Denver Gazette: Denver partners with nonprofit to push goal of getting 1,000 homeless people off city streets

Noah Festenstein, Denver Gazette

DENVER — Denver announced a partnership with a nonprofit organization adding support to the city's goal of housing homeless people as fast as possible before year’s end.

Mayor Mike Johnston’s administration partnered with Housing Connector, a “tech-for-good” nonprofit increasing housing access for people who need it, according to the organization's website.

The mayor’s office, in a news release, said the partnership supports Johnston’s promise of housing 1,000 homeless people by year’s end.

Johnston believes the city’s connection with Housing Connector “will help us deliver on our goal of ensuring every Denverite is housed by getting people directly into leased, permanent units and helping them stay housed for years to come,” the mayor said in a statement.

Housing Connector’s strategy is “solving financial and resident challenges for property managers so they can open doors to more people in the community,” according to its website.

The nonprofit’s goal is to provide resources for those needing housing by connecting people to service providers to vacant permanent housing units.

Housing Connector partners with service providers, one being Zillow, to create those housing opportunities.

"We can't solve our housing crisis without our partners in the multifamily industry,” said Housing Connector Executive Director Shkëlqim Kelemendi in a the release. “We know that when a unit sits vacant it's a financial loss for the property and it's a lost opportunity for our community. We need to invest in pragmatic solutions that make it easy for property owners and managers to open more doors to folks in the community.”

Denver’s mayor made his House1000 initiative when taking office July 18. Johnston’s administration housed 210 as of Wednesday, according to the city’s homeless housing dashboard.

Housing Connector officials said they have housed more than 5,600 people experiencing housing instability, which the city said the majority of which “have had long-term housing success,” the mayor’s office said. “This new partnership will create a coordinated system that makes it easier for individuals to move directly into permanent leased units.”

Housing Connector, already with a Denver location, will expand its service “to increase the speed of move-ins while removing barriers and housing discrimination by pre-negotiating screening criteria with housing providers,” the mayor’s office said.

Read the original article here.