Over the past few years, community members have continually highlighted homelessness and affordable housing as two of the top concerns faced by our community. Both issues are intrinsically tied, felt nationally, and result from decades of failed social and economic policies. Disjointed health care systems, jobs that don’t pay a living wage, and threads of inequities disrupt our social connections and contribute to housing insecurity.

Despite this, Boulder is making progress locally in addressing single adult homelessness and increasing affordable housing. In 2017, the City of Boulder established a strategy to address homelessness, and in 2018, a coordinated regional goal was set by every city in Boulder County for at least 12% of all housing to be affordable by 2035. The City of Boulder took this even further by setting a 15% goal. Since then, significant progress has been made toward addressing these challenges.

Most notably, the city and our partners have helped 2,000 people exit homelessness since 2017. Additionally, over the last two years, we have seen a reduction in the number of individuals who are unsheltered and living outside. Counts of people living unsheltered show a more than 25% reduction in unsheltered homeless individuals in the city of Boulder during the summer, and winter counts in Boulder County tell us that unsheltered homelessness is down more than 20%. An expanded facility at Haven Ridge that supports LGBTQ+ and unhoused pregnant mothers; two new Ready to Work sites; the opening of Tribe, a residential substance use disorder treatment facility; an upcoming expansion of the Source, a shelter for youth; and the day services center, where many homelessness services are now provided in one location, have helped to increase our collective capacity. There has also been an increase in people benefitting from reserved beds at the All Roads shelter. These services and new housing developments that include supportive programs for formerly homeless community members have been — and are — essential to exiting people out of homelessness and keeping them housed.

We’re also making a difference in creating affordable housing that helps service workers, employees of small businesses and laborers live in the community where they work. Today, there are more than 4,000 affordable homes in Boulder and one out of 11 Boulder residents lives in an affordable home. Every community member living in affordable housing has a unique story — one of new beginnings and opportunities.

Despite these impressive numbers, this is not a rest-on-our-laurels story. While we are making progress in addressing single adult homelessness, we know that the number of individuals living unsheltered in our city remains a significant concern, both for their safety outdoors and for the impacts they can have on our community spaces. At the same time, more and more families are facing housing insecurity in Boulder and beyond. Families are balancing multiple jobs, health concerns, the high price of food and child care, the cost of the next car repair, and are struggling to make ends meet. Family homelessness is often invisible, and a different set of resources is required to address this growing need; families experiencing homelessness need a safety net and a community that supports them.

A critical component of this support system is the city’s nonprofit partners. These organizations are working hard to ensure a wide range of services are available to meet the needs of people facing housing insecurity and our diverse homeless population. We are lucky to have a strong network of nonprofits that focus on this important work, even as demand for food, housing and financial assistance increases. This continued need, along with residual impacts from the pandemic, often outpaces our partners’ ability to help.

With new county funding to support housing and supportive services on the horizon in 2025, we must work collaboratively and commit to creating more affordable housing, securing rental assistance and expanding services to support individuals experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity.

I am often asked, “What can I do help our community with housing and homelessness?” As people who care deeply about our community, we should dig deep to support the nonprofits that do this important work and help them continue to create affordable housing, keep families housed and provide supportive services for those in need.

Kurt Firnhaber is the director of Housing and Human Services for the City of Boulder.