Regis to extend Safe Outdoor Space by 3 months as organizers locate new site
A third SOS site also will open at Denver Health in downtown Denver
DENVER – Regis University has announced that the on-site Safe Outdoor Space, a secured tent facility to provide humane shelter for people needing temporary, emergency housing now located in a parking lot on its Northwest Denver campus, will remain in place until spring.
The 19,000-square-foot Regis SOS, operated by the Colorado Village Cooperative in partnership with the City and County of Denver and the St. Francis Center, was originally slated to operate from June through December. It will now continue beyond its planned closure and stay open through March 31, 2022.
“Ours is a faith that does justice and calls on us to commit ourselves to combat indifference, walk with the poor and foster dignity among all peoples,” said Regis President the Rev. John P. Fitzgibbons, S.J. “We in turn have been enriched by this experience, and we are most gratified by the positive, warm and welcoming response from our neighbors and university community members who have volunteered and helped in any way they could.”
This decision was made in conjunction with CVC, which also announced it will partner with Denver Health to open an additional SOS site at its campus at W. 8th Avenue and Elati Street effective Nov. 10.
The Denver Health site will be uniquely designed in partnership with several Native American service agencies to provide Native American-inclusive programming. More than 9 percent of those living in unsheltered environments in Denver identify as Native American, and this site aims to be particularly inclusive of those individuals.
These announcements come as the City and County of Denver proposes to increase funds available to support SOS sites in 2022.
“The SOS initiative has delivered positive impacts of safe, sanitary and secure managed spaces that help reduce harm and increase stability in our COVID-19 response,” said Britta Fisher, executive director of Denver’s Department of Housing Stability. “This new option is clearly connecting individuals with much needed access to case management, services and supports that provide a bridge to stability. The outcomes are encouraging, and we look forward to expanding Denver’s support for SOS as identified in the proposed 2022 city budget.”
The Regis extension will give CVC time to find new locations for 2022 without displacing any residents. Up to 60 people can live in the SOS, which is staffed and secured at all hours. A third location in the Park Hill neighborhood is slated to close in December.
“We're grateful to the leadership of Regis University, Denver Health, the City and County of Denver, and our many partner organizations for their shared commitment to expand these critical resources and services for our unsheltered neighbors,” said Cole Chandler, executive director of CVC.
The Regis and Park Hill sites replaced two initial SOS sites in downtown Denver that were open from January to June 2021 in church parking lots. The successful Regis site, located in a parking lot near an athletic field and the first that wasn’t hosted by a church, helped demonstrate a SOS could operate at a larger institution. Denver Health CEO Robin Wittenstein is a member of the Regis Board of Trustees.
The newest 12,500-square-foot SOS at Denver Health will offer 24-hour, staffed and secure shelter for up to 50 people, who are screened and selected by service agencies. The facility, which will operate for one year, will offer residents shelter, cots, food, supportive services and assistance for finding permanent housing.
“At Denver Health it is our mission to provide high-quality medical care for everyone, regardless of their ability to pay. But we know that clinical care alone only accounts for a portion of a person’s health. As an anchor institution, Denver Health must invest beyond its own walls to make a positive impact on the health of people in our community because to truly care for the whole person, we must address all social determinants of health,” said Wittenstein. “We are honored to partner on this project and invest in the community in a way that will directly impact the well-being of the people who live on this site.”
- Colorado Village Collaborative (CVC) exists to bridge the gap between the streets and stable housing. CVC is working to significantly reduce Denver’s unsheltered homelessness population. Since its founding in 2017, it has launched four transformational housing projects, including two tiny home villages and two Safe Outdoor Spaces that have provided more than 20,000 nights of safe, dignified shelter in partnership with people coming from homelessness.
- The Saint Francis Center was first established as a ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado in June 1983 and has since become a mainstay in Denver’s housing and homelessness continuum. The center operates many city contracts and provides street outreach, shelter, and Permanent Supportive Housing for men and women transitioning from homelessness. The St. Francis Center will provide 24-hour staffing to the Safe Outdoor Space at Regis University.
- Denver Health is a comprehensive health and hospital system that provides high-quality care for all people, regardless of their ability to pay. It delivers medical care to one-third of Denver’s population, proudly serving as the city’s safety-net hospital and providing preventative, primary and acute care services.
- Established in 1877, Regis University is a premier, globally engaged institution of higher learning in the Jesuit Catholic tradition that prepares leaders to live productive lives of faith, meaning and service. Regis University, one of 27 Jesuit universities in the nation, has three campus locations in the Denver metro area and extensive online program offerings with more than 8,000 enrolled students. For more information, visit regis.edu.