On Monday, July 18, Aurora’s new Homeless Day Resource Center (DRC) opened in the former gym on the Anschutz Campus. The DRC is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and offers a variety of services for people in need. Here is the link to the article in Westword about the DRC. Now, the Street Outreach Van Team can offer transport up to the new DRC and their wide range of services. (Pictured: Street Outreach Team staff at the DRC.) Early reports are that the DRC’s employment service center has been extremely busy! The address for the DRC is 13387 E 19th Place and their phone number is 303-343-7808.
To reach the Street Outreach Van Team, call Access Aurora 303-739-7000 and tell the operator that you are reporting a “homeless issue” that needs to be logged into “Public Stuff.” Public Stuff is the internal website that the Street Outreach Team can access to know where to go to attempt to help someone in need. (Please note that people do have the right to refuse transport and services.)
Aurora has published a new Homeless Resource Guide that anyone can print and share with people looking to be in need of some assistance. This new guide includes the DRC information.
We have received a few complaints from shoppers in the Havana District about aggressive panhandlers frightening them as they are getting in or out of their vehicles in the parking lots. The Gardens on Havana and Target do have security guards, but those guards cannot enforce the trespass ordinance–they are basically only monitors and can ask the panhandlers to leave the property. Only the police can issue trespass citations, but the police can only issue citations if the commercial property owners are compliant with the trespass ordinance signage and consent requirements.
We are working with our property managers in the Havana District and APD PAR officers to bring properties into compliance with the ordinance so police can issue trespass citations. In the meantime, if you are aggressively panhandled, please notify the business and you can also call the police at 303-627-3100.
Panhandling and begging are legal in Aurora unless…read more…Aurora’s Aggressive Begging Ordinance