From the desk of Mayor Yemi: the Colorado Springs Homelessness Response Action Plan

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Friends, I'd like to start this column by thanking the Pikes Peak Bulletin for soliciting regular correspondence from me. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to share my thoughts with you. My goal is to bring you relevant and timely information, stories and my perspective about some of the most pressing issues and opportunities for Colorado Springs. I am committed to providing a government that is transparent, proactive and approachable, and I hope for this column to be one of the ways that I am delivering on that promise.

Let's get to it!

One of our city's most pressing issues and a topic I hear about regularly from my constituents is homelessness. That is why, this November, we launched the 2025-2030 Homelessness Response Action Plan. It is a shared vision for an actionable and comprehensive approach to a complex issue that weighs heavily on our community. Whether I'm hearing from residents, businesses, or speaking with service providers, the concern is clear.

As Mayor, I want to ensure we are striking a balance between compassion and public safety. It is imperative that we care for our residents who are experiencing homelessness, while continuing to meet the public safety needs of our community.

Colorado Springs has become an example across the state and country for our approach in addressing homelessness. While other cities are seeing an increase in the number of people experiencing homelessness, thanks to our coordinated strategies, we have seen a reduction.

Yet, there is still much more we can and need to do, together, to make homelessness rare, brief and nonrecurring.

Our new action plan expands on current successes and allows us to explore new and innovative solutions. To build it, we intentionally used a human-centered design process that genuinely reflects the voices, insights, and expertise of our community. To the 4,586 people who participated in this months-long process – thank you.

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The action plan focuses on both immediate needs and long-term solutions, and it outlines more than 60 actions items across the following six focus areas: enforcement and cleanup; street outreach and shelter; homelessness prevention; employment; housing and supportive services; and collaboration and public communication.

1. Enforcement and cleanup. We will enhance community safety to ensure all residents are protected. As a part of this effort, we will continue to improve clean-up response and property retrieval processes to keep the environment inviting and safe for all.

2. Street outreach and shelter. We will expand street outreach services to provide consistent and compassionate engagement with people experiencing homelessness. This includes partnerships to help provide safe shelter for populations with special needs, including seniors, adults with chronic medical conditions, and families with children.

3. Homelessness prevention. This includes efforts such as enhancing collaboration between behavioral health programs and housing providers to ensure individuals can access mental health services or substance use treatment. This will support their ability to maintain stable housing and access basic services to help bridge gaps during a financial crisis.

4. Employment. We will explore opportunities to expand the City's WorkCOS program to ensure individuals have access to employment opportunities within the City and in other industries.

5. Housing and supportive services. As a part of this effort, we will support supportive housing and very low-income affordable housing development to increase options for our most vulnerable residents. A key part of this will be to leverage resources to help low and extremely low-income households remain housed, especially seniors. The action plan includes increasing landlord participation in rental assistance programs to help housing voucher holders find housing.

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6. Collaboration and public communication. And we will establish a regional homelessness response team to implement a comprehensive, aligned response to homelessness. This team will Monitor State Legislative activities to advise and report on how they impact the City's homelessness response and Enhance communication strategies to foster community engagement and transparency in addressing homelessness.

I want to be clear that the City is not a direct service provider, but your local government is playing an active leadership role in addressing homelessness.

There are no less than eight City departments directly involved in this effort, which are now coordinating closely with one another and our strong local network of dedicated partners including nonprofit organizations, faith-based groups, businesses, and community members to address homelessness in Colorado Springs.

Tackling homelessness demands a multifaceted approach and it takes a village. We have already started implementing some of these goals, and we will work quickly to ensure we are making progress on all our goals to build a city of great neighbors and neighborhoods; a city that is safe, economically prosperous, culturally rich and welcoming; a vibrant world-class city on a hill that shines brightly.

Onward and upward,

Blessing "Yemi" Mobolade
Mayor of Colorado Springs

This content first appeared in the Pikes Peak Bulletin and is republished here with permission.

View the 2025 Homelessness Response Action Plan

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