Seventeen people who moved into hotels or tiny home communities as part of the city’s All In Mile High campaign to house people experiencing homelessness have died.
Denver homeless czar Cole Chandler made the revelation Friday during a quarterly meeting with the homeless community at Caldwell African American Library in Five Points. A member of the crowd shouted out, “How many?” as a woman described an overdose death at the former DoubleTree Hotel, 4040 Quebec. Chandler replied “17,” and said his number comes from the public-facing online dashboard for All In Mile High. He said not all the deaths were the result of overdoses.
The city must meet with members of the homeless community once per quarter as part of a lawsuit called the Lyall Settlement. People experiencing homelessness can bring up issues at the meeting and city officials respond.
HAND live streamed the quarterly meeting on Instagram. Almost 2,000 encampment dwellers have been sheltered in city-owned hotels and tiny home villages since last year, according to the dashboard.