The Valley Alliance to End Homelessness (VAEH), an initiative of West Mountain Regional Health Alliance (WMRHA), hosted its third regional quarterly meeting at Morgridge Commons in Glenwood Springs on Monday. 

The meeting brought coalition members together to inform the public on their work toward ending homelessness in the Roaring Fork and Colorado River Valley. Their strategic framework for 2023-2026 includes the goal of achieving a 50% reduction in the number of people experiencing homelessness by 2026. 

The VAEH Governance Board involved in these efforts are Eagle, Garfield, and Pitkin counties, Catholic Charities, Recovery Resources, Salvation Army, Mind Springs Health and WMRHA, according to a news release. 

Gov. Jared Polis gave a brief visit during the meeting to acknowledge the importance of the alliance’s work and how it aligns with the state’s goals to improve the housing situation in Colorado. 

“People often think of our big cities, but (homelessness) is just as much affecting many parts of mountain and rural Colorado, especially because of the high cost of housing in the mountain communities,” Polis said. “Earlier this month I presented my vision of what Colorado should look like in 10 years for our 150th birthday, and the key to that vision is housing.” 

Homelessness demographics 

WMRHA Housing Access Coordinator Namuna Shrestha’s presentation during the meeting highlighted the efforts and successes of the alliance from 2021 to 2023.  

Between May 2021 to Jan. 2024, VAEH has worked with 937 individuals experiencing homelessness in the tri-county region. The majority, approximately 463, are single adults while 352 are in families. Sixteen are considered “youth,” and the other 106 are seniors, according to Namuna. 

Their research also showed that the two biggest homeless populations are white people (526 people) and Latinos (260). Of the total number, 352 have a disabling condition such as a physical disability, chronic health condition, or mental disorder that makes it more difficult to find and keep housing. 

Namuna said their homeless response partners housed 195 people between 2022 and 2023. The length of time it takes for the organization to find housing has also improved significantly, with the average time to secure housing going from 134 days (about four and a half months) in 2022 to 63 days (about 2 months) in 2023. 

The meeting also introduced new VAEH housing navigators: Jose Saez and Aleksandra Cejovic. Their positions are part of a new Regional Housing Navigation Program that will engage with landlords and property owners to explore options for working with people who are housing insecure. 

Challenges with new migrant population 

The final portion of the meeting presented a panel to discuss the recent influx of Venezuelan migrants. Among the panelists were Immigrant Response Coordinator Rob Stein with the town of Carbondale, Alan Muñoz with Voces Unidas, Saez with WMRHA, Third Street Center Director Colin Laird and Wendee Schoon Fisher with Recovery Resources. 

The panelists spoke about their organizations’ efforts toward helping the migrant group find shelter from the cold and about the growing need for state and federal support in the region. 

“A lot of our organizations working in the homeless arena are already struggling with capacity,” Fisher said. 

One of the biggest challenges when it comes to helping the group, the panel agreed, is the lack of transitional housing and overall affordability. 

Muñoz pointed to the lack of infrastructure in place as another challenge in addressing the arrival of Venezuelans, though this challenge isn’t new by any means. 

“People coming to the valley is not new,” Muñoz said. “People coming into our valley is going to continue happening, it just so happened that this group of newcomers are all dealing with the same sort of immigration issues that have been going on across the nation.” 

“Me and Rob struggled mightily to try and find places to put people through the winter,” Laird said. “We ended up with our town hall and a church basement. We should be able to do better than that.” 

Fisher added that their organization’s struggle to help those who are homeless — Venezuelan migrants or otherwise — find housing for the winter is not new either; VAEH’s mission to help the homeless population in the area remains steadfast. 

“What I’m hearing in the community with the clients I’m working with, who are primarily over the age of 60 and 65, is that their fear is that our community will shift our focus to these young men who can work and our 70-year-old homeless ladies are still going to freeze to death in their car,” said attendee Kathy Fitzgerald, who works with Catholic Charities. “So as we have these conversations, about helping the newcomers to our community, we need to make sure that we keep our focus on the community members who built these communities that were born here, raised here, raised their children and raised your children.” 

Comments read aloud from the Zoom audience in response to the panel and in-person comments from attendees raised questions about community support for their current homeless population, as well as for the undocumented immigrant population that has been living in the area for several years already. 

“There is also the backlash from the immigrant population that has been here. All the undocumented have been contributing to our communities for many years and will be asking why they don’t have the opportunity or road to legalizing their immigration status,” one of the comments read.