Boulder homeless shelter prepares for funding cuts while at record capacity

BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. — The largest homeless shelter in Boulder County is on pace to break its record for the most people turned away in one year.

So far this year, All Roads has had to turn away 1,271 people due to capacity, after turning away just 414 in all of 2023.

CEO Michael Block said that has led to difficult conversations at the door, as they enter what is traditionally their busiest time of year.

“You’re saying to someone, ‘I don’t have a critical service that I can provide for you,’ and that’s heartbreaking,” Block said.

Block said in July, they increased capacity from 160 to 180 people, but the demand they have seen over the year has remained high.

“We’ve increased our impact tremendously, and we exit people at a rate we never used to in the past,” Block said. “But the fight continues because bad luck continues and our housing crisis continues.”

All Roads is preparing for potential cuts after Boulder County Commissioners announced a 36% reduction in Community Grant Partnership funding for 2025.

All Roads will lose about 30% of its funding from that partnership, resulting in a roughly 11.5% reduction in its shelter budget for 2025.

“The most expensive thing that we do here is support the bed nights,” Block said. “And so, I don’t think that we can possibly absorb the size of the cut that we’ve received and not have it affect our nightly capacity.”

Block said it will also likely impact their ability to offer additional services, such as finding stable housing for people who visit the shelter regularly.

“There’s a chance we could reduce capacity this winter,” he said. “We can only do what we can do with the resources that we can raise.”

Boulder County Commissioner Claire Levy said a decrease in state and federal funding, including the loss of COVID funding, left the county in a difficult position while budgeting for 2025.

She said nonprofits requested $16 million as part of the community partnership grant, but the county only has $7.9 million to give out.

“The loss of funding is going to mean a reduction in services,” Levy said. “I’m not happy about that. None of us are happy about that.”

Levy said the county is not changing its commitment to the shelter through its general fund but understands multiple nonprofits are not in a difficult situation planning for 2025.

“We have so many people for whom the cost of living just exceeds they’re ability to pay those expenses,” she said. “When the safety net isn’t there to make up the difference, there’s real suffering that happens as a result of that.”

At All Roads, Block said they are hoping the community can help make up some of the difference in lost funding. According to the county, the reduction for All Roads is $280,000.

“If we get more funds, if this season of giving is really successful, if the community stands up and makes up the difference, we’ll be able to provide more services and the cuts will be less impactful,” Block said. “We’re crossing our fingers.”