A Rocky Start
Neighbors Vexed By Lack Of Transparency In Plan To House 72 Migrant Families At Mosaic Community Campus
By Cara DeGette
GPHN Editor
A plan to house 72 migrant families at two former dormitories on the Mosaic Community Campus has generated annoyance and vexation. The criticism is not that migrant families will be moving into the apartments — but rather what City Councilwoman Shontel Lewis and other community leaders term a maddening lack of transparency from the Denver mayor’s office and other key players.
Rumors that the families would be moving into the dorms on the Mosaic campus in southeast Park Hill — formerly Johnson & Wales — began making the rounds in late November.
The former dorms, Triangolo Hall and Gaebe Hall, are owned by the Denver Housing Authority and include 72 mostly one-bedroom apartments. The Housing Authority bought the buildings in 2021 with the intent to repurpose them into affordable housing. But they have been sitting empty. (Four other dorms on campus are owned by Archway Communities and are currently undergoing renovations.)
On Dec. 11 the Greater Park Hill News reached out to the Denver Housing Authority (DHA) asking for details. The following day, its Director of Communications, Allison Trembly, responded:
“Denver Housing Authority is working with key partners such as Jewish Family Service of Colorado and the Denver mayor’s office, to begin housing international families (e.g., migrants and refugees) who are resettling in our community,” Trembly wrote.
“With cold weather upon us, families with young children could be moving into Gaebe and Triangolo Halls starting in December 2023. We anticipate the average stay per family to be 3-9 months. DHA is the property owner and landlord. Our partners will seek to assist these families in securing employment, educational opportunities, healthcare services, and permanent housing.
“DHA and its partners are committed to keeping the campus community informed as plans are solidified to ensure that transparency and safety are prioritized throughout the process.”
Feeling sideswiped
On Dec. 20, Trembly said meal services are being “actively assessed,” and that each unit has a fully functioning kitchen. The average family size will be four, she said.
At press time, just before Christmas, families had not yet moved in. Additional details were scant, including from Mayor Mike Johnston. The mayor’s office is a major driver of the city’s plans to house migrants, including at Mosaic campus.
For example, who will vet the new residents, and what are the details of that process? Who will be responsible for notifying the surrounding neighbors? What plans are in place for likely increased demands on nearby schools, and on local food pantries?
In mid-December, Vince Chandler, director of communications for Councilwoman Lewis, said her office has been stymied attempting to learn details of the plan. The campus is in Lewis’s district.
“We’ve been fielding questions for the past two weeks, and have been kept completely in the dark,” Chandler said. “It’s another example of a time that the mayor’s office is moving without proper notification to the councilwoman, or to the residents of her district.”
Chandler said the District 8 office began hearing rumors about the plan in mid-November. But when the councilwoman attempted to learn more, she was simply told that her approval was not required.
“It does feel like we were sideswiped,” Chandler said. He noted the exchange occurred at the time when other members of council have also accused Mayor Johnston of a lack of transparency over housing initiatives in their districts. “This is one more thing,” he said.
Most disappointing, he said, is that the majority of the constituents they’ve heard from in District 8, which includes much of Park Hill, have expressed “huge support” for helping migrant families. Tapping into the generosity of the neighborhood could have been an “absolute win.”
Sharing the frustration
Over the past year an estimated 32,430 migrants have landed in Denver. Many of them are Venezuelans, who fled their country because of extreme economic hardship and political turmoil. In an effort to target liberal cities, Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has chartered buses to transport migrants to Denver — even as the cold of winter has set in. As of Dec. 18, Denver reported 3,656 are being sheltered. Many migrants, however, are living outside, in makeshift tents.
An estimated $35 million has been spent in Denver over the last year on emergency migrant relief efforts. Many groups and organizations, including in Park Hill, have launched coordinated efforts to provide meals, warm clothing, and other essentials, as well as helping those who want to stay in Denver and find permanent housing and work.
In the last two months of 2023, Park Hill also absorbed a disproportionate number of Denver’s unhoused population. As detailed in a news story last month, several former hotels along Quebec Street have been repurposed as part of Mayor Johnston’s House1000 program to provide shelter to Denverites who have been living on the streets, many of them for years.
The mayor’s efforts have been supported by Councilwoman Lewis, who has urged compassion from constituents who have been critical about absorbing a disproportionate number of transitionary housing units compared to citywide numbers.
While District 8 has done much of the heavy lifting, Lewis has expressed hope that the rest of Denver will step up.
“We have shown ourself as a leader in these efforts to be collaborative, to get folks sheltered,” Lewis said in an interview. “So yes, the lack of collaboration [regarding the Mosaic campus plan] has been very disappointing.
“I share in the neighbors’ frustration, and I feel the same disappointment that this process has not been collaborative.”
The difference of knowing
As of press time, Greater Park Hill Community, Inc., the registered neighborhood organization, has not been notified of the migrant housing plan. Nor have residents of the neighborhood immediately surrounding Mosaic campus.
By contrast, Adriana Murphy, the head of school for St. Elizabeth’s, a K-8 school on campus next to the dorms, said she was informed of the plan in early December. She notified parents and students on Dec. 8.
“By and large we’ve had a pretty positive response,” Murphy said. “Some families have reached out and said, ‘how can we help?’”
School officials, she said, are currently waiting for additional information, including a move-in date, before figuring out exact ways to help. Suggestions have ranged from “Welcome to Campus” signs, donating clothing and providing other necessities.
“We knew when we first came on the property [in 2021] that there would be low-income housing,” she said. “We were not aware it would be housing for immigrant and refugee families, but we came on to the campus wanting to be good neighbors and supportive of people who are wanting a fresh start, and wanting to contribute to our community and our country.”
‘This could be such a win-win’
Other would-be partners have been left chafing at the lack of communication.
At press time, neither the Denver Housing Authority nor the mayor’s office had notified off-campus neighbors.
“I’m disappointed,” said Shane Sutherland, the board chair of GPHC, Inc. “I was hoping this administration would have more outreach and keep us abreast.”
“I hope that our neighborhood will welcome immigrants, but at the same time the Johnston administration promised outreach. This just breeds distrust.”
Gary Martyn, who lives less than two blocks from the campus, likened the lack of transparency as “another way the city can bungle the simplest of things.”
“I don’t think anyone has a problem with trying to help people,” Martyn said. “Denver is a forgiving city, but to play dumb about this is unconscionable.”
“This could be such a win-win,” he said. “People in this neighborhood are pretty welcoming. It’s the arrogance that is just so troubling. Their approach — ‘we’re going to do this ask forgiveness later’ — well, it’s a cute saying but it gets old after about three times.”