page_title: Homelessness in the United States by state
section_title: Colorado
hierarchical_section_title: Homelessness in the United States by state / Colorado
caption_attribution_description: English: A homeless man sleeping in an alcove at the Colorado Supreme Court Building. The temperature was 3° Celcius.
context_page_description: Homelessness in the United States has occurred to varying degrees across the country. The total number of homeless people in the United States fluctuates and constantly changes hence a comprehensive figure encompassing the entire nation is not issued since counts from independent shelter providers and statistics managed by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development vary greatly. Federal HUD counts hover annually at around 500,000 people. Point-in-time counts are also vague measures of homeless populations and are not a precise and definitive indicator for the total number of cases, which may differ in both directions up or down. The most recent figure for the year 2019 that was given was at 567,715 individuals across the country that have experienced homelessness at a point in time during this period.
  Homeless people may use shelters, or may sleep in cars, tents, on couches, or in other public places. Separate counts of sheltered people and unsheltered people are critical in understanding the homeless population.
context_section_description: To be homeless means that an individual or even a family is living in a place not meant for human habitation, in an emergency shelter, in transitional housing or are exiting an institution where they temporarily resided. Homelessness is a growing problem in the State of Colorado and is considered the most important social determinants of health (State of Colorado). Every individual deserves to live in good conditions and have their own home based on rights for housing. Some people do not realize that homelessness is very difficult for many individuals to escape with the continuous increase in costs for housing in Colorado along with mental health treatments and other factors. When people are forced to live without stable shelter they are then exposed to a number of risk factors that affect physical and mental health (State of Colorado). Although it is difficult to pin point any one cause of homelessness, there is a complicated combination of societal and individual causes. With the hard work of community organizations along with some helpful state initiatives, one would believe that homelessness can be escaped and even prevented.
  While he was Mayor of Denver, Colorado, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper made dealing with the issues that underlie homelessness a top priority on his agenda, speaking heavily on the issue during his first "State of the City" address in 2003. While Denver's homeless population is much lower than other major cities, the homeless residents have often suffered when without shelter during the cold winters. In 2006, officials said that this number had risen over the past few years.
  Some findings of the factors contributing to homelessness involve many issues. Among them was factual data about the number of residents that have moved to Colorado since 2011, totaling nearly 650 thousand. This influx of residents has caused a shortage in affordable housing and contributed to the price of homeownership and renting to increase yearly. The costs have become so expensive that a person has to make nearly four times the states minimum wage to afford a medium-priced rental. This model is unsustainable per the  which describes rent as being considered affordable if it is less than thirty percent of total monthly income.  Another factor, is the perception that most people are homeless due to their own actions. While this may be true for a rare few, the majority are reluctant to seek services that could help better their situation due to fear of discrimination. Research conducted by, shows that the homeless population are perceived as less than human and are not worthy of support or assistance, often they face contempt and prejudice amongst fellow homeless and the community. This is contributing to the perpetuation of chronic homelessness as people are too afraid to seek assistance and support. A third factor identified, is in how the cities are handling this demographic. There have been 350 "anti-homeless” ordinances enacted, which criminalize daily survival necessities of the homeless, but criminalizing these behaviors fails to mitigate the root causes, and maintains conditions that keep people homeless. While the cities have enacted these ordinances to combat hazards associated with the homeless such as fires, trash, crime and tent cities, it creates a revolving door of street to jail, jail to street.
  Research has also indicated a vast shortage in shelter capabilities and resources. The number of homeless people, which in 2018 was nearly eleven thousand, consisted of families, veterans and chronically homeless. According to, Denver, the state's capitol, can shelter less than ten percent of its homeless population, and other cities advertise their lack of shelters and resources in an effort to deter people from going to those cities. This means that people are forced to seek shelter wherever available and is usually in violation of one of the city ordinances, like the no camping ban. During the winter months shelters are on a first-come, first-served basis, and people are often waiting for hours in the cold f
caption: Homeless man sleeping in 3° C (37°F) weather at the Colorado Supreme Court Building
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