{"id":62299,"date":"2019-02-18T18:18:17","date_gmt":"2019-02-19T01:18:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-homeless-coalition-mum-on-progress\/"},"modified":"2019-02-19T01:18:17","modified_gmt":"2019-02-19T01:18:17","slug":"durango-homeless-coalition-mum-on-progress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-homeless-coalition-mum-on-progress\/","title":{"rendered":"Durango homeless coalition mum on progress"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"A
A group convened to work on homelessness in Durango is not releasing details about its work.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Camping on public lands has been at the center of a heated debate for several years in Durango as residents and public officials grapple with insufficient shelter for people who are homeless.<\/p>\n

To help address homelessness, governmental and nonprofits organizations formed a coalition to study the issue, make recommendations and support effective solutions for homeless residents, according to a document listing the group\u2019s mission and purpose. But the Community Collaborative on Homelessness works behind closed doors, and details of what the group has been working on have been sparse.<\/p>\n

The group, which has been meeting twice a month for six months, is convened by Axis Health System and includes representatives from the city of Durango, La Plata County, Durango Police Department, La Plata County Sheriff\u2019s Office, Manna soup kitchen, Volunteers of America and Housing Solutions for the Southwest.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe needed more people at the table and the right people at the table,\u201d said Amber Blake, a spokeswoman for the city, about the group\u2019s formation.<\/p>\n

When asked for details about the group\u2019s work, spokeswoman Sarada Leavenworth declined to give details.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re doing a lot, and it\u2019s really tough work, and it\u2019s not work for public dialogue yet,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She said if details were released about the group\u2019s work, it would be interpreted by the public as definitive action, and the group has not decided on official steps to take.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll keep working together until we make some progress,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

A document listing the group\u2019s mission, purpose and accomplishments says the collaborative\u2019s purpose is to explore, recommend and support effective solutions for homeless residents.<\/p>\n

The document lists accomplishments such as committing to a civil dialogue, identifying resource gaps in the community and evaluating shelters in other communities.<\/p>\n

The group also has \u201cembraced the intent to bring volunteers and other concerned citizens actively into the implementation process if our recommendations meet with approval.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>

Community Compassion Outreach<\/a> Executive Director Donna Mae Bauket said the group should release details about its work instead of just \u201cplatitudes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to know what\u2019s going on after six months,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She said she would like to know if the group has surveyed the homeless to gather data, has plans to work with homeless advocates and if it has identified land that could be used to provide homeless residents safe shelter during the winter.<\/p>\n

City Councilor Chris Bettin said he is also interested in the group\u2019s progress and has asked for a public study session for an update as soon as possible to provide a \u201cfull public update on the issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the high priorities for the city is identifying a location for homeless residents to sleep, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to find a place for folks that is safe, accessible, accessible to services and doesn\u2019t put them in harm\u2019s way or put the community in harm\u2019s way,\u201d Bettin said.<\/p>\n

The coalition\u2019s document does not list identifying a site for unsheltered camping as part of its purpose or mission.<\/p>\n

The city wants a site identified to abide by a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling<\/a> that found it is unconstitutional to criminalize sleeping in public spaces when no other alternative is available, Bettin said.<\/p>\n

In recent months, the city has stopped enforcing its overnight camping ban to abide by the court\u2019s ruling, and city officials are drafting new rules<\/a>.<\/p>\n

City Councilor Dick White described the lack of location for residents to shelter as a \u201cpainful situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have got things going, but they all take time to unfold,\u201d he said. \u201cBut in the meantime, people are hurting.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the coalition lead by Axis has been holding small private meetings, a community meeting organized by the American Civil Liberties Union<\/a> in December drew more than 100 people.<\/p>\n

The meeting showed residents are enthusiastic about working on the problem, said Durango resident Lynne Sholler.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s lots of potential for creativity and synergy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She said she would like to see the ACLU hold another similar meeting to enable more conversations about solutions.<\/p>\n

mshinn@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/p>\n

An earlier version of this story misspelled Lynne Sholler\u2019s name.<\/p>\n

Coalition talking points (PDF)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

been meeting for six months<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":62300,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[120,950,507,61,611,1745,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-62299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-colorado","tag-durango","tag-durango-city-officials","tag-health","tag-homelessness","tag-la-plata-county-officials","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62299\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62299"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=62299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}