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Boulder County reaching for solutions for homelessness

Hope Muñoz
Posted 1/29/25

BOULDER COUNTY - The first Boulder County town hall meeting of 2025 took place over Zoom last week. Boulder Board of County Commissioners discussed their plans to address homelessness this year. Included was a presentation from Heidi Grove, the...

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Boulder County reaching for solutions for homelessness

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BOULDER COUNTY - The first Boulder County town hall meeting of 2025 took place over Zoom last week.

The Boulder County Board of County Commissioners discussed their plans to address homelessness this year. Included was a presentation from Heidi Grove, the director of the new Division of Homeless Systems and Coordinated Response.

“We are new. Only four months old,” Grove said. “We’re a mighty team of three.”

Last fall, Boulder County announced that it would be creating the new division, which was then established in September. Since then, Grove and her team have worked to address the root causes of homelessness from a systemic approach.

To do so, the division has been working diligently on policy. See details at https://bouldercounty.gov/news/new-division-of-homeless-systems-and-coordinated-response/ 

According to the County’s website, the division oversees the response efforts of Homeless Solutions for Boulder County, a program meant to assist people in moving out of homelessness. The system follows the 2022 Federal “All In” Strategic Plan.

The plan is structured to lead with equity, improve the reactivity of homeless response systems, prevent homelessness, and keep up with housing demands. 

Many homeless individuals in Nederland and the Peak to Peak area get by as they camp in the mountains. Grove’s team will be meeting with the United States Forest Service to discuss working together on a federal level.

Grove said that Focus Reentry, a local nonprofit, has already connected individuals in the Nederland area to housing. 

Focus Reentry has a One Stop Shop Focus on Housing program that centers on breaking the cycle of homelessness and incarceration. It is difficult for the incarcerated to successfully re-enter society without having a stable place to live. Housing assessments help a variety of people, both those who are incarcerated and those outside of jail. 

“We have an outreach partner that goes up to Nederland and literally goes into the US Forest to connect with individuals who are camping,” Grove said in response to a chat from The Mountain-Ear

According to the USDA, forest law enforcement officers often encounter individuals who have been camping for more than two weeks, which is the general limit for camping.

Non-recreational long-term camping is a growing phenomenon in national forests and other public lands.

In a 2015 survey, 52% of Rocky Mountain Region officers said they encountered non-recreational campers at least once a week. 

Commissioner Ashley Stolzmann said that homelessness looks different across the region. But there are consistent root causes. 

“There are regional differences between activity that we’re seeing and solutions,” Stolzmann said. “We’re trying to coordinate not moving people around from place to place, but also address specific issues.”

Thus far, the Boulder County Homeless System has helped 1,594 individuals in exiting homelessness. In 2024, they helped 1,093 exits, and 66 so far this year. Referrals help people make positive moves, as they lead the target population in the right direction. In 2024, the system helped with 314 referrals. 

Going into the new year, Grove said her team plans to enhance their data collection and explore AI predictive analytics. She hopes that these analytics can help teams intervene before someone has a crisis. 

By the end of the meeting, Commissioners encouraged viewers to share their thoughts and questions going forward, as they value community feedback. They like to know whether their changes are being noticed in neighborhoods across the County. Spreading the word about the system and partnering with non-profits will increase the awareness and ability to help of our responsive, community-minded population.