Denver OKs $30M contract with nonprofit despite questions about agency

A nonprofit that has raised red flags for other cities will begin operating one of Denver s homeless shelters after the City Council approved a million contract with the group Monday Urban Alchemy a San Francisco-based nonprofit has been accused of fiscal and material mismanagement leading one city to drop the organization as a partner this year Nine of the City Council members ultimately voted to approve the contract after over an hour of discussion on those concerns in which council members also expressed their exasperation with Mayor Mike Johnston s office The other option appears to be putting people back out on the street in the middle of winter explained Councilwoman Amanda Sawyer in explaining her yes vote Jeff Kositsky the deputy director of shelter and stability in the city s Department of Housing Stability disclosed during the meeting that if the council rejected the contract there would be no way to find a new provider by the time the contract with the Aspen shelter s current operator The Salvation Army expired I think ultimately we would have to shut the shelter down he disclosed Only three groups submitted bids to run the city s homeless shelters when executives put out a request earlier this year Kositsky mentioned The other two are Bayaud Works and St Francis Center both of which were already selected for other contracts Urban Alchemy will begin operating the -unit Aspen shelter in Central Park in and the contract will last through Denver agents publicized in August that The Salvation Army would no longer operate three facilities in former hotels after the City Council raised concerns that the group was unable to keep its occupants safe There was a string of violent incidents at the shelters and in March a Salvation Army employee was charged with sexually assaulting a woman staying at the Aspen shelter The Salvation Army will continue to run the Crossroads Center the Labuth Family Center the Connection Center and the Harbour Light Center In San Francisco the city controller s office accused Urban Alchemy of not properly tracking the time its employees worked for the city causing an increased hazard to masses funds and client services according to the San Francisco Chronicle The controller s office later ruled that the group was back in compliance with the city s standards The nonprofit which gives jobs to formerly incarcerated people also ran into a conflict with Austin earlier this year Austin bureaucrats wrote in a memo to their City Council that they wouldn t renew their contract with the group after the nonprofit self-identified staff members who had misrepresented content about people using the shelters according to the Austin-American Statesman Cole Chandler who leads Johnston s All In Mile High homeless initiative commented the contract with Urban Alchemy was an strange performance-based deal to ensure the work is completed These are new accountability measures that have never existed before and those are specifically in place because council advocated for those he announced The meeting reflected another instance of council members frustration with Johnston s administration Councilwoman Shontel Lewis who represents the district where the Aspen shelter is located announced she didn t feel his organization answered her concerns about the group Related Articles Denver council members push back on city s proposal to expand uses of bag fee proceeds City council approves purchase of Denver Pavilions downtown adjacent parking lots Laying off city workers will end up costing Denver nearly million in one-time expenses Big Brother is tracking you Denver s descent into surveillance dystopia Opinion Denver Summit FC threatens to look for a stadium site outside city after council delays votes I have been kind I have been case I have been a partner and I have gotten nothing but disrespect Lewis stated Representatives from Urban Alchemy attended the meeting and defended their record saying they have addressed past issues and fired bad actors in the organization We re here to be accountable for everything that we do mentioned Ian Clark-Johnson with Urban Alchemy We want to be accountable and transparent and be judged on the merits of the work that we re doing The council also considered another million contract with Urban Alchemy to provide area ambassador services Monday That contract was still being discussed as of p m