Greeley's Fight to Address Growing Housing Crisis

A constant struggle to survive. A hustle to find the next meal. A scramble to find a place to sleep. As the cold weather of winter arrives, the daily fight of the homeless population becomes even tougher and grows more taxing on the body and the mind.

In Greeley, the homelessness crisis is a harsh reality. Homeless individuals walk the streets, bundled in clothes, holding signs asking for anything a passerby can spare. A variety of factors have contributed to the recent spike in homelessness. From an unstable economy, substance use, trauma or unforeseen medical expenses, there are countless reasons an individual or family could find themselves facing homelessness.

Mandy Shreve, director of Greeley’s Homeless Solutions department and Nancy J. Wiehagen, executive director of Greeley Family House, weighed in on the growing crisis and what the city and the people of Greeley can do to help.

“It’s more talked about and it’s growing. One of the main reasons is the affordability housing crisis,” Shreve said.

She explained that as housing prices continue to increase, wages fail to keep up, leading to large disparities that make it hard for housed individuals to stay housed and the unhoused to find housing, an issue that Wiehagen has also noticed.

“The big problem we're seeing is there's not enough money,” Wiehagen said. “There is not enough housing, and there's not enough money to fit the current need. The city got an amazing amount of money, but when you look at the number of people and what it costs to house a person, it's going to go really, really fast.”

Many people believe that homeless individuals and families are responsible for the situation they find themselves in, but the truth is that homelessness is a very real possibility for a large quantity of Americans.

“One in four Americans are living one paycheck away,” Wiehagen said regarding the risk of homelessness. “One in four are living their full paycheck every month. They're using every penny of it. So something goes wrong, and a lot of times, people don't have the money to fix the car, or they don't have the money if they were to be ill or laid off. They aren't preparing for a crisis like that. They live every day hoping they'll not have one.”

This habit among Americans and lack of proper savings leads many to experience temporary homelessness. Sometimes, it may not be clear that an individual is homeless at all.

“The program that I work with are the hidden homeless, and those are families who may be couch surfing,” Wiehagen said. “They may be in a motel. They may be living in a car. You don’t know their rules because they get up every morning, they get themselves dressed, they go off to work, and you wouldn’t even know it.”

As executive director of Greeley Family House, Wiehagen works tirelessly to help house and reintegrate temporarily homeless families into independent society. The Family House is a facility consisting of four townhomes, three of which are made up of four rooms. Families that are eligible for help can stay in a room at the House for up to 60 days, allowing them time to step back and reassess.

The next step for families is permanent supportive housing, in which the Greeley Family House helps transition families back into independent living through gradual rent payments.

“If they qualify for one of my grants, we put them in the house,” Wiehagen said. “We subsidize that income, but we work with them to go 30, 60, 90. So for instance, the first three months, we may pay 100% of the rent, and it’s just getting them comfortable in the house, teaching them how to budget, how to save money. The fourth month, they start paying 30% of the rent.”

By the end of one year, the family will be paying 100% of their rent, with the goal of the program being to teach them how to be independent once again and hopefully avoid becoming homeless again in the future.

The Greeley Family House targets families, but what about individuals facing long-term homelessness?

Greeley’s homeless solutions department focuses on these individuals, offering one-on-one case management to help get them back on track. This involves getting individuals involved in state-funded permanent supportive housing and keeping them on track through motivational interviewing.

“So really helping clients establish a budget, get connected, helping them if they’re trying to get a job, and just really encouraging them,” Shreve said.

One of the biggest areas of concern for the homeless population of Greeley is their health during harsh weather. Currently, there is not a year-long shelter offered to keep homeless individuals safe at all times of the year, but Greeley City Council is working toward making this a reality.

“It’s a big gap in the community and a resource that is desperately needed,” Shreve said. “It’s really hard on an individual that has had shelter that then has to return to living back on the streets. There’s a lot of trauma that goes with that.”

Residents have expressed concern that the city is not doing enough to alleviate the homelessness crisis, but both Wiehagen and Shreve say this could not be further from the truth.

“Considering the limited resources, we are doing amazing. We really are,” Wiehagen said with a smile.

“Greeley is, in some ways, leading the way on what a homeless response management system should look like,” Shreve said. “A tremendous amount of work has been done in the past few years and that’s because of the support of the council.”

For those looking to assist with the crisis, there are plenty of ways to get involved.

“The best way that Greeley residents can help is to donate to the charity of their choice.
Giving someone money on the street helps them for that moment in time, giving it to a
program helps that program reach out and maybe get them off the street,” Wiehagen said. 

Additionally, interested parties can volunteer for the Greeley Family House at www.greeleyfamilyhouse.org/how-you-can-help.

The homelessness crisis may always be an issue, but that does not mean that there are not people like Wiehagen and Shreve working their hardest to alleviate the troubles of those facing housing instability. In Greeley, there is always a helping hand waiting around the corner.