Denver seeks housing alternatives from property owners for immigrants amid shelter closures due to budget deficit – Washington Examiner

Denver officials are searching for housing alternatives for immigrants after Mayor Mike Johnston announced multiple shelters will be closing as the city addresses a major budget deficit.

Johnston announced last week that the city will close one immigrant shelter a week over the next four weeks, aiming to generate savings of up to $60 million for the city’s budget this year.

“That means the $180 million deficit that we were facing is now closer to $120 million. That still leaves us $120 million of cuts to make,” Johnston said during a recent press conference. “So, that means we still have work to do.”

Now, Denver Human Services is collaborating with local nonprofit organizations to find various forms of housing for the state’s influx of immigrants, reaching out to landlords and property owners about renting out spaces.

“We put out a feeler to all the landlords we have connections with,” Denver Human Services’s Jon Ewing told Fox 31. “Basically said, listen, we’re going to have some newcomers who are going to need housing.”

“We’ve got kind of a rent cap — $2,000,” Ewing said.

The city rolled out a program on Tuesday aimed at collecting data from landlords who have vacant properties available for rent at rates under $2,000 per month. Denver Human Services hopes to connect property owners and newly arrived immigrants seeking housing.

Yoli Casas, executive director of ViVe Wellness, told Denverite that within the past month, three Denver property owners have shown interest in turning their Airbnbs into apartments and renting them out at a discounted price to newcomers.

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“It’s been great because that means we’re gonna get more inventory to work with, which is what’s needed,” Casas said.

Denver estim a tes the city spent $42 million to care for about 38,000 immigrants as of February and that about 4,000 immigrants are being housed in city shelters. While Denver has received $3.5 million from the state and $1.6 million from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to address the influx, Johnston has said the city has spent $30 million since late last year on immigrants.