Edgewater’s Homeless Navigator Program Supports Our Community’s Most Vulnerable

Edgewater City Council Member Liam Donevan

From Edgewater City Council Member Liam Donevan:

Born in 2020 out of a collaboration with Jefferson County, Edgewater has partnered with the City of Wheat Ridge to create a Homeless Navigator Program. Through this partnership, the cities of Edgewater and Wheat Ridge share a full time Homeless Navigator who works to support individuals in our community who are experiencing homelessness obtain long term, stable housing. Rebekah Raudabaugh was hired in 2020 to get the program up and running and determine the needs of the community. Since then, Rebekah has been hard at work conducting outreach to Edgewater and Wheat Ridge residents who are living on the street, connecting with clients who are referred from other city departments, and helping to connect folks to essential resources and services while they hunt for affordable housing.

Rebekah primarily works with individuals who are “literally homeless” (ie. Staying in shelters, temporary hotel/motel arrangements paid for by non-profit/government agencies, or living on the streets). Experiencing literal homelessness adds even more barriers to the already arduous task of finding stable housing. Clients who are living on the street are frequently victimized and robbed of their IDs, Direct Express Cards (debit cards that are loaded with their monthly Social Security benefits), Cell phones, and EBT Cards, representing hours of hard work hunting down vital documents and navigating complex bureaucracies. These individuals are also frequently cited for camping, trespassing, and other violations related to homelessness. A history of criminal justice involvement can make it exceedingly difficult to find housing, especially in a rental market as competitive as we have in the Denver metro area. Rebekah says the courts are starting to take notice that homelessness is often underlying an individual’s involvement in the criminal justice system, and they are making more referrals to Rebekah to give them the support the need to get off the streets and exit the criminal justice system.

Rebekah has already seen success with the Homeless Navigator Program. Waitlists for affordable housing can be months, even years long, and clients who signed up for those waitlists are starting to have their numbers called as affordable units open up. Once clients are housed, Rebekah usually does not have much follow up contact with them, however she has stressed the importance of a housing first model that prioritizes finding stable, permanent housing as fast as possible and the wide-reaching effect of housing security. Once someone is housed and no longer has to spend as much physical and mental energy figuring out where they’re going to sleep every night, they can work on breaking down other barriers to stability (finding work, exiting the criminal justice system, addressing chronic health issues, etc.). The need for services has been so great, that the program is expanding by adding a Housing Navigator position. This role will focus on supporting residents who are at risk of experiencing homelessness and keeping the program up to date on available housing resources, this will allow Rebekah to focus more of her efforts on supporting her most vulnerable clients. 

If you are currently experiencing homelessness or at risk of losing housing, you can learn more about resources available to you by going to www.edgewaterco.com/homeless or by emailing Rebekah at homelessnavigator@ci.wheatridge.co.us.

Joel Newton

Joel has been a resident of Edgewater, Colorado with his family since 2012. He is the Executive Director of local education nonprofit Edgewater Collective and Editor of the Edgewater Echo.