PRESS RELEASE: Metro Denver Homeless Initiative Announces Partnership with Right at Home, a New National Initiative to Stop Homelessness Before It Starts
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The City and County of Denver and Adams County, Colo., one of 10 regions nationwide, will launch a homelessness prevention system to keep at-risk households stably housed.
DENVER, CO (February 24, 2026) – Metro Denver Homeless Initiative announced today that the City and County of Denver and Adams County of the Metro Denver Continuum of Care (CoC) are partnering with Right at Home, a new national initiative to stop homelessness before it starts. Working with Destination: Home and a coalition of national organizations, Metro Denver Homeless Initiative, the City and County of Denver, and Adams County will develop and implement a local homelessness prevention system to keep more than 1,000 individuals and families in their housing over the next five years, while working to generate evidence that homelessness prevention works and is scalable nationwide. The City and County of Denver and Adams County have collectively been chosen as one of 10 pilot sites across the nation participating in this initiative.
Homelessness is one of the top public policy challenges facing communities nationwide. Research shows that half of all U.S. renters cannot afford their housing costs, and economic pressures are pushing more people into crisis every day. According to the latest Metro Denver Point-in-Time Count, 10,774 people were experiencing homelessness in 2025.
“Crisis response and housing efforts are essential to our work, but they alone will not end homelessness,” said Jason Johnson, Executive Director of Metro Denver Homeless Initiative. “If we are serious about solving this issue, we have to work upstream. Prevention strategies like the Right at Home pilot focus on people most at risk of entering homelessness and intervene before a crisis escalates. By keeping families and individuals housed, we not only change life trajectories, but we also preserve system capacity and use public resources more effectively. Preventing inflow to the homeless service system is one of the smartest investments we can make.”
Working with the City and County of Denver and Adams County, Metro Denver Homeless Initiative will develop a local prevention system that builds on a proven prevention model, spearheaded by Destination: Home in Santa Clara County, Calif. The Santa Clara model provides rapid, flexible financial assistance, alongside case management, to support households on the brink of losing their homes.
By intervening earlier, this approach helps households avoid the profound trauma of homelessness and reduces the need for far more costly public interventions after housing has been lost—such as shelters, emergency healthcare, and other crisis services.
“Homelessness doesn’t just happen overnight. We know many individuals and families in our community are one missed paycheck or one unforeseen emergency away from housing instability. As the saying goes, ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’,” said Commissioner Julie Duran Mullica, Chair of the Adams County Board of Commissioners. “We’re excited to bring the Right at Home initiative to Adams County because it allows us to support neighbors who are at risk before they lose their housing. When we help people stay stable, we’re not just changing individual lives; we’re strengthening our entire community."
This approach not only prevents homelessness but has also demonstrated strong cost-effectiveness. More than 90% of participating households remained stably housed two years later, and a randomized controlled trial conducted by the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO) at Notre Dame found that every $1 invested saved almost $2.50 ($2.47) in benefits to the community.
The Right at Home initiative is intended to build off of a number of other local prevention programs underway, including:
Eviction Prevention Committee, Adams County
Neighborhood Stability Project, Adams County
Mobile Home Initiative, Adams County
Housing Counseling and Mediation, Adams County
Temporary Rental & Utility Assistance (TRUA), Denver
Denver Public Schools (TRUA) Pilot, Denver
Rapid Resolution, Denver
Eviction Legal Assistance, Denver
Landlord-Tenant Counseling, Denver
Colorado Emergency Rental Assistance (CERA), Statewide
Community Economic Defense Project (CEDP), Statewide
“The single most obvious solution to homelessness is stopping it before it starts,” said Jennifer Loving, CEO of Destination: Home. “We have demonstrated that targeted homelessness prevention works, and we are excited that Metro Denver Homeless Initiative is partnering with Right at Home to help scale this proven model to match the need across the country.”
To date, the Right at Home initiative has received $77 million in funding, including from The Audacious Project—a collaborative funding initiative housed at TED that encourages the world’s greatest changemakers to dream bigger—Cisco, Sobrato Philanthropies, and the Valhalla Foundation. The initiative will provide funding to participating communities to develop and implement their local prevention systems. Metro Denver Homeless Initiative has received a $425,000 planning grant and expects to receive a minimum of $5 million over the next three years for implementation of its targeted homelessness prevention system in the City and County of Denver and Adams County.
The Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities at Notre Dame will work with the City and County of Denver and Adams County and the other pilot communities to test and rigorously evaluate the impact of rapid, flexible financial assistance and inform the case for a national prevention policy.
“This program will help stop homelessness in its tracks,” said Denver Mayor Mike Johnston. “I’m thrilled to work with our partners in Adams County and with the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative to prevent evictions and provide families with what they need to live happy and stable lives.”
Right at Home community partners to date include Alaska (Alaska Coalition on Housing and Homelessness); Atlanta, Ga. (Partners for HOME); Austin-Travis County, Texas (Ending Community Homelessness Coalition); County of San Mateo, Calif.; Denver-Adams County, Colo. (Metro Denver Continuum of Care); Miami-Dade County, Fla. (Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust); Minnesota (Minnesota Tribal Collaborative Pathways to Housing); Asheville Region (Asheville-Buncombe Continuum of Care).
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Metro Denver Homeless Initiative Media Contact: Jenn Meyers at jenn.meyers@mdhi.org
Right at Home Media Contact: Beth Weaver at media@rightathomeusa.org.
About Metro Denver Homeless Initiative:
The Metro Denver Homeless Initiative (MDHI) serves as the lead agency for the Metro Denver Continuum of Care (CoC), coordinating regional efforts to prevent and end homelessness across a seven-county area. MDHI brings together local governments, nonprofit providers, people with lived expertise, funders, and community partners to strengthen the homelessness response system, align resources, and advance collaborative, data-informed solutions. Find more information on our website, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
The City and County of Denver and Adams County are key stakeholders within the Metro Denver CoC and play critical roles in advancing regional strategies to address homelessness. Through partnership and shared governance, the CoC works to ensure that efforts across jurisdictions are aligned, equitable, and focused on improving outcomes for individuals and families experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
About Destination: Home:
Destination: Home is a public–private partnership working to end homelessness in Silicon Valley and beyond. Through our collective-impact model, we convene and collaborate with community stakeholders to address the root causes of homelessness and drive systemic change. We take a data-driven, human-centered approach—advocating for effective policies, incubating new ideas and programs, and investing in strategies that connect more of our homeless neighbors to stable housing and prevent homelessness before it begins. Destination: Home leads the Right at Home initiative, with a goal of building strong evidence that prevention works so we can end homelessness locally and nationally.
About Adams County:
With rich traditions and history, Adams County offers the best of suburban and rural life— vibrant cities, quiet towns, and miles of recreation. Located in the Denver metro area, Adams County is the state’s fifth-largest county serving a population of more than 540,000 residents. Adams County is home to the cities of Brighton, Commerce City, Federal Heights, Northglenn, and Thornton; portions of Arvada, Aurora, and Westminster; the town of Bennett; and a portion of the town of Lochbuie. Unincorporated communities include Henderson, Strasburg, and Watkins. Stay up to date on the latest county news and information on adamscountyco.gov, Facebook, X, Nextdoor, and Instagram.
About the City and County of Denver:
Denver’s Department of Housing Stability is committed to building a healthy, housed, and connected Denver. The department invests resources, creates policy, and partners to provide housing stability, resolve episodes of homelessness, and create housing opportunities. Visit denvergov.org/housing for more information.