2.
2025 Vision & 2024 Year in Review:
Tiffany Marsitto, HEART Supervisor: HEART completed a total of 303 calls for service
for the month of December. Of those 303 calls, 61% were proactive street outreach by
HEART, 18% were dispatched by law enforcement, 11% were citizen calls, 5% were
public referral forms, and 5% were community partner calls. The call outcomes included
49 individuals contacted by HEART, 17 were not from Douglas County, 30 were not
homeless, 24 refused services, nine involved law enforcement action, 153 where no
unsheltered person was found, four were provided general information, and eight
unoccupied encampments identified. While 52 households received one or more services
for December, the highest categories of HEART program enrollments included: 12 nights
of hotel vouchers, 20 transportation assistance, eight referrals to housing support, and 13
were referred to a shelter of their choosing. During the month of December services
provided by location include Highlands Ranch 33%, Castle Rock 19%, Parker 15%, Lone
Tree 17%, Castle Pines 10%, Englewood 4%, Larkspur 1% and Other Douglas County
1%.
The 2024 HEART Impact report from January 2024 thru December 2024 includes
reaching functional zero for Veterans, the Summer Point in Time (PIT) count for
unsheltered individuals was six, 46% of individuals contacted by HEART last year wanted
to engage in services, 33% of participants that were engaged with HEART were housed or
sheltered, HEART conducted 1,344 proactive street outreach contacts, and 401
unduplicated people were served. The three highest services that were provided were case
management, hotel vouchers, and transportation. HEART is averaging 126 calls per
month on the HEART line. The 2024 accomplishments included a reduction of people
sleeping outside during the Summer PIT count. This number went from 43 to 6 since the
inception of the HEART. We encountered zero panhandlers and no encampments of more
than one person during the Summer PIT.
A 2024 success story comes from a family of 10 that HEART received a referral for in
August that had received an eviction. The family had children ranging from 18 to two.
HEART provided a limited number of hotel vouchers for the family while referring them
to the Douglas County Care Compact. Multiple non-profits, faith-based partners, and
community partners met monthly to ensure the family had support to obtain employment,
education, mental health resources, and shelter opportunities. The family was enrolled
into the Generational Opportunities to Achieve Long-term Success (GOALS) program last
month and are doing well in the program.
The vision for 2025 includes improving data tracking for parking lots and vehicle
camping, increasing business engagement for filed trespass letters, posted signs, and
creating a spreadsheet for business contacts.
Lastly, the Winter 2024 PIT count showed 37 individuals that were sheltered, nine
individuals were sleeping outside, and 34 individuals were sleeping in their vehicles. The
upcoming Winter PIT is scheduled for January 27, 2025. Five HEART Teams will be
conducting the count along with the Metro Denver region, our local non-profits and
community partners. Strive to Thrive will be on January 28th.
Functional Zero for Veterans & Families:
Rand Clark, Community Services Manager: A culmination of years of hard work resulted
in the County receiving the classification of Functional Zero on Veterans Day, November
11, 2024. Multiple organizations including County staff, Metro Denver Homeless Initiative
(MDHI), the VA, and community partners met monthly to conduct case conferencing to
