Why a 90 day limit at the shelter?

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Dear Boulder City Council Members,

I hope you all had a restful holiday and wish you a happy, healthy new year.

Ms. Peterson raises a good question and makes some good points about the 90 day limit on shelter access. It is clear from the Safe Zones ballot passing that our community is frustrated with visible homelessness. However, given that the initiative does not significantly change city policy, I think it is a safe prediction to say that little will change because of its passage. What is needed are effective, compassionate solutions that lower barriers for indoor shelter. Increasing or eliminating the 90 day limit is low hanging fruit to do just that.

As we head into the new year, I hope you will take time to learn more about the significant, unnecessary, and unhelpful policies that close the door of shelter access to too many in our community, leaving everyone frustrated. As we invest greater funding into services through the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless, it is a very good time to reassess policies that serve only to exclude and exacerbate the frustrations people understandably feel when millions of dollars are spent to address homelessness, but the number of people suffering visibly is clearly increasing.

While pondering the above policy, it’s also a good time to consider other ways to greatly improve the lives of our unhoused neighbors:

• increasing public bathroom access;
• increasing access to recreation centers;
• increasing access to peer specialists where people who would most benefit them, such as at the library;
• standing up a public locker program;
• standing up a sanctioned camp with case managers and other staff to meet people’s basic needs and assist with
• exiting homelessness;
• increasing access to in-patient addiction recovery;
• increasing low cost, accessible housing;
• increasing rental assistance to minimize the number of people becoming homeless;
• increasing access to public transportation for those who cannot otherwise afford it; and
• increasing access to basic medical care.

I appreciate and acknowledge how many of you attended the homeless memorial this year. Please open your hearts and minds to those who suffer so greatly in our community, pluck the low hanging fruit that will reduce barriers and suffering, and consider convening people in the community who have knowledge about how to effectively address homelessness, such as the signatories to the attached letter sent to Council a year ago.

Sincerely,
Darren O’Connor, on my own behalf.