Colorado turns to ice-fishing tents to house homeless

By PATTY NIEBERG
Associated Press/Report for America

DENVER (AP) — Gary Peters has spent the last seven years camping outside of a Denver golf course to avoid sleeping in a public shelter until last summer. The 75-year-old veteran is among the benefactors of Denver’s $4 million investment in a unique attempt at providing homeless people with “safe outdoor spaces” as an alternative to public shelters. Each community member has an ice-fishing tent with electrical outlets, a cot and a zero-degree rated sleeping bag. The nearly 42-square-foot tents cost about $300-$400 each. The project by the Colorado Village Collaborative aims to provide stability and autonomy for people sleeping outside and help transition them to permanent housing.