El Paso County’s only licensed overnight shelter for homeless teens is closing indefinitely as of Sept. 5, The Place’s Interim CEO Mimi Brown said Friday.

Funding uncertainty and a lack of grants that help fund the shelter led to the decision, she said.

“A shelter is very expensive to run because of licensing and training requirements,” Brown said. “Part of the big challenge is our grants do not cover 100% of the shelter’s expenses. What we’re seeing with this uncertainty is the fact that we want to be able to ensure that our organization is able to survive and thrive for the long run.”

The 20-bed shelter near downtown Colorado Springs has 12 youth, ages 14 to 20, staying at it currently. All are receiving case management and assistance with placement, Brown said.

Colorado Springs homeless family shelter to close half its beds as need surges

In addition, the organization’s drop-in center that opened in winter 2020 in a leased building on Fountain Boulevard will close and relocate later in September to the building the shelter occupies and owns on East Cucharras Street, she said.

The shelter serves 120 to 130 youths annually.

Thirteen employees will be laid off, which will leave the organization with 20-24 employees, according to Brown.

The organization’s fiscal year begins Oct. 1, and Brown anticipates a budget shortfall; this year’s budget is about $3.5 million. The new budget will be presented at the September board meeting and finalized after that.

Housing programs are going strong for the organization, according to Brown, with scattered housing across the city and transitional houses combined serving about 140 youths a year.

The Place’s new apartment complex for homeless youths ages 18 and above, The Launchpad, on Colorado Springs’ west side, opened in June and has 34 units leased, with another 10 that have completed applications and five more on the horizon, Brown said.

“We want to get through this moment in time, to understand better what the funding is going to look like,” Brown said. “We’ll work hard to obtain the most funding we can, and we’re eager to see how repurposing the shelter to become drop-in program can expand and serve more youth with those services. Then we can make a longer-term decision about the shelter.”

The drop-in center, which provides various activities and assistance with supplies to meet basic needs, education, employment and housing, currently serves 260 to 270 homeless youth up to 24 years old.

A search for a new CEO for the organization will begin in September, Brown said.

El Paso County’s Salvation Army Corps announced a few weeks ago that it is closing half of the beds in its local shelter for homeless families. 

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