The BTHERE team’s goal is to engage with and build relationships with persons experiencing homelessness for future connection to housing or services. Homeless services in Boulder are dependent on voluntary participation in services that provide resources and support that help individuals exit homelessness.
The four-person team will have the following qualifications:
- individuals with lived experience,
- professional experience in outreach, engagement, social support, or homeless services, and
- mental health training.
The team will visit locations with high incidence of camping or negative behavior in public spaces. They will engage with individuals presumed to be experiencing homelessness about the following subjects:
- Provide supportive services in the field including Coordinated Entry, housing assessments and connections to other benefits and services, as applicable to each person, and informing people on the processes, locations, and hours of services.
- Informing people of the camping ordinances, the possibility of enforcement, and available services for sheltering or assistance. To separate the outreach and enforcement roles, this aspect of BTHERE will serve more of a “heads up” function for people experiencing homelessness in Boulder.