Douglas County Homeless Initiative

BOCC Hearing Room, Conference Rooms A & B

Agenda — 10 items

1. 1 In - Person Attendees: Commissioner Abe Laydon, Allison Cutting, Alyssa DeJesus, Andrea Barnum, Caroline Frizell, Darren Weekly, Ellie Reynolds, Eric Coronis, Erin White, Greg Matthews, Jason Gray, Jason Johnson, Jeff Garcia, Kirsten Swanson, Laura Hefta, Luke Ward, Melody D’Haillecourt, Meredith Griffin, Rand Clark, Randy Combs, Ruby Richards, Sandy Holcomb, Stephanie Dorrell, Steven Dodrill, Sofia Vigil, Susan Combs Online Participants: 16 (list is available upon request)
2. 2. Metro Denver Homeless Initiative Strategic Plan: Sofia Vigil, Director, Strategy and Impact: MDHI’s vision is to lead and advance collaboration to end homelessness throughout the nine-county region. MDHI acts as the lead agency for the Continuum of Care (CoC) designated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). MDHI’s responsibilities include regional coordination, implementing the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) database, coordinating the Winter Point in Time counts, implementing the OneHome Coordinated Entry System (CES) for housing options, and the application for, dispersment of , and monitoring of HUD federal homeless funding. In 2020, MDHI partnered with Community Solutions to adopt the Built for Zero framework, strengthening regional coordination and advancing the goal of making homelessness rare, brief, and nonrecurring, also known as achieving functional zero. Multiple community engagement opportunities have been conducted to define regional goals or aims for functional zero. The update to these aims in the last year included knowing every person experiencing homelessness by name or achieving quality data, strengthening the efforts to continue to reduce Veteran homelessness across the region, and adding the population of families and single adults to the Built for Zero framework to achieve functional zero. The Douglas County goals are to reach quality data to achieve functional zero for families by the end of 2026 and to reach functional zero for all people experiencing homelessness by 2027. Jason Johnson, Executive Director: MDHI is revising their governance structure for the CoC and the organization for improved engagement across the region. The current board began to research CoC’s across the country and received grant funding from HUD Technical Assistance (TA) to help craft blueprints in accordance with CoC HUD requirements and regulations. The current MDHI board leads both the non-profit organization and the CoC. A consensus has been reached to have separate boards created for the non-profit MDHI and the Metro Denver CoC and to change the board from 13 to 19 members. Then new structure will have nine dedicated seats on the board for each sub region, two voting members with lived experience, and four voting members will be from other systems leaders. There will be four non-voting members of the board who will act as strategic advisors to the board and be the Chairs of Integrations and Strategy Committees. A change to the recruitment process will be accomplished by creating a new charter for the CoC and will come from the general members. The new board structure will be presented to CoC stakeholders, members, and partners on April 22, 2026, at the Metro Denver CoC Convening.
3. 1. Welcome & Introductions: Commissioner Laydon
4. 3. Winter Point in Time: Rand Clark, Assistant Director, Community Services: HEART conducted the Winter Point in Time (PIT) on January 26, 2026, in coordination with MDHI and the Metro Denver Region. The submitted results indicated that there were 45 people experiencing homelessness in Douglas County on this night. There were zero encampments. There were 23 individuals in shelter or transitional housing, 18 individuals were sleeping in their vehicles, and four individuals sleeping outside. HEART did not encounter anyone experiencing unsheltered homelessness on this night in all jurisdictions in Douglas County except for Castle Rock and Parker. However, Castle Rock and Parker did see a reduction in those experiencing homelessness compared to last year. The 2025 HEART Impact Report showed there were a total of 1,352 referrals made, 333 people served, and 3,241 services provided. The exit outcomes showed 24% exited to temporary housing, 18% exited to permanent housing, 23% exited to emergency shelter, 13% remained homeless but out of County, and 22% exited due to no contact.
5. 4. Communications Update: Caroline Frizzel, Director, Communications and Public Affairs: The objectives of the February HEART fund raising campaign were to raise funds, to build awareness of HEART and the Homeless Initiative, and to encourage campaign participation from both businesses and community members. The HEART campaign raised $200. The digital results showed that online newsroom received 154 views, emails received a 43% open rate, received 7,427 views from eight posts on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn, and received 2,470 impressions from two Nextdoor posts. There were over 150 posters delivered to businesses, recreation centers, and Town Halls throughout the County including Castle Rock, Highlands Ranch, and Parker.
6. 5. Executive Committee Member Updates: Dan Marlow, Executive Director, Help and Hope (Retired): Mr. Marlow said he wanted to thank the Committee for all the work that has been accomplished over the years and is very proud of our County. Eric Coronis, Executive Director, Help and Hope: Help and Hope’s 2025 Impact Statement showed that they distributed over $3,000,000 in assistance, provided 105 nights of temporary housing, provided a resources to meet the immediate food and clothing needs of those experiencing homelessness, provided $1,500,000 in rent and utility assistance, distributed one million pounds of food, and maintained the local thrift store “Treasures” which generated over $1,000,000 in sales. Help and Hope gives half of those proceeds away for additional assistance opportunities. Laura Hefta, Parker Councilmember: Parker Adventist Hospital would like to partner with HEART and the Homeless Initiative to help create an exit plan for those who need it. Parker is looking forward to partnering with Link on Demand starting in April. Jason Gray, Mayor, Castle Rock: Castle Rock Town Council approved partnership with Link on Demand at their last meeting. Thank you to the Committee, CRT, and Sheriff’s office for their efforts not only to help those experiencing homelessness but for their additional efforts to help prevent homelessness when called upon. Erin White, Executive Director, Manna Resource Center (MRC): A success story of a single mom who was experiencing homelessness and connected to the weekly coordinated services meeting. The family has two teenage children who were struggling to succeed in school, due to housing instability and IDD issues. The family toured GOALS, immediately moved in, and gained stabilization. Through the fall of 2025, the mom worked with coaches at MRC and the case managers at GOALS to set objectives for housing and employment. Through this collaboration the mom secured employment which provided enough income to obtain and sustain permanent housing. Commissioner Abe Laydon: To strengthen the continuum of services in Douglas County the County has contributed $3,400,000 to partner on the Crisis Stabilization Unit (CSU) for a pilot program for youth experiencing homelessness, mental health issues, and/or substance use disorder.
7. 6. HEART Update
8. 6. Public Comment: None
9. 7. Closing Comments: Commissioner Laydon
10. 9 The next meeting will be on May 14, 2026.