Plans for permanent homeless shelter in Loveland scrapped, temporary shelter to close in April

LOVELAND — The City of Loveland has scrapped its plans for a permanent, long-term homeless shelter after the nonprofit chosen to operate the facility withdrew its application, leaving dozens of people without a place to go in a matter of weeks.

In a letter to the city on Jan. 23, the Interim CEO of the Boulder-based nonprofit Bridge House said after reviewing finances and plans for other facilities, the nonprofit's cost of operations is higher than expected. Interim CEO Dave Mauro said it's possible the nonprofit could revisit partnering on projects in the future, but is focused on the stability of existing operations right now.

MORE | Read the letter

Because of the nonprofit's withdrawal, the City of Loveland said it no longer plans to purchase a warehouse on the northwest side of the city, which would have served as the new permanent shelter.

Denver7 has been covering the city's plans for shelter since funding ran out for the city's temporary South Railroad Facility in September. That left Loveland with just one overnight shelter — the Loveland Resource Center (LRC). However, the center is closing its overnight shelter services on March 15 and permanently closing the center on April 30. The city said the center will still be used for overnight shelter through April 30 if there is severe weather.

Many people who are experiencing homelessness and who use services at the LRC said they feel pushed aside by its closure and the lack of a long-term plan for shelter.

Cesar Sabogal

"What am I going to do? To be continued," said Stanley Garabrandt, who has been using LRC services for a few years. "What are you going to do, put all of us out onto the street with nowhere to go? Nothing to do? Freeze to death?"

Melissa Ohman, who has been living on the street for the last two years, said while she believes the LRC should close because of unsanitary conditions, she was hoping the city would find a long-term housing solution.

Cesar Sabogal

"It's going to be a little difficult to try to figure out what to do," she said. "These are real people that need help. They shouldn't have to be removed from somewhere where they call home."

Denver7 took their concerns to Loveland Mayor Pat McFall, who was sworn into office in December 2025. When asked whether the city has a plan to provide any kind of long-term emergency shelter in the future, Mayor McFall said that is unknown.

Cesar Sabogal

"I know that we're working with nonprofits. We're working with the faith-based organizations to figure out how we can help those folks who are here. Right now, if another nonprofit comes up and wants to do something, I'll never shut something down. But right now, it's just not something we know about," said McFall.

He said the city is not capable of standing up a shelter by itself, and the LRC was never designed to be a permanent solution. McFall said city leaders worked to keep the center open through the winter to support people experiencing homelessness, but the cost of keeping the center open would be too much, including millions of dollars for renovations alone.

McFall said he was surprised when Bridge House decided to pull its application to operate the proposed shelter. He said the city only received two applications from potential operators— Bridge House and Krucial Rapid Response, Inc.

"It was tough enough for us to try and get their request for proposal out there," said McFall. "Bridge House was looking at doing this all themselves, with maybe some help from the city. With the building, the secondary one that came in really wanted 90% of the operational cost to be covered by the city, in and of itself."

McFall said he's looking at partnering with neighboring cities and communities to find a regional housing solution.

"I think the biggest thing is to get the cities to quit thinking within their borders and start thinking more as a region," he said. "It shows that regional solutions, when you combine your money, make a better effort than just everybody reaching into the pot trying to find out that one small piece and nobody coming up with a solution at all."

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