Fort Collins Rescue Mission breaks ground on $27.5M facility one month after fire shuts down shelter

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — One month after a fire forced the Fort Collins Rescue Mission to shut its doors, community leaders are celebrating a new beginning.

On Friday, shovels hit the dirt for the start of construction on the mission’s new Homeless Resolution Center, a $27.5 million facility that will more than double its capacity to serve people experiencing homelessness.

The August fire left the rescue mission’s building unusable and displaced 89 people. Denver7 covered the impact and launched a Denver7 Gives fund to help fill urgent needs. Viewers donated $1,000 worth of bed sheets, and Walmart stepped in with 50 sets of towels.

Fort Collins Rescue Mission

Now, the mission is looking to the future.

“You can say pretty accurately that we’ve needed a new building since we entered into the Fort Collins Rescue Mission 12 to 13 years ago,” said Seth Forwood, vice president of programs. “We need things to change. We need to impact homelessness in Northern Colorado, and this is the first step to do that today.”

The new Homeless Resolution Center will include 250 beds, a kitchen and dining room, and expanded case management designed to help people move from crisis to stability. Community leaders told Denver7 the new facility is more than just a shelter.

“From the very first step inside of this building, we are housing-focused,” Forwood said. “Ultimately, having people get into permanent housing of their own is the entire focus.”

Since the fire, the mission has been operating a temporary overflow shelter with help from the City of Fort Collins. Folks not able to take shelter at the mission are a presence that has been felt across the city.

“Our clients who would normally have a place to go and stay during the day are now unsheltered and in the streets, and so the number of incidents that we're being called to respond to has increased,” said Jonathan LaMare, executive director of Outreach Fort Collins. “We saw about a 50% increase in call volume in the last few weeks.”

Richard Butler

LaMare said the new center’s location in north Fort Collins will put resources closer to people who need them most.

“I hope clients that use this center will be welcomed by the community and treated with the empathy and the dignity they deserve,” he said.

Nearly all of the facility's $27.5 million cost has been raised through private donations. The Homeless Resolution Center is expected to open in late 2026.

Forwood said Friday’s groundbreaking is more than a construction milestone – it’s a turning point.

“We are impacting homelessness and actually reducing homelessness and actually making a mark on the community that will, I think, benefit the entire community,” Forwood said.

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