended back-and-forth between Parady and Tyler Burwell, the Salvation Army’s non-congregate shelter director. Parady asked about a string of alleged incidents, most of which Burwell said he was unaware of or had found to be unsubstantiated.
Tensions boiled over as one council attendee shouted angrily while Councilman Kevin Flynn spoke in support of the Salvation Army. Several people left the gallery while he was speaking.
Last week, a council committee forwarded three other contracts with the Salvation Army to the full council for operations of three city-owned hotel shelters this year. The council is set to consider those contracts during its meeting next week. Together, they account for about $20 million in payments.
Stay up-to-date with Colorado Politics by signing up for our weekly newsletter, The Spot.