Yet all the free housing in the world would not get some men out off the streets. These are the most severely mentally ill, often paranoid schizophrenics. They're scared of people, of the shelters' crowds. I've gone out at 10 below and had guys not want to come in. We give them blankets and hot soup and that's all we can do.
Advocates say it's wrong to expect government to fix Denver's homeless problem.
Other people need to care. More importantly, it's the community's responsibility to set a tone, an attitude that we can do better to make street people reintegrated into society. About 400 men a year come through Central Shelter's rehab program. Many have job skills but have lost their grounding. The shelter teaches them to cope again.