A day services center for those experiencing homelessness is set to open in Boulder as soon as next month. The center will operate out of the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless.
It鈥檚 been a priority for Boulder's city council to establish a space where the unhoused population can get access to resources during the day.
John Herrick with the Boulder Reporting Lab joined KUNC's Michael Lyle, Jr.
Herrick said the shelter is the city's largest for adults experiencing homelessness and serves up to 180 people.
Get top headlines and KUNC reporting directly to your mailbox each week when you subscribe to In The NoCo.
"It's a significant resource here in the city," said Herrick. "There are really two big reasons council members wanted to create a day center. One being just so that homeless people had a place to go during the day, and the other being that they wanted people who don't stay at the shelter to have access to resources."
Herrick said some of those resources include case managers that can help people get connected to subsidized housing or provide them with a housing voucher.
Herrick also touched on an issue the The ruling from the nation鈥檚 highest court could have major implications for how cities across the country, including Boulder, respond to encampments in public spaces amid rising levels of homelessness.
"The city spends about $3 million a year clearing out homeless encampments," said Herrick. "So there's a lot being done on this issue."
Several non-profit organizations in Boulder provide services to homeless people in Central Park in downtown Boulder. The city wants some of those organizations to instead provide services at the day services center. It remains to be seen which organizations will operate out of the day services center.
Updated on May 20, 2023: This story has been updated to correct a quote that was mistakenly misattributed.
