DENVER — For years, the goal has been to get those who've served our country and are currently homeless, into housing.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and other city leaders on Thursday announced it now has a system in place to make this a reality in the city.
"What this means is that for the first time, the city of Denver has created a system that allows us to be able to identify where every single veteran is, what services they need, how to connect them to those services, and how to make sure they're connected to those services immediately,"
Mayor Mike Johnston first made the announcement of his goal to end homelessness for veterans in the summer of 2024.
At that time, there were roughly 50 unhoused vets in Denver.
On Thursday, he announced that number was down to 18.
"We have 18 veterans we've connected with that are left on the streets. 12 of those want to come into housing and we have housing that we have connected them to, and we are moving them indoors," Mayor Johnston said. "The other six right now, at this moment, are refusing to come indoors."
Though city leaders did tell Denver7 the resources to bring those 6 veterans into housing do exist if and when they decide to move inside.
"We know this population has gone through some of the most traumatic experiences of anyone in our civilization, of any of our homeless population," the mayor said.
Brian Asbeck, a veteran living in Denver, knows the challenges of being unhoused all too well.
"It was struggling, you know, a bit of a struggle to find resources and stuff like that, living out of my vehicle," he said."
Asbeck moved to Denver in November of 2021. He spoke about some of the toughest parts of not having a permanent roof over his head during that time.
"Staying warm, food, taking a shower, basic necessities were some of it," Asbeck said.
Asbeck was able to get access to resources through the VA in 2021, leading him to where he is now, in permanent housing.
"It allowed me to have a place over my head, a roof over my head, connect with other homeless vets and get hooked up with the resources that were available," Asbeck said. "I am fully self reliant.
According to the 2024 Point in Time Count in the Denver metro area, 431 of the 6,539 individuals surveyed were veterans in Denver County.
Of those 431 veterans, 118 were experiencing homelessness for the first time and 131 were listed as “chronically homeless.”
Thirty-one of them reported living out of a vehicle, 25 reported living in a tent, 58 said they were in some other “unsheltered” situation, and 317 say they were in a shelter.
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