SOUTHERN COLORADO – Denver is making some pretty big concessions for its homeless population including paying out thousands of dollars to a group of homeless who sued over camp cleanups.
News 5 is looking into how this situation could impact southern Colorado.
As of Thursday, there’s no clear answer from local leaders on how this kind of incident could affect Colorado Springs and Pueblo, and in regards to how they feel about the settlement Denver made it’s a bit of a mixed bag.
Travis Williams, chief development officer of Springs Rescue Mission, said there’s no one size fits all approach and that every city has to look at what it needs to be doing.
Williams said, “I don’t have an opinion on whether it was the right thing or the most reasonable thing, but I do think we all have to come together around this issue of homelessness.”
Kathy Cline, executive director of the Pueblo Rescue Mission, said the more people can to do to help the homeless start helping themselves is good. However, she doesn’t believe giving them a settlement like the one awarded in Denver is going to solve anything and that it sets a bad precedent.
We are waiting for more information from city leaders in Pueblo and Colorado Springs on their stance. We’ll keep you updated.
