Homeless housing program looks to retool, expand

Housing First, a program that removes chronic, mentally ill, addicted homeless people from the streets and gives them a place to live - while still allowing them to drink alcohol - is being revitalized.

Robert Holmes, who initially introduced the housing model to Colorado Springs in 2004, said Tuesday that he is taking over the reins of the local operations. The program originated in New York City as an alternative way of helping the homeless.

Holmes said he wants to double the capacity of the program to 40 participants and secure additional funding from foundations and individual donors.

"The program, which has a philosophy of harm-reduction, has so much potential to get people off the streets. I really believe in it and hated to see it stagnate," Holmes said. He also heads Homeward Pikes Peak, which coordinates local homeless services.

Housing First had been under the auspices of Harbor House Collaborative, which in recent months nearly closed because of financial problems. Harbor House was one of six local nonprofit organizations that committed to run Housing First when it started here five years ago, but the others had dropped out, Holmes said.

Another roadblock: The Housing First program lost $150,000 last year when the Department of Housing and Urban Development denied a request for additional funding to add five slots, he said.

"Harbor House took their best shot, but they couldn't be expected to put any more money into it to expand it," Holmes said.

He plans to reapply to HUD to expand Housing First, which currently has 20 participants, and raise $2,500 per client per year to pay for casework. Each participant is required to be supervised by a caseworker. Some are able to change their lifestyles and reduce their alcohol intake enough to hold a part-time job, Holmes said. They live in housing units funded through HUD vouchers and scattered throughout the city.

The program costs $14,000 to $15,000 a year per client, Holmes said, but it saves taxpayers an estimated $40,000 annually in police, fire, emergency and hospital services.

"People on the streets, on average, cost taxpayers $54,000 a year, so the big plus for the community by housing people is that they reach a state of equilibrium, cut down on their drinking, take jobs, get medical care and quit using the emergency services like they were when they lived on the streets," he said.

Harbor House, meanwhile, has recovered from its financial difficulties by securing a $20,000 grant in emergency funds from the city of Colorado Springs. The organization offers drug- and alcohol-recovery services and recently acquired 12 units in three buildings for its residential program, said Holmes, who served as its interim director until Christine Burns became executive director last month.