DENVER — Denver City Council unanimously approved a $1.5 million contract Monday to offer temporary housing for migrant families, according to a news release Monday from Mayor Mike Johnston's office.
The one-year lease agreement will make approximately 30 rooms available immediately at the Archdiocese of Denver's Mullen Home. More rooms may open later.
Families are expected to find permanent housing within 90 days, according to the mayor's news release.
The city is working with community-based organizations and providers to manage the site and offer critical services and support to tenants.
"Although plans to restore and reinvigorate the property for senior housing are being developed and scheduled to begin within the next two years, the immediate, desperate, short-term needs of migrants in Denver require us to act," Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila said in Monday's news release.
114 migrants arrived in Denver Monday, according to the city's dashboard, bringing the total number of migrants served to 32, 465 since January of 2023.
“It was over a year ago I was contacted by Little Sisters of the Poor to discuss the next iteration of the property. As the migrant crisis intensified, thoughts of utilizing the site for the new families arriving in Denver became necessary and vital," Denver City Council President Pro-Tem Amanda Sandoval said in Monday's news release.
Many migrants, including families, are living on the streets of Denver after reaching the stay limit at city shelters, Denver7's Kristian Lopez previously reported.
Last month, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, along with the mayors of Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and New York, sent a letter to President Joe Biden asking for federal help to manage the surge of migrants that are arriving. The mayors also asked the president for an accelerated work authorization approval process so migrants can find work.
The city council decision on the partnership with the Archdiocese of Denver came on the same day that members also approved a plan to purchase an Embassy Suites in southeast Denver and convert the 205-room hotel into a shelter for unhoused families.
This is all part of the mayor's House1000 initiative to try and reduce the number of unhoused people in Denver.
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