Public invited to homelessness expo Thursday night in Colorado Springs
For people who wanted to see what’s being done to address homelessness in Colorado Springs and learn how they can help, an event in that regard was held Thursday night.
The event was called Addressing Homelessness: A Community Call to Action and was held from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. at the City Auditorium downtown.
The city, Pikes Peak Community Health Partnership, Pikes Peak Continuum of Care and the Council of Neighborhood Organizations hosted the event.
The event offered concerned residents the opportunity to learn what’s being done to address homelessness, familiarize themselves with local service providers working in the area and find opportunities to volunteer, donate or engage with those organizations.
“I think a wonderful result from the event would be to get more volunteers involved,” said Andrew Phelps, the city’s homelessness prevention and response coordinator. “But we need more of everything. We need more volunteers and donations.”
More than 100 people attended the expo, which featured 25 service providers.
One of them is the Council of Neighbors and Organizations.
“We’re hearing more concerns from neighborhoods about homelessness,” said CONO spokesman Max Cupp. “Some think the service agencies aren’t doing enough or are enabling the homeless. But the fact is we have a lot of good things being done, along with the city’s homelessness action plan, that are reducing the problem.”
However, Cynthia Ryal — who said she’s been homeless since her father died six years ago — believes more action is needed.
“We’re not getting help the way we need it,” she said. “It seems like every time we turn around, the mayor’s doing something else. Not everybody can go to the shelter. Not everybody’s a drug addict. Not everybody’s an alcoholic, and not everybody is so mental they can’t function.”
Organizers said campaigns, such as the current effort to discourage panhandling, may not show tangible results yet but are raising awareness about homelessness among the public.
“We’ll continue to enforce laws and shut down homeless camps, but we’ll also keep working to provide affordable housing and do other things to help the homeless,” Phelps said.
