West
Blue state county bucks trend on handouts – and homeless population craters
Due south of Denver’s homelessness crisis, a Colorado county has nearly eradicated its own unhoused population with a simple message to its citizens: “Handouts Don’t Help.”
Throughout Douglas County, there are about 70 signs with the message at intersections and roadways that were once popular hangouts for area panhandlers. Each sign directs citizens to DouglasHasHeart.org, where they can redirect their donations to the Douglas County Community Foundation. The county took to print media and advertisements online to spread the message through the community.
“The thought dawned on me from a common sense standpoint – I saw a lot of people like my daughter feeling conflicted at an intersection,” Republican Douglas County Commissioner Abe Laydon said of the initiative.
“If you see someone who appears to be down on their luck, it feels bad when you drive by and don’t do something – but the flip side is we all know the stories of those who maybe did not use all the funds they received in the most appropriate way. Maybe it’s going to food, maybe it’s going to drugs – you don’t know where the money is going.”
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Douglas County Commissioner Abe Laydon, surrounded my members of the Homeless Engagement, Assistance Resource Team, holds one of many “Handouts Don’t Help” signs displayed around the county. (Provided by Abe Laydon)
“It seems like the more you give at those particular corners, the more people it attracts. It becomes a conversation topic on the streets – if you go to this corner, you’ll get money there,” he continued.
Now, Laydon said, intersections and street corners where the homeless once loitered are clear.
Between 2022 and 2024, Douglas County saw a steep drop-off in people living on its streets, from 43 individuals to just six, according to their most recent point-in-time count report conducted by several nonprofits. Including those sleeping in their cars and in area shelters, numbers decreased from 96 total homeless people to 69, per the count.
On that day, July 29, there were no panhandlers or encampments spotted throughout the county’s five jurisdictions.
Based on its own point-in-time counts, which include those housed in shelters and on the streets, Denver counted 9,065 homeless individuals in 2023, up from 6,884 counted in 2022.
“I saw it coming from Denver – people would get off the light rail, not pay for a ticket, get off at Long Tree,” Laydon said. “Next thing you know they’re asking for money on a corner.”
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A homeless encampment in Denver on Aug. 23, 2023. (Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)
Laydon said he first conceived of the “Handouts Don’t Help” concept when he was volunteering in the town of Lone Tree with his son and encountered a homeless encampment at the intersection of Lincoln and I-25 “littered with liquor bottles and drug paraphernalia.”
“It was kind of everywhere, but never as bad as downtown Denver – we started at a good place,” Laydon said. “[Our smaller homeless population] gave us the opportunity to nip this problem in the bud before it became really pervasive.”
Laydon said Douglas County’s Homeless Engagement, Assistance and Resource Team – which pairs behavioral health experts with area police officers in their interactions with the homeless – made 250 contacts with the homeless population when the initiative first started in 2022.
In five branded vehicles, the HEART Team approaches each homeless individual reported, offering them services to get back on their feet.
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Pictured is one of Douglas County’s signs redirecting citizen’s donations from panhandlers to the county fund. (Douglas County, Colorado)
“If people need services, they’re getting them. They’re getting hotel vouchers, we’re partnering with Ready to Work,” Laydon said. “If somebody needs a job, they will get one. If they need a bus ticket back to their family in Tennessee, we’ve done that. If someone needs food for a night or a week, they’ll get it.”
If the homeless refuse help, HEART team navigator Tiffany Marsitto said, their team keeps trying.
“I had an individual who was service resistant in the beginning during our first couple of interactions. He was going through a mental health crisis. [Four months later], when he was ready to reengage with our team we were there for him. We helped him fill out an application for a housing opportunity in the Metro region,” Marsitto said.
“People may not be ready today but could be ready in the future,” she said. “They see our face, they know that we’re there and they know that our team cares. They know that our community cares about them, us continuing to engage with these folks goes a long way.”
Moreover, camping is illegal in Douglas County – the HEART Team said they don’t often issue tickets, but instead use this to encourage their contacts to check into area homeless shelters.
“Our goal is compliance, to use the ordinance to get the unhoused individuals to find a better solution,” HEART team navigator Rand Clark explained. “Very rarely does someone want to intentionally break the law. We’ve been able to use that tool from a positive perspective, to say that our county ordinance is that you maybe can’t sleep here, so how can we help you find a shelter in a place where you want to be and are not breaking the law.”
However, Laydon said, “illegal activity is illegal activity, whoever you are.”
“If you are urinating, defecating outside, doing drug deals in our light rail system, it doesn’t matter if you have a home or not – you’re going to get arrested,” he told Fox News Digital.
Thus far, the Douglas County Community Fund has received $11,000 in donations, many from citizens who saw their signage. The Douglas County Homeless Initiative, which includes HEART, was funded with federal American Rescue Plan funds rather than tax dollars.
The “Handouts Don’t Help” initiative, Laydon said, could “be done everywhere from main street to Wall Street.”
“It is a behavior change that is systemic that could stem the tide of homelessness in every community throughout the country,” he said.
When asked whether such an approach could curb homeless populations in Denver, Colorado Coalition for the Homeless chief communications and public policy officer Cathy Alderman was less hopeful about the prospect.
“We applaud any jurisdiction working to address homelessness, but as they do not provide shelter or robust services, and we know they are bussing people to other cities and counties for help, it’s hard to believe that being unwelcoming to people experiencing homelessness is a true solution to the problem,” she wrote via email.
“Regrettably Ms. Alderman and the homeless industrial complex she is being paid by receive over $115 million a year of the people’s money while seeing a 31% increase in people experiencing homelessness according to the most recent point in time,” Laydon responded in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“Unfortunately we are accustomed to hearing negative rhetoric from those who choose to misrepresent Douglas County’s model of success via HEART and the tangible differences we are making in the lives of those we serve. Not only do we provide wraparound services and case management to 100% of the unhoused individuals we work with through local hotel vouchers, our mental health initiative, our opioid abatement council, and nonprofit partners, but we have
developed a regional approach that works and can be easily replicated at a fraction of the cost.”
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The Denver Broncos’ 2026 schedule has arrived, with nine games on the road and eight games set for Empower Field at Mile High this season.
The Broncos are set to travel 19,129 miles this year, which ranks 15th in the NFL, according to Bill Speros of Bookies.com. Denver does not have an international game this year, which helped them rank near the middle of the pack in travel. Last season, the Broncos played in London and logged 23,267 travel miles, seventh-most in the league.
Elsewhere in the AFC West, the Los Angeles Chargers will travel 24,816 miles (seventh-most), the Las Vegas Raiders will trek 21,099 miles (13th-most) and the Kansas City Chiefs will log 18,401 miles (17th-most) in 2026.
The San Francisco 49ers (38,105) and Los Angeles Rams (34,847) are set to face off in Australia, giving them by far the most travel miles in the league. The Carolina Panthers (8,740) will have the easiest travel schedule this season.
Social: Follow Broncos Wire on Facebook and Twitter/X! Did you know: These 25 celebrities are Broncos fans.
SEATTLE – After making one turn through a six-man rotation following the return of Bryce Miller, the Seattle Mariners are making a tweak for the next time through.
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Manager Dan Wilson said Friday the plan is for the club to piggyback Miller and fellow right-hander Luis Castillo during the next turn. The M’s have yet to decide which of the two will start.
“That’s the approach we’re going to take and we’re ready to roll,” Wilson said. “I think our guys are in a good spot in terms of getting an extra day here, and I think that’s gonna come up huge for some of these guys.”
Miller, who started the season on the injured list with a left oblique strain, made his season debut Wednesday night in Houston, tossing 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball on 81 pitches. Castillo pitched Thursday’s series finale against the Astros, allowing three runs on four hits and three walks while striking out six over 5 2/3 innings.
The pair is lined up to pitch Tuesday’s home game against the Chicago White Sox. Miller will have had five days of rest, while Castillo will have had the typical four.
Wilson said both players have been accepting of the decision.
“I think they were definitely in a good spot with it and understand it,” Wilson said. “And I think these guys, as we’ve talked about, these guys in this clubhouse, all of them want to do what’s best for the team. And these guys have really taken to that and they’re ready to go.”
Wilson acknowledged that a piggyback situation could get complicated by game flow and situations, but pointed to the potential benefit it could have in giving the bullpen a night off. Either way, it’s a situation that will be evolving for the club as they go.
“This is something that we haven’t done before, so it’s going to be a lot of waiting and seeing and understanding and assessing and making our adjustments as we go,” he said. “But in theory, you can lay it out, and you just don’t know how it’s actually going to play out. So we have to be open to different ways to proceeding, but we’ll take a look at it when we get there.”
The Mariners’ decision to go to a six-man rotation then a piggyback situation with Castillo and Miller come after widespread speculation about what the club’s plans would be when Miller returned from the IL.
When the season started, the assumption was right-hander Emerson Hancock would once again find himself as the odd man out when Miller returned. However, Hancock, a first-round pick at No. 6 overall in the 2020 draft, has earned himself a spot in the rotation during a breakout start to his season. In nine starts this year, he has a 3-2 record, 3.02 ERA and 56 strikeouts to 10 walks over 53 2/3 innings.
Castillo’s spot in the rotation started to come into question after the veteran started to struggle following a strong first start of the season. In seven starts from April 5-May 9, Castillo posted a 7.79 ERA over 32 1/3 innings and batters hit .329 against him. But his most recent start against Houston marked a step forward for the three-time All-Star and highest-paid pitcher on the Mariners’ roster.
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