'We have nowhere to go': Denver encampment sweep starts at 8th and Navajo
DENVER (KDVR) — A massive homeless encampment at 8th Avenue and Navajo Street is now in the cleanup and move-out phase after both Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and neighbors in the area said it posed health and safety risks.
Denver police, along with several city workers, showed up early Tuesday to move those living in the encampment that lined both sides of 8th Avenue and under the overpass. Fences were put up and items, along with people, were moved out.
The individuals at the encampment were not given any options to relocate to a micro-community or hotel like other sweeps in the past have offered. FOX31 was on scene and spoke with some of the individuals being moved who said they would have liked the option for help.
Neighbors living in homes near the encampment are worried since there is nowhere for the individuals to go, meaning they will just move into alleyways or other spots around the neighborhood.
FOX31 reached out to the mayor’s office about why the city will not provide alternate housing and received the following statement.
As part of the All In Mile High initiative, we are focused on closing camps through housing. In cases of public health, public safety, right of way, or private property infringement some camps will need to be cleaned up without direct access to housing. Although we have worked with an intention of resolving this encampment to housing for several weeks, this encampment faces a great deal of challenges related to public health and safety and has imposed a significant burden on the surrounding community.
Given these challenges and limited space within our All In Mile High system to accommodate this number of individuals, we have made the difficult decision to post the camp for cleanup. This is the first time the administration will post and encampment closure without housing resolution in 6 months, and something we plan to avoid in the future.”
Joe Salas, Denver Mayor's Office
According to the All in Mile High dashboard, as of Monday, 1,473 people have moved indoors.