BOULDER, Colo. — Becoming homeless is oftentimes not a choice.
"I was in the Marine Corps for a minute, I worked at AT&T for 33 years," said Edward Eganhouse. "I just happened to be homeless and had nowhere to go."
In an effort to keep others just like Eganhouse off the streets, the City of Boulder launched its first strategy to address homelessness.
"When we started the strategy in 2017, we housed 25 people that first year. We've moved since then to housing and helping individuals exit homelessness by about 300 individuals per year. It's been a drastic increase," said Kurt Firnhaber, director of Housing and Human Services for the City of Boulder.
The results of the efforts so far were recently published in an update report, which you can explore below.
The city went from using 161 housing vouchers in 2016 to 3,539 in 2024.
"We've also realized that it's actually a difficult transition for many individuals to move from living outside to having their own place," Kirnhaber said.
The city then invested in supportive housing. The inventory of permanent supportive housing units grew 10 times over, from 41 units in 2016 to 469 units in 2024.
Eganhouse said he makes the most of the fresh start he received through subsidized housing.
"You got to put one foot forward and don't stop. You got to go," he said.
According to the city, for the last two years, there has been a reduction in the Point in Time Count: Since 2023, the Point in Time Count decreased by 18%.
City officials are clear: they could not have reached this point without serious investments in solutions.
"We were spending about $250,000 a year supporting homelessness as a city of Boulder. Now, we're spending about $10 million a year supporting the services and programs around homelessness," said Kirnhaber.
He recommends that communities start thinking about affordable housing the same way they do any other critical infrastructure.
"Communities have to start investing further in affordable housing. That's the only way we can actually address not just homelessness, but families who are at risk of becoming homeless," he said.
