Safe Place to Rest program to residents.

Warming centers are not a City program and are operated by the individual churches at their own discretion. Due to this, the City has not assisted yet with any meetings or other communications. The warming centers focus on providing temporary shelter for those experiencing homelessness from 6pm to 10pm. This helps cover the gap of time from when individuals can eat dinner at the Fort Collins Rescue Mission to when they can check in at Catholic Charities and the Rescue Mission for a bed at 10pm. The tricky part with these centers is that I’m assuming that the churches have other on-going or sporadic evening events that they are not required or choose to communicate to the neighborhood about. 

The City conducted a neighborhood meeting regarding the Seasonal Overflow Shelter, but that is different from the warming centers. The Seasonal Overflow Shelter is a professionally staffed winter overflow shelter that provides extra bed spaces for the homeless community in order to ensure that all those who seek a place to rest will be able to receive it during the winter months.

As the City works to ensure the safety for those who do not have a place to stay during the winter months, Safe Place to Rest is a pilot program that has been added to the list of community programs. This program has 3 sites used for overnight shelter at the following locations: Geller Center on S. Howes, Peak Community Church on Whedbee, and Knights of Columbus on N. Meldrum. An appropriate contact for that program is Beth Sowder at bsowder@fcgov.com or Jackson Brockway at jbrockway@fcgov.com.

If the churches or the neighborhood would like the City to assist with a neighborhood meeting regarding this topic, the Social Sustainability Department can work with Neighborhood Services to see about coordinating something with the neighborhood and the churches.