Connect with us

Denver, CO

Denver homeless shelter to close in January 2026, be rebuilt as affordable housing

Published

on

Denver homeless shelter to close in January 2026, be rebuilt as affordable housing


DENVER — A Denver shelter that serves people experiencing homelessness is set to close and be rebuilt as affordable housing, leaving current residents worried about where they will go.

The Park Avenue Inn shelter initially opened as part of the City of Denver’s COVID-19 homelessness emergency response, with the goal of putting affordable housing on the property eventually. Since then, it’s come to serve dozens as a non-congregate shelter and unofficial transitional housing.

“It’s served as a pathway to people to get other housing options,” said Cathy Alderman, chief communications and public policy officer for the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, which owns the property. “Sometimes that takes a little longer because we’re in a really high-cost housing market here in Denver, and there’s not a lot of housing resources to move people into.”

Denver7 reporter Danielle Kreutter spent some time Monday afternoon listening to residents at Park Ave Inn.

Advertisement

“We were both homeless together for a few years now,” Aaron Dawson said about him and his wife, Michelle Pasco.

A few months ago, they were told the shelter would be closing in January 2026. It’s set to be demolished to make way for an affordable housing project.

“It’s like dire straits around here right now,” Dawson said.

“We’re just hoping to get housed,” Pasco added.

Denver7

Advertisement
Pictured: Denver7’s Danielle Kreutter speaking with Aaron Dawson and his wife, Michelle Pasco

Of the 36 residents currently staying at Park Avenue Inn, six have found other housing. Several others have been referred to Renewal Village, another property owned by Colorado Coalition for the Homeless. The single-occupancy studio apartments are in what used to be a hotel near West 48th Avenue and Bannock Street in Denver.

“There’s like 25 people still here that don’t know what they’re doing,” Dawson said. “Some of them never got offered Renewal Village, even.”

CCH acknowledged that some Park Avenue Inn residents may not have been offered housing at Renewal Village due to new tenant eligibility requirements.

“Renewal Village has certain referral pathways that we are obligated to, in terms of accepting people from certain programs or who’ve gone through certain assessments,” Alderman explained. “We will move some people from Park Avenue Inn into Renewal Village, but not everybody. But we will work with everybody at Park Avenue Inn to make sure that they have a safe place to exit to.”

CCH said it is optimistic that it will be able to place the rest of the residents into housing before the shelter closes.

Advertisement

“I think we have more time than we’ve seen with some shutdowns of spaces before,” Alderman said.

Cathy Alderman

Denver7

Pictured: Denver7’s Danielle Kreutter speaking with Cathy Alderman, chief communications and public policy officer for the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless

Park Avenue Inn is set to close in January 2026, around when the City of Denver plans to close a large homeless shelter and a tiny home community.

Alderman called the timing an unfortunate coincidence, as the plan was to always transform the property into affordable housing.

“I think we’re always concerned when we lose resources in the homelessness response system because we know that we have a growing population of people experiencing homelessness, and we need more, not less, resources,” Alderman said. “But I think from our perspective, we also need more housing, and so this is really a critical step for us to provide that lasting solution.”

Advertisement

CCH has stopped referring people to Park Avenue Inn in order to minimize the impact of the closure.

The building will be demolished in January or February 2026.

“We’ll be breaking ground sometime next year on our first 60 units of affordable housing,” Alderman explained. “Some of those units will be supportive housing, and then probably a year or two after that, we’ll be able to break ground on our second phase, which could bring up to 160 potential new units of housing to the city of Denver, which is so needed and is the long-term solution to homelessness.”

Residents told Denver7 they hope their neighbors find a safe place to land.

“You don’t just pop this on them real quick and say, ‘Oh by the way, you have 120 days to figure out your whole entire rest of your life,’” said Dawson.

Advertisement

DANIELLE CALL TO ACTION.jpg

Denver7 | Your Voice: Get in touch with Danielle Kreutter

Denver7’s Danielle Kreutter covers stories that have an impact in all of Colorado’s communities, but specializes in reporting on affordable housing and issues surrounding the unhoused community. If you’d like to get in touch with Danielle, fill out the form below to send her an email.





Source link

Denver, CO

Parker Gabriel’s 7 Thoughts after Broncos capture No. 1 seed, including Bo Nix barking at Sean Payton, then looking inward

Published

on

Parker Gabriel’s 7 Thoughts after Broncos capture No. 1 seed, including Bo Nix barking at Sean Payton, then looking inward


The Broncos are in prime position.

They didn’t wow many people Sunday, but they controlled a 19-3 win against the Los Angeles Chargers from start to finish and in the process secured the AFC’s No. 1 seed, a first-round playoff bye and homefield advantage as long as they’re in the tournament.

They are two home wins away from playing in Super Bowl 60.

Head coach Sean Payton after the game did as much shrugging off of an offensive o-fer in scoring position as he’ll ever do.

Advertisement

Players were business-like, but they can feel the inbound rest already.

As they arrived home Sunday night, there are 14 teams still playing in the NFL.

By the time they next take the field, that number will be eight.

Now the fun really begins.

Here are 7 Thoughts following Denver’s dominant defensive performance and a remarkable 14-3 regular season.

Advertisement

1. Bo Nix asked Sean Payton for more urgency early in Sunday’s game. Afterward, he said he should have provided it himself.

Broncos quarterback Bo Nix looked to the sideline.

Early in the second quarter, Denver’s trudging offense finally found a bit of a spark.

Tyler Badie had just taken a third-and-13 swing pass for 16 yards and a first down.





Source link

Continue Reading

Denver, CO

Broncos clinch AFC’s No. 1 seed, home-field advantage throughout AFC playoffs

Published

on

Broncos clinch AFC’s No. 1 seed, home-field advantage throughout AFC playoffs


DENVER — The Broncos have checked off their second goal of the season.

Denver officially clinched the AFC’s No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs with Sunday’s 19-3 win over the Los Angeles Chargers.

As the top seed, the Broncos will receive a first-round bye in the 2025 playoffs and will host their first playoff game of the year in the Divisional Round on Saturday, Jan. 17 or Sunday, Jan. 18 at Empower Field at Mile High.

The Broncos, the lone team in the AFC to receive a first-round bye, will host the lowest remaining seed in the AFC playoff field in the Divisional Round. Denver’s possible opponents for its playoff opener include the Texans, Bills, Chargers and the yet-to-be-determined winner of the AFC North. If the Broncos earn a win in the Divisional Round, they would also host the AFC Championship Game.

Advertisement

Denver finished the 2025 regular season with a 14-3 mark, which is tied for the most regular-season wins in franchise history. The Broncos earned the No. 1 seed over the Patriots (14-3) due to a better record in games against common opponents.

The Broncos are the No. 1 seed in the AFC for the first time since 2015, when they went on to win Super Bowl 50. Denver has earned the No. 1 seed for an AFC-best ninth time, and two of the Broncos’ three Super Bowl titles have come after earning the No. 1 seed. The Broncos advanced to the Super Bowl in six of the eight previous seasons in which Denver earned the top seed in the conference.

Broncos Head Coach Sean Payton has now led teams to the No. 1 seed on three occasions in his career, and he is one of five coaches to lead two different organizations to a No. 1 seed.

Bo Nix, meanwhile, became the fourth quarterback in franchise history to lead the organization to a No. 1 seed — joining Ring of Famers John Elway, Peyton Manning and Craig Morton.

Learn more about playoff tickets and suites by visiting DenverBroncos.com/Tickets

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Denver, CO

Grading The Week: From Bo Nix’s dog days to Mackenzie Blackwood and Nikola Jokic, Denver sports’ 2026 off to rocky start

Published

on

Grading The Week: From Bo Nix’s dog days to Mackenzie Blackwood and Nikola Jokic, Denver sports’ 2026 off to rocky start


The Lumberyard is breaking boards already?

The Colorado Avalanche is becoming the Colorado Ambulanche. The Nuggets’ center options went from Nikola Jokic and Jonas Valanciunas to the 1-2 punch of DeRon Holmes II and Zeke Nnaji.

Hang on. Hang on. Wasn’t 2026 supposed to be “Denver’s Year?”

At least, that’s what the Grading The Week (GTW) crew told each other at the annual holiday soiree a fortnight ago, just before we sent everybody home for Christmas.

Advertisement

Well after the last eight days or so, Team GTW thinks it might be wise now for the Broncos to double Bo Nix’s security. (Just don’t bring any guard dogs.)

Because if it wasn’t for bad luck, to paraphrase the late, great bluesman Albert King, Front Range sports fans wouldn’t have no luck at all.

Blackwood to the IR — D.

This past Friday, the Avs took a break from wiping the ice with the rest of the NHL to place goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood, the younger half of its “Lumberyard” pairing of netminders, on injured reserve with a lower body injury.

You want lousy timing? Blackwood’s absence piles it on with several layers of awful.

For one, the Thunder Bay native finished December on a heater — posting an 8-1-0 record, a 2.13 Goals Against Average and a save rate of 92.3%.

Advertisement

For another, Colorado is in the teeth of one of the tougher road trips of the season, with visits to division leading Carolina on tap for Saturday, followed by a matinee Sunday at Florida to cap off a night game-into-day-game back-to-back, capped off by a Tuesday evening visit to Tampa Bay.

For yet another, Blackwood only faced 13 shots on New Year’s Eve, his last start, during a 6-1 Avs win over St. Louis at Ball Arena.

Scott Wedgewood (17-1-4, 2.13 GAA, .919 save percentage as of early Saturday) has been more than good enough to shoulder the load in net, granted. But you also don’t want to overload a 33-year-old goalie who’s having a career year in his eighth full season in the NHL. Wedgewood, largely a “1B” netminder since ’15-16, had already logged 24 starts this season going into the weekend. His career high for starts is 32 and his season average has been 20 per year. Depending on the severity of Blackwood’s injury, Wedgewood, at least in the short term, is going to have to ramp up the quantity to match his quality.

In isolation, it’s a lousy way to open 2026. Add in the freak knee injury Nuggets icon Jokic suffered this past Monday night in Miami and Valanciunas’ calf strain two days later in Toronto, you wonder what Denverites did to anger the sporting gods. Or if we’re getting payback for October-December being so absolutely glorious ’round these parts.

Regardless, let’s put a pin in those multiple-championship-parades-in-one-year plans — at least until Nix and the Broncos get to Santa Clara next month in one piece.

Advertisement

CSU women’s hoops rolling — A.

May whatever karma that’s haunting Ball Arena spare the good folks up in FoCo. The CSU Rams’ women’s basketball team finished the December part of its ’25-26 slate with a flourish on Dec. 31, stomping Grand Canyon in Phoenix 61-47 and improving to 12-2 overall, 3-0 in Mountain West play. CSU has won 12 straight away games dating back to last season. The Rams get a two-game homestand against Fresno State (Saturday) and New Mexico (Wednesday) before returning to the road on Jan. 10 (at Boise State) and Jan. 14 (at Air Force).



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending