NO STRINGS
Inside tiny home village where rent is free and there are no conditions to live there – but the neighbors aren’t happy
A neighbor said he'd visited the homeless encampment and was fearful
HOMELESS people are being helped off of the streets and into their very own rent-free homes in one US city.
But the move, part of a wider plan to combat vagrancy in Denver, Colorado, has sparked safety fears among those living next to what is the city's newest and largest micro-community.
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The fully fenced-off site, called La Paz, has the capacity for 60 individuals who are facing homelessness and also features two community rooms.
The tiny homes, which cost around $25,00 each, are fitted with a bed, floor heater, and desk.
Jose Salas, a spokesperson for the city of Denver, added that they also feature showers, bathrooms, a kitchen, and laundry, local ABC affiliate KMGH-TV reported.
Homeless people wanting to move into La Paz homes are not required to pay anything or pass a drug test beforehand.
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Neighbors of the site, which sits just off Santa Fe Boulevard and Evans Avenue, have expressed concerns about safety and lamented the lack of consultation.
Douglas Danger told KMGH-TV that La Paz neighbors had been treated like "third-class citizens" and accused the city of "dumping" the initiative "in our neighborhood."
He questioned what the city is "going to do" for those living next door.
While Danger said he had witnessed a lot of changes in the Overland neighborhood in the last three decades, the micro-city is something he and his fellow residents are struggling to accept.
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“There is no real plan for safety, and the city does not listen,” he told KMGH-TV.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston walked media through the village on March 11 ahead of its opening the following day, and called the homes "beautiful."
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The houses were built as part of the major's House1000 initiative, now called All In Mile High. On July 18, 2023 - Johnston's second day in office - he pledged to help 1,000 people experiencing homelessness get indoors.
Johnston told media that La Paz residents would not be questioned about their drug use and mental health before being offered homes as "it's very hard to receive those services if you're living in a tent every night and not sure if you’re going to freeze to death or get attacked in the middle of the night.”
The Colorado Village Collaborative will operate the site, which features multiple security cameras and 24-hour staffing.
The collaborative's CEO, Dede de Percin, said a no-drugs-and-alcohol policy will be in place, but noted it would not be operated on a "one strike you're out" basis, KMGH-TV reported.
Homeless people are expected to arrive at La Paz on March 12 and will be connected with services they may require, de Percin said, before adding, "All those services will be there from the get-go."
He noted with every neighborhood the initiative goes to it starts a "little stressful and then it chills out.”
Danger isn't convinced though, especially after recently visiting the homeless encampment due to be relocated to his neighborhood.
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“I went to that site, and I’ve never been more fearful in my life of anything. I openly saw three people shooting up. I watched a guy defecate right in the middle of the road," he said, according to the KMGH-TV report.
At $25,000 each, KMGH-TV noted the tiny-house initiative was much cheaper than the estimated $100,000 it costs the city per hotel room they are opening up to the homeless.