A program that drew volunteers, local faith communities and governments into an effort to offer safe places for people sheltering in their vehicles is shutting down.
Despite its closure after COVID-19-related funding dried up, the Colorado Safe Parking Initiative helped bring to light the struggles of metro-area residents who lived in their cars, trucks and vans after they were forced out of their homes, a co-founder of the initiative said Monday.
鈥淚 would say, in general, the experience and needs of unhoused people have been more prioritized since the pandemic,鈥� CSPI Executive Director Terrell Curtis said via email.
鈥淢ore specifically, in the nearly five years CSPI has operated, we have elevated the experience and needs of people relegated to sheltering in their vehicle because existing resources don鈥檛 meet their specific needs. In our experience, communities across metro Denver have embraced and adopted a safe parking model and realized the success that brings to people who can stabilize and move on to appropriate housing solutions,鈥� Curtis said.
鈥淪afe parking is recognized across the Front Range, and elsewhere in the state, as a safe, simple, efficient and cost-effective intervention for this unique population,鈥� added Curtis.
CSPI will cease operations on Dec. 31.
CSPI was formed five years ago after a group of volunteers and local faith communities came together to figure out how to provide safe places for people sheltering in their vehicles to park overnight, according to a CSPI news release.
Relying on funding related to COVID-19 recovery 鈥� including the American Rescue Plan Act 鈥� CSPI grew to offer 鈥渟afe lots鈥� in five counties 鈥� Jefferson, Denver, Broomfield, Adams, Arapahoe/Aurora.
More than 100 people slept safely every night, formed communities, and found their way into stable living situations and the organization鈥檚 central operations were supported by government funds, according to the news release.
But available government funding is no longer sufficient to support operations of the Colorado Safe Parking Initiative, and CSPI officials do not expect that situation to improve in the coming years.
鈥淭he federal government considers people living in their vehicles to be unhoused. As a result, many city and county governments have diverted funding from safe parking to programs that immediately move people into housing or indoor shelter,鈥� the news release states.
CSPI鈥檚 many partners will continue to operate in partnership with nonprofit and government partners in their communities. In this way, the work of safe parking continues in Metro Denver, and we are working with them so they can be set up for success, according to the CSPI news release.
The lots that have been part of the CSPI program that are expected to continue offering services include 11 churches, The Salvation Army (which hosts one lot in Adams County), and a lot on a private commercial parking lot that will be supported by Almost Home in Adams County, Curtis said.
The need for some form of stable housing is still there, Curtis said.
CSPI received more than 1,700 calls for help last year and at least 799 people in the Denver Metro area have been identified as living in vehicles, Curtis said in the email.
鈥淚n the four short years since our founding, CSPI is proud to have demonstrated the effectiveness of safe parking as a community-based intervention for those experiencing homelessness and living in their vehicles,鈥� Curtis said.
鈥淲e are so grateful to all of our government, nonprofit, and faith community partners, and especially to the generous donors who supported this vital work,鈥� the news release states.
鈥淭ogether, genuine change came for hundreds of families,鈥� according to CSPI. 鈥淎dditionally, CSPI could not have even been created without the support and generosity of our fiscal sponsor, The Barton Institute for Community Action.鈥�