Denver, CO
With contracts near expiration, Salvation Army's future with City of Denver's hotel shelters unclear
DENVER — Contracts allowing the Salvation Army to oversee two of the City of Denver’s hotel shelters are days away from expiration.
According to Denver City Councilwoman Shotel Lewis’ office, the current contracts for the former DoubleTree and Best Western Hotels along Quebec Street expire on March 31. It’s unclear if the city will renew the contracts with the Salvation Army or choose another service provider.
Lindsey Torres and her dog, Flynn, haven’t had an easy road.
“It’s been about a year almost,” said Torres, referring to her time living in city-owned shelters.
Now, she calls the former Best Western home.
“But sometimes I’d almost rather be outside,” admitted Torres.
Inside the hotel shelter is a lack of hot water, bugs and drug use, according to Torres.
“They do have roaches here. I was getting in the elevator and I could hear it walking on the wall,” said Torres.
There’s also a history of crime. Last week, the Denver Police Department arrested an employee accused of sexually assaulting a woman staying at the 4040 Quebec St. shelter. Last March, the former DoubleTree was the scene of a double homicide.
“You don’t want to have homicides happening within facilities in which we have stood up to house folks to get them off the streets,” said Councilwoman Shontel Lewis.
On Monday, Denver City Council rejected another nearly $3 million contract with the Salvation Army for homeless services.
“I would say my experience with the Salvation Army has been disappointing,” said Lewis.
- Hear from Councilwoman Shontel Lewis in the video player below
‘Deep and grave concerns about the Salvation Army’: Hear a Denver councilwoman’s passionate speech on homeless services
The councilwoman said it’s time to turn to community-based organizations for help.
“We have organizations that are providing food for hundreds of families on a weekly basis. We have community organizations that provide housing. We have community organizations that provide behavioral support. What they don’t have is the investment of the city,” said Lewis.
Denver7 took that idea to Amy Beck with Together Denver.
“Some of the people in the grassroots organizations already have connections with the folks here, already treat them with compassion and love and kindness, so it just makes sense,” said Beck.
But Beck said it all comes down to if the city wants to change course with its current plan.
“It comes down to if the mayor’s office wants to move in that direction because he’s already created this homelessness response and it’s not working,” said Beck.
We asked the Salvation Army about the possibility of losing the contracts. In a statement, a spokesperson said, “The Salvation Army is a proud partner of the city of Denver and would like to continue the Housing Now program together. If that’s not possible, we will continue the program with other funding for as long as it’s deemed possible
“We think we’re doing this work well. And we’re doing it from a place of deep care for our neighbors.”
If the contracts do expire, city officials said there are no plans to close the two shelters.
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A Frontier Airlines plane has hit and killed a person at Denver’s international airport, prompting the evacuation of passengers. Authorities say the man jumped a perimeter fence and ran in front of the plane as it was taking off to Los Angeles.
Published On 10 May 2026
Denver, CO
Pedestrian fatally hit by Frontier airplane departing Denver for Los Angeles, flight canceled after
Posted:
Updated:
DENVER (AP) — A Frontier Airlines plane hit a pedestrian on the runway of the Denver International Airport during takeoff, airport authorities said, sparking an engine fire and forcing passengers to evacuate.
The plane, on route from Denver to Los Angeles International Airport, “reported striking a pedestrian during takeoff at DEN at approximately 11:19 p.m. on Friday,” the airport’s official X account wrote.
Neither the airport nor the airline has disclosed the pedestrian’s condition.
“We’re stopping on the runway,” the pilot tells the control tower according to the site ATC.com. “We just hit somebody. We have an engine fire.”
The pilot tells the air traffic controller they have “231 souls” on board and that and “individual was walking across the runway.”
The air traffic controller responds that they are “rolling the trucks now” before the pilot tells the tower they “have smoke in the aircraft. We are going to evacuate on the runway.”
Frontier Airlines said in a statement flight 4345 was the one involved in the collision and that “smoke was reported in the cabin and the pilots aborted takeoff.” It was not clear whether the smoke was linked to the crash with the pedestrian.
“The Airbus A321 was carrying 224 passengers and seven crew members,” the airline said. “We are investigating this incident and gathering more information in coordination with the airport and other safety authorities.”
Passengers were then evacuated via slides and the emergency crew bused them to the terminal.
Denver Airport said the National Transportation Safety Board had been notified and that runway 17L, where the incident took place, will remain closed while an investigation is conducted.
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