[BoulderCouncilHotline] Critical Weather Hotline

[Firnhaber, Kurt]

Dear Hotline,

Wednesday, Jan. 5, and Thursday, Jan. 6 are forecasted to meet Critical Weather conditions. City, county and shelter staff have been meeting daily over the last week to address impacts of increased numbers of COVID cases with shelter clients and staff, impacts from the fire and weather conditions. Due to the recent Marshall Fire, hotel rooms have been at a premium as evacuees forced from their homes by the fire use them for shelter. As such, the hotel normally used for Critical Weather sheltering does not have available beds. The implementation team has worked with another area hotel to ensure that 20 additional rooms, combined with onsite management, food and client communication are readied for this response. The team is also balancing this operation with increased usage of the COVID-19 Recovery Center due to Omicron case spikes among our unhoused community and its housing of COVID-19 positive fire evacuees.

During periods of Critical Weather, the 90-night annual usage limit for people not participating in sheltering programs is waived. In addition, grace nights are extended. If someone is in need of sheltering, shelter intake occurs at 4869 Broadway St, Boulder, CO 80304 from 5 to 7 p.m. Due to safety concerns for shelter staff, the need to coordinate beds across multiple programs, and the impact to nightly operations, shelter intake cannot occur outside of this window.

As you know, at the beginning of the 2021-22 winter season, the City of Boulder and Boulder Shelter for the Homeless (BSH) agreed upon the following plan for inclement weather sheltering:

  *   All beds unused by people who are engaged in programming are made available to people seeking shelter every night throughout the year.
  *   The BSH facility currently accommodates 145 clients. In addition, 25 hotel rooms are available each night. In total, 170 beds are available each night. This is an increase of 10 beds over what had previously been planned for this winter season. An additional five rooms will be added during the month of March.
  *   Anyone experiencing homelessness who test positive for COVID-19 are transported to the COVID Recovery Center (CRC).
  *   On Critical Weather nights (nights where the temperature falls below 10°F or there is an expected six inches or more of snowfall), up to 20 additional pre-identified people are moved to a hotel for the duration of the critical weather. When the daytime conditions meet Critical Weather thresholds, the BSH facility remains open during the day for people who had stayed at the shelter the previous night. This approach is aligned with Public Health recommendations.
  *   Our current maximum sheltering capacity is 190 beds during this Critical Weather period, not including beds used at the CRC. The maximum number of people who have sought shelter on any night this year, including people turned away for capacity, has been 168.

With the many challenges our community has faced in the last week, including the increased spread of COVID-19 and a significant fire, I am encouraged by the daily efforts made by our staff and partners to maintain shelter capacity for those experiencing homelessness. As always, we will be monitoring the situation closely.

For more information about the city's approach to homelessness and available homelessness services, visit the city's website<https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbouldercolorado.gov%2Fguide%2Fhomelessness-boulder&data=04%7C01%7CFirnhaberK%40bouldercolorado.gov%7C76d96f5e35a64f3e258b08d9cfd5b2af%7C0a7f94bb40af4edcafad2c1af27bc0f3%7C0%7C0%7C637769339001815007%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=jiil%2F8dBrhlvlGzeCByo7rn7ONDv%2BPlKzquZ8Z29rYw%3D&reserved=0>.

In partnership,

Kurt


Kurt Firnhaber
Director of Housing and Human Services
[https://bouldercolorado.gov/links/fetch/41501]
O: # 303-441-4424
C: # 303-917-0914
FirnhaberK at bouldercolorado.gov<mailto:FirnhaberK at bouldercolorado.gov>
Department of Housing & Human Services
1300 Canyon Blvd  Boulder, CO 80302
Bouldercolorado.gov<https://www.bouldercolorado.gov/>








From: Firnhaber, Kurt <FirnhaberK at bouldercolorado.gov<mailto:FirnhaberK at bouldercolorado.gov>>
Sent: Tuesday, January 4, 2022 2:19 PM
To: Ebner, Vicki <EbnerV at bouldercolorado.gov<mailto:EbnerV at bouldercolorado.gov>>; Morse-Casillas, Lyndsy <Morse-CasillasL at bouldercolorado.gov<mailto:Morse-CasillasL at bouldercolorado.gov>>
Subject: RE: Critical Weather Hotline

I tried to shorten this to keep to just the information they needed this week.  You all should accept all the changes and then look at it again.  I would suggest adding the address of BSH and maybe a link to our web site that shows the various services.  Lets try to get out in the next hour.

Thanks!

Kurt

From: Ebner, Vicki <EbnerV at bouldercolorado.gov<mailto:EbnerV at bouldercolorado.gov>>
Sent: Tuesday, January 4, 2022 11:30 AM
To: Morse-Casillas, Lyndsy <Morse-CasillasL at bouldercolorado.gov<mailto:Morse-CasillasL at bouldercolorado.gov>>; Firnhaber, Kurt <FirnhaberK at bouldercolorado.gov<mailto:FirnhaberK at bouldercolorado.gov>>
Subject: Critical Weather Hotline

Here's a first draft ready for editing. I didn't add any of the beginning or ending niceties. Lyndsy, please let me know if you would like to discuss anything.

Vicki Ebner
Homelessness Policy Advisor
[cid:image001.png at 01D80183.E30B9400]
C: 303-518-6587
ebnerv at bouldercolorado.gov<mailto:ebnerv at bouldercolorado.gov>
PO Box 791, Boulder, CO 80302
Bouldercolorado.gov<https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fprotect-us.mimecast.com%2Fs%2FiKhvC0RDj3HGWPZ4S2A_ia%3Fdomain%3Dbouldercolorado.gov&data=04%7C01%7CFirnhaberK%40bouldercolorado.gov%7C76d96f5e35a64f3e258b08d9cfd5b2af%7C0a7f94bb40af4edcafad2c1af27bc0f3%7C0%7C0%7C637769339001815007%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=uZfSMoFbrt6s10e93nbcl0qrc1m71L%2BqkhyIcMrrRyM%3D&reserved=0>

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