The distance between having a home and having no home is shorter than many people think. In Jefferson County, the path to homelessness often starts with a missed rent payment, a family conflict, or a job loss – common situations that, without the right support, can have a snowball effect.
“Life can be hard, even for people with all the resources that these people don’t have,” says Kory Kolar, housing navigator for the City of Wheat Ridge’s Homeless Navigation Program. “I can’t even imagine what it would be like to try to change a person’s life circumstances without any resources to start from.”
The latest Wheat Ridge homelessness numbers provided by the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative’s ‘Point in Time’ count, which takes place over a 24-hour period each January, show a sobering picture: 925 people experienced homelessness in Jefferson County in 2024, up from 854 the previous year. Of these 925, 556 were unsheltered. The inability to pay rent or mortgage was the main factor leading to homelessness, mentioned by 26% of respondents, followed by 24% coming from relationship problems or family breakups, 24% from eviction, and 23% from job loss.
“People are being priced out of places they’ve lived for a really long time,” says Maddy Horgan, homeless navigator for the City of Wheat Ridge’s Homeless Navigation Program. “Affordable housing is really difficult in the Denver metro area right now. Moving is just really expensive, and not a lot of people have $3,000 in their checking account.”
Of the local homeless population, nearly 70% have at least one disability, and about 30% are between the ages of 45 and 54. More than half are white, in line with the demographics of the area, but the data also showed major racial disparities, with Native Hawaiians or Pacific Islanders being overrepresented by a factor of eight. The program has also seen an increase in families experiencing homelessness – a trend confirmed by county-wide data.
To deal with these challenges, Jefferson County launched the homeless navigation program in 2020, with navigators working to connect the homeless with housing and services. The navigators help clients with everything from securing important documentation and applying for benefits to communicating with landlords and property managers.
“Even that process – just filling out applications and trying to use these websites – is hard for anyone to use, let alone someone who didn’t sleep at all last night and hasn’t eaten a decent meal in a long time,” Kolar says. “Without someone to help them and to bridge that gap, their experience would be almost impossible.”
Both Horgan and Kolar were drawn to their jobs after witnessing homelessness up close and realizing they could help. “When I moved to Denver, I lived close to downtown. It was tough,” Horgan recalls. “It was kind of like, why would I complain about it if I could probably work to make it better?” Kolar echoes this sentiment: “I don’t know that it goes much beyond wanting to help people who seemed to have the least help available to them,” he says.
The 2025 Point in Time count, conducted in January, won’t be available until this summer, but during this year’s count, the navigators saw an increase in visible nighttime homelessness compared to previous years. This observation, combined with increasing affordable housing challenges in the Denver area, suggests that homelessness in the region is likely to continue increasing.
However, Jefferson County organizations are working hard to change this trend. In Wheat Ridge, police officers carry cold weather supply bags with hand warmers, hats, gloves, and information about available services to hand out to the homeless. The city has also adopted a community court program in which people ticketed for homelessness-related offenses can opt for sentencing that connects them with services instead of imposing fines they would be unable to pay.
Homelessness resources in Wheat Ridge include the Jefferson Center for Mental Health, which provides mental health treatment, substance use programs, and job training, and Family Tree, which offers domestic violence services and housing support. Neighboring communities offer more resources, including RecoveryWorks and the Action Center in Lakewood, both offering day shelter services, the Mission at Arvada Rising, which provides shelter during severe weather, and Community Table in Arvada, which provides a food bank and support services.
For community members wanting to help the homeless, there are many opportunities in place to contribute time, goods, and money. For a detailed list of ways you can contribute, visit this page on the Wheat Ridge Homeless Navigation Program website: https://whatsupwheatridge.com/homeless-navigation/news_feed/resource-guide
