Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman met with three homeless men over the weekend and said on social media that the conversation reaffirmed his belief in a “work first” approach to homelessness.
The three men Coffman met with were living in a hotel used by Denver, he said. The four met for breakfast at a truck stop near the hotel.
On Dec. 31, Coffman wrote, the three men were told they’d be arrested if they stayed at the encampment they lived in. They were told to pack their things into two large yellow trash bags and prepare to move into a hotel, Coffman wrote.
Initially, the men were told they’d have six months to stay in the hotel. But that was changed to three months, leaving the men worried that they had no plan for after their time at the hotel was up, he said.
The men had not met with a case manager and didn’t have access to any services, such as getting identification or job training. They were, however, getting three meals a day, access to a washer and dryer, and a cleaner to clean their rooms weekly, Coffman wrote.