Denver awarded a $30 million, three-year contract to Urban Alchemy to provide operational services at The Aspen, one of the largest city-owned homeless hotel shelters, beginning Jan. 1.
Unlike The Salvation Army, which has operated several of the city’s non-congregate hotel shelters under a flat-fee contract, Urban Alchemy, a San Francisco-based outfit, agreed to a performance-based contract in which it must meet specific metrics to be paid in full.
But Urban Alchemy, a nonprofit with operations across the country, has faced criticism and numerous lawsuits involving allegations of labor code violations, employee misconduct, discrimination, sexual harassment, and even lobbying rule breaches…