DENVER — The work to make sure the most vulnerable have a safe place to stay in freezing temperatures begins well before the snow starts to fall.
"There's street outreach workers that are engaging with people experiencing homelessness every day," said Derek Woodbury with Denver's Department of Housing Stability (HOST).
This has been the first winter since the City of Denver updated their standards to activate the emergency cold weather shelters. Now, 25 degrees and below prompts the opening. That's 5 degrees warmer than the previous rules.
It's led to the emergency cold weather shelters being activated for 55 days so far this winter.
"That's a historic record for Denver, for the longest duration for cold weather shelter, and it's due to our change in protocol," Woodbury said of a 32-day stretch where the shelters remained open.
Weather News
Here’s where you can find cold weather shelter across the Denver metro
It has led to more facilities needing to open in addition to more staffing, but Denver officials said they're committed to the new solution.
"We're monitoring shelter count very closely to ensure we have enough available space and no one is turned away and we stand ready to open up extra facilities if needed," said Woodbury.
In addition to the dozens of year-round shelters in Denver, three cold weather shelters are now open.
- Men – Denver Rescue Mission Lawrence Street Community Center, 2222 Lawrence St.
- women – Samaritan House, 2301 Lawrence St.
- Teens and young adults –Urban Peak,1630 S. Acoma St.
- Families in need of shelter - Call the Connection Center at 303-295-3366.
24/7 shelter is also available at The Aspen shelter: 4040 Quebec St., and at 2601 W. 7th Ave. and 375 S. Zuni St.
As of Tuesday, city officials say the shelters will stay open until overnight lows are above 25 degrees.
For a full list of warm shelters operating this week across the metro, click here.
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