Pueblo must address mental health to get handle on homelessness

Pueblo won’t have a “good grasp” on addressing homelessness until it figures out how to provide mental health treatment that could help stabilize people who are unhoused, Mayor Nick Gradisar said at a community forum earlier this month. 

Gradisar, speaking to community members who attended the forum, said that Pueblo isn’t “going to get a good grasp on the homeless situation in Pueblo at least until we figure out a way to provide mental health treatment that will get people stabilized.” 

Gradisar, before delivering that thought, was asked by an attendee what the city’s plan was to provide help for people who are homeless, particularly with the frigid winter months ahead. 

Gradisar responded by saying there are numerous agencies who offer services to people who are homeless and that it’s his plan for the city to contract with outside organizations to shelter the homeless this winter. He told The Chieftain it’s not his intent as mayor for the city to “get into the homelessness business” but rather provide assistance to agencies that are serving that population.

“The city doesn’t know how to deal with homeless people,” Gradisar said. “Our staff aren’t prepared to do that. There are organizations out there — that is their mission and that is what they do. They do it much better than the city ever could.”

Why improving mental health treatment is a focus for city, Gradisar

Gradisar said based on data he has reviewed, mental illness ranks as one of the top conditions affecting people in Pueblo who are homeless. He suspects that’s partially the case because the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo closed some of its beds during the COVID-19 pandemic and Parkview closed its 25-bed, in-patient adult psychiatric unit last year. 

In 2019, a Pueblo point-in-time count, which tabulated the number of people experiencing homelessness in Pueblo County, revealed nearly one-in-four respondents to the count’s survey reported having a serious mental illness. 

As of Aug. 14, results from Pueblo’s latest point-in-time count, completed earlier this year, had not yet been released. Some local homeless advocates suspect the number of Pueblo’s homeless has grown since that count tallied at least 500 of them in 2019. Pueblo Triple Arm last year estimated there were 700 to 800 people who were homeless in Pueblo. 

“We’ve got to figure out a way to deliver mental health services to those homeless who are afflicted with this mental health disorder,” Gradisar told The Chieftain. “Otherwise, all the housing in the world won’t make a difference.” 

Gradisar last week attended meetings in California on how to address mental health and homelessness. He said he planned to “bring back new ideas and proven research for intervention, services and overall health” in Pueblo. 

Health Solutions is one of a few local agencies that can provide mental health services for people who are homeless. Local homeless advocates have directed some among that population to certain agencies and mental health services, but have acknowledged how receiving treatment for it isn’t always linear, whether that’s because they don’t have the required documents or they experience lengthy wait times. 

More:Pueblo nonprofit seeks to help homeless at new wellness center

Some organizations, such as Crazy Faith Street Ministry and Pueblo Rescue Mission, are exploring opportunities where they’d be able to offer mental health services under the same roof of a homeless shelter. The Southern Colorado Harm Reduction Association plans to offer an access point to behavioral health providers for unhoused people when it opens its planned wellness center.

Chieftain reporter Josue Perez can be reached at JHPerez@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @josuepwrites. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com.

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