CENTENNIAL, Colo. — A housing program in Arapahoe County that helped Coloradans rebuild their lives is shutting down this month, leaving participants with 11 days to find a new place to go.
Mental Health Colorado announced it’s ending its SAFER program due to a funding shortage. The program launched during the COVID-19 pandemic and provided wraparound support for people experiencing homelessness, addiction, mental health struggles, or recent incarceration.
“I have nothing, and I'm trying to just build a life,” said Steve Bhattacharyya, a participant in the program. “I'm healthy. I feel hopeful. I feel strong.”
Bhattacharyya had been in federal prison for nine years before arriving at SAFER in March. He said the program gave him structure, support, and space to reconnect with his family while staying sober. Now, he other residents have until July 18 to find a new place to live.
“Like the bottom of the world fell out,” Bhattacharyya said. “They gave us two and a half weeks' notice, and now we have to figure this out.”
SAFER’s model was simple but powerful: short-term housing paired with therapy, life skills, health care access, and peer support. According to Mental Health Colorado, only three out of 221 people served through the program have reoffended.
“Why would such a good program end?” asked resident Sarah Wright. “SAFER has been my family… and now that this has happened on such short notice, it ripped the rug right underneath my feet.”
Wright told Denver7 she escaped a domestic violence situation and was living in her car before being introduced to the SAFER program.
“My depression was so bad I didn’t want to exist,” she said. “This place is really our home, and I don't know what’s next, and that’s what’s scary.”
Wanda Morgan said the program helped her break an eight-year addiction to meth.
“I flushed an entire ounce of meth the day I got here,” Morgan said. “I haven’t touched it since. I’ve been clean for six months. It’s not just a shelter where you eat and sleep. It’s where you’re loved."
Vincent Atchity, Mental Health Colorado president and CEO, said the organization stepped in to operate the program during the pandemic but couldn’t sustain the $200,000 a month cost it would take to keep it going.
“We’ve been operating on a shoestring. We just don’t have the budget to continue without reliable funding.”
Atchity said his staff is working to connect every current resident with another housing option before the closure deadline. Still, residents say it won’t be easy to recreate what SAFER provided.
“Someone needs to step in,” Bhattacharyya said. “This program makes a difference.”
