Understanding and Attempting to Solve Homelessness with Mayor Mike Coffman and Kate Barton

Homelessness is a complex, contentious, and multifaceted issue with multiple causes, and advocates on all sides of the issue advocating for different solutions and approaches. On this edition of the Common Sense Digest, we discuss the homelessness issue in-depth with two people working on it from two very different angles.

Kate Barton is the Senior Vice President, Executive Office and Special Projects for the Downtown Denver Partnership, a fast-moving, forward thinking, non-profit business organization with the foundational belief that every day is our chance to make the city a little better. They also founded The Business Coalition on Homelessness, which was founded in 2019 by the Downtown Denver Partnership and business leaders to bring the resources, leadership, and voice of business together to collectively work with public and private sector partners, stakeholders, and the City to find and deliver solutions to homelessness.

 

Mike Coffman is the Mayor of Aurora, and last month completed a week of living on the street in shelters and in encampments to better understand the issue of homelessness. He shared his experience with CBS Denver and discusses what he learned, the criticism he received, and how he plans to integrate his learnings into addressing homelessness in Aurora on this week’s program. 

 

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