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Week of April 27, 2023
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DENVER, COLORADO
A publication of
VOLUME 96 | ISSUE 23
Mostly — but not fully — compliant
Chance Sports levels the playing field New nonprofit offers sports scholarships for low-income youth BY BRUCE GOLDBERG SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
the multiple agencies responsible for enforcement and outreach at encampments. For example, several departments and outreach teams don’t have finalized policies or procedures for monitoring encampments. They also don’t have policies and procedures to track and monitor data, according to the 103-page audit. The city also is not tracking expenses related to homeless encampments or sufficiently monitoring invoices and performance by contractors, which hinders their ability to ensure those workers are in fact providing agreed-upon services, according to the audit.
“Equal opportunity levels the playing field.” This is what is stated on the Chance Sports website to capture the new nonprofit’s sense of urgency about raising money so young Denver-area athletes can participate in more club sports, both locally and on the road. “... and makes it about the talent not the success,” the website continues. “The reason a kid doesn’t make it shouldn’t be because they don’t have the opportunity.” State Sen. James Coleman, DDenver, and former state Rep. Colin Larson, R-Jefferson County, created Chance Sports in late 2022, with the goal of helping low-income families play on a club basis in basketball, football, volleyball, track and field, cheer, field hockey, soccer and more. They formed the idea from when the two served together on an education committee at the state legislature. They joined up with the Daniels Fund, which gave Chance Sports $300,000 and pledged another $200,000 to encourage matching
SEE AUDIT, P2
SEE SPORTS, P5
Residents of the tent camp at St. John’s Cathedral gather belongings in advance of a pre-announced sweep the morning of May 20, 2020. The camp had grown to dozens of tents and as many as 80 people on the church’s property, wrapping most of the city block. PHOTO BY ERIC LUBBERS/THE COLORADO SUN
First audit of Denver’s response to unauthorized encampments finds the city needs to do more to ensure people have access to their belongings BY TATIANA FLOWERS THE COLORADO SUN
The first audit of how Denver responds to unauthorized homeless encampments found the city is mostly compliant with the law and a 2016 court case where plaintiffs argued taking personal property from people who are homeless without due process violated the constitution. The Unauthorized Encampment
Response Program must work harder to ensure people who are homeless can easily get to any possessions removed from an encampment, which is especially challenging when belongings are moved to the city’s long-term storage facility at 1449 Galapago St., according to findings of the audit, released on April 20. Denver leaders also need to better outline and document the policies and procedures that guide
INSIDE: CALENDAR: PAGE 11 | VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 14
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