To: Mayor Michael Hancock and Denver City Council Members

From: Colorado Village Collaborative & Partners

Subject: Beloved Community Village Denial & City Support for Tiny Home Villages
Date: 1 November 2018

Mayor Hancock and City Council,

We, the undersigned organizations, call on the City of Denver to first identify and
provide a city-owned host property for Beloved Community Village, second expedite a smooth
permitting process for Beloved Community Village and the proposed Women’s Village to ensure
both are open this winter, and finally we ask you to clear the pathway for scaling this effective
solution immediately. We believe this is a necessary and appropriate course of action following
the events of October 26, 2018 when the Colorado Village Collaborative was informed by Public
Works that there was no path to receive permits for the Beloved Community Village at the
proposed location at 3755 Ringsby Ct. on the Taxi Campus.
This denial came 6 months to the day after we first showed this property to the city, after
multiple meetings with all departments including Public Works, after significant design and
planning work was put in by our team and partners donating time from multiple firms,
widespread engagement with the surrounding community, and one week before we planned to
begin construction on a new community house that would significantly improve the quality of
life for residents of the village. It is unacceptable for the city to wait until the 11th hour to raise a
nonnegotiable project-ending issue. While we have great appreciation for the diligence and
contributions of many on city staff and the support of elected leaders, this oversight risks
displacing village residents from housing and returning them to homelessness. It also adds a
burden of wasted effort and inefficiency to a strategy of quickly and affordably addressing
Denver’s homelessness and housing crises. The city should be an ally, ensuring that more homes
were opened for this winter. Instead, they are currently the primary bottleneck to expanding tiny
home villages for people experiencing homelessness.
Public Works’ denial represents the second time in four months that a proposed tiny
home village for people experiencing homelessness has been denied by the city after a lease
agreement was in place with a private landowner and funding was secured from community
supporters. The first denial came on a proposed Women’s Village at St. Andrew’s Episcopal
Church during the Landmark Preservation Review process on July 10, 2018.
This denial comes as a growing number of people on Denver’s streets face the onset of
winter weather, and the city’s renewed commitment to sweeping camps where people survive
without providing viable alternatives. From service providers to the newly released shelter plan
from Denver’s Road Home, there is widespread agreement that both the current shelter
infrastructure is inadequate and that there is insufficient affordable and attainable housing stock.
We believe that stalling the expansion of tiny home villages runs counter to this administration’s
equity platform and expressed support for innovative solutions to homelessness. The time is now
for scaling solutions like Beloved Community Village. The village’s pilot phase has been a
well-documented success. BCV has proven that tiny home communities are a safe, timely, cost
effective solution that improve the lives of individuals experiencing homelessness and positively
impact their surrounding neighborhood contexts.
We once again call on the City of Denver to first identify and provide a city-owned host
property for Beloved Community Village, and second expedite a smooth permitting process for
Beloved Community Village and the proposed Women’s Village to ensure both open this winter.
Together, we can take proactive steps to provide safety, security, and stability with and for a
small number of our sisters and brothers who would otherwise be on the streets.
At the same time, we ask you to clear the pathway for scaling this safe, timely, cost
effective solution at once. Mass homelessness does not have to be a permanent feature of our
society, if we work together, we can create immediate solutions that impact the lives of the
human beings currently living on our city streets. We look forward to hearing from you very
soon.

Thank you,

Colorado Village Collaborative

The Interfaith Alliance of Colorado
Bayaud Enterprises
Zeppelin Development
Radian
The Denver Foundation
Barton Institute for Philanthropy and Social Enterprise
The Buck Foundation
Mile High Connects
Denver Homeless Out Loud
9to5 Colorado
RiNo Art District