The long-running debate for how Fort Collins addresses homelessness has reached another flash point.
This time, the issue is making lockers available to people who are experiencing homelessness. It’s a small piece of a much the bigger, complicated and messy issue of helping people who don’t have housing.
The Fort Collins Mennonite Fellowship has proposed installing 20 lockers outside its building at 300 E. Oak St. The lockers would be accessible 24/7 by participants in the program.
The church and advocates for the homeless have requested $10,500 in city funding for the program, which would be operated as a one-year pilot program. The lockers would be managed by church staff members, who would follow set policies and procedures for administering the program.
The lockers would not be directly supervised 24/7, raising concerns among some neighbors and nearby Old Town businesses about safety and potential misuse of the facility. Under-supervised programs have failed in other communities, according to a memo to City Council from Fort Collins city staff.
City officials would monitor the program for effectiveness and impacts on downtown, especially the Library Park Neighborhood. If the project works, it could serve as a model for placing lockers elsewhere around the city.
The Coloradoan editorial board supports the idea of having lockers available to people who don’t have housing. We understand the importance of having a dry, safe place for people to store their belongings, especially if they are working or trying to find employment.
The benefit to individual participants would be clear. Less clear would be the benefit to the community as a whole.
We’re not sure spending $10,500, albeit a relatively small amount in the context of the city budget, would be the most effective use of city resources in reaching the community’s overarching goal of making homelessness rare and short-lived. Perhaps that funding would be better applied toward a program that helps get people off the streets by providing housing and support services.
To obtain city funding for lockers, project supporters should go through the process of applying for Community Development Block Grant funds, just as other nonprofit service organizations do.
Yes, the process is competitive; there are always more dollars requested than are available. But it requires meeting certain criteria, including identifying the need for a program and its public benefit.
In the meantime, the board encourages service agencies and their partners, such as the city of Fort Collins, to find a more comprehensive approach toward delivering those services.
We’re looking for someone to take the lead on addressing homeless in our community and coordinating the response.
We know there are a lot of good programs available to people without housing and some cooperation between service providers, such as the shelters.
But it seems more could be done to align services and improve their effectiveness. For example, perhaps cooperation and coordination could lead to greater accessibility for the 200 lockers provided by the Murphy Center. Those lockers are accessible only 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The issue of lockers at Fort Collins Mennonite Fellowship is the current homelessness-related topic generating strong feelings from those who support and oppose the idea. City staff members have recommended against funding of the project.
The City Council is tentatively scheduled to discuss the matter during its Feb. 6 meeting. It’s sure to be a lively discussion.
We hope it adds to a broader conversation about how the community might respond to our neighbors without housing and assist them in getting off the streets and into stable living arrangements.
This is the view of the Coloradoan editorial board, written this week by columnist Kevin Duggan. The board meets weekly to set the topic and direction of the Coloradoan's Sunday editorials. News reporters are not involved in the editorial board process.