The Good News: A Second Tiny House Village, Future Supportive Housing, And Library Social Workers & Peer Navigators

phoenixwren (65)in #thegoodnews • 7 years ago

Welcome to more Good News from Denver!

First up, a second tiny house village is in the works to go in on a church's parking lot (pending approval). This same church long-term wants to develop the space into permanent supportive housing in conjunction with the Mental Health Center of Denver:

https://www.denverite.com/tiny-home-organizers-moving-second-village-denver-49942/

The tiny house village(s), per code, can only get six-month permissions at a time (they are working to get that changed, as well), which is why it doesn't mean the permanent housing project can't go in the same space later. The tiny house village would have eight homes plus a bath house and kitchen (the THs they are building don't have bathrooms or kitchens inside); the permanent plan would have 48 units.

from the article, the proposed permanent supportive housing

Second story:

The Denver Public Library is now expanding its services to help the many homeless patrons who rely on the library as a safe haven. They have hired two social workers at the central branch (two more to come to serve the other branches), and a team of "peer navigators," to assist anyone who needs help.

http://www.westword.com/news/denver-public-library-accommodates-homeless-mentally-ill-visitors-10104776

From the article:
"Now some thirty library systems across the country have at least one social worker on staff.

Free to access and open to all, libraries are increasingly doubling as day shelters for the homeless, whose population was about 5,112 in the seven-county metro Denver region last year, the most recent figure available.

They come for shelter — the guards won’t bug them or tell them to move along if they aren’t doing anything wrong — but also for access to the 122 computers on the fourth floor; the Community Technology Center offers computer-literacy classes that range from basic, like how to work a mouse, to advanced, including lessons in coding.

'People come to the library for many reasons,' Hardy says. 'There are books, resources. But it’s also a shelter. It keeps people dry, safe and warm.'"

image from article

The first social worker the library hired in 2015. That year, she helped 434 visitors. The next year, with two social workers, they helped 1,265. In 2017, with the team of Peer Navigators, they helped 3,501 people.

Peer Navigators, by the way, are not trained social workers. They are people who have experienced various difficulties that help them relate to those in most need, such as mental health or addiction issues, or homelessness.

From the article:
"Hardy and Schaefer have implemented 'Homelessness 101' programs that teach staff about the needs of struggling guests while humanizing them at the same time. And a new coffee-and-doughnuts meetup at different branches lets staffers share a morning snack and converse with visitors.

'Before this, they only got to interact with customers experiencing homelessness when there was a problem, which can only reinforce biases and stereotypes,' says Schaefer."

This part is so brilliant, imho. Denver has all sorts of cruel laws and attitudes toward homeless people, including the Urban Camping Ban (which btw, the Right To Rest bill was just recently killed in state legislature, again: https://denverhomelessoutloud.org/2018/03/15/state-committee-again-votes-against-right-to-rest-community-voice-loud-and-clear-that-our-human-rights-will-be-heard-no-matter-what/). So many businesses advocated for it because they saw homeless folks as "scaring away customers" (see also: the new "no smoking on the 16th Street Mall" rule, which is outdoors, so that the many buskers and homeless people spending time there either leave to go smoke, or can get harassed by police for it. Well-to-do folk, naturally, can smoke in their apartment or car). This way, instead of seeing the people seeking shelter as "bothering" the other library patrons, the library staff will know them as people, and not only interact with them when something is wrong. I wish there was a similar program for the business owners on the mall!

Thanks for reading, y'all - have a great day! :)

That Red Fish your momma always warned you about