As summer heat waves continue, Denver mayor promises bold action on homelessness

DENVER — Kieron Henstride buries his head against his chest. A black baseball cap covers his short, brown hair. Brown cargo shots that stop just below his kneecaps reveal sores on his skin from years of methamphetamine usage.

A sign that reads “please spare anything if you can. Anything helps, God bless, have a nice day” rests between his palms. A melting pint of Ben and Jerry’s cookies and cream ice cream sits in a Target bag next to him, leaking through the carton.

On a 91-degree day in Downtown Denver, Henstride sits outdoors along the 16th Street Mall, hoping to make eye contact with just one passerby. A security guard at a nearby retail store hands him two bags of cool ranch Doritos – Henstride’s favorite snack. “Don’t tell anyone,” the security guard adds.

A pedestrian hands him a can of root beer. Most people ignore him.

“People don’t care. When they walk by you, they ignore you, like they don’t care at all,” Henstride said. “It’s heartbreaking.”

Henstride said living outside is particularly difficult during extreme weather, though winter is worse for him than summer. Still, Henstride said water, ice and air-conditioned spaces are hard to come by in the summer. Necessities that housed folks may take for granted feel luxurious to him, he said.

“It’s a real struggle,” Henstride said. “The heat makes you really tired, too.”

Henstride is 24 years old. He was born in England and his American parents adopted him at 4 years old. They raised him in Montana.

He had a contentious relationship with his parents and moved out when he was 18 years old. At 20, he entered a rehabilitation facility for his methamphetamine addiction. Henstride said he enjoyed two years of sobriety before the addiction returned, just after he moved to Denver.

“I don’t even really like meth anymore,” Henstride said. “I don’t know why I do it.”

Kieron Henstride sits along the 16th Street Mall with a sign asking for money.

As the planet continues to warm and Denver’s summers increase in temperature, the city’s unhoused population withstands the worst of the heat. 2023 has been cooler than the previous two summers, but unhoused folks said living outside in temperatures above 90 degrees is always miserable.

A 2021 report from the Colorado Health Institute also found Denver’s paved areas — where most houseless people stake tents — are about five degrees warmer than surrounding areas.

Because Henstride is 24, he is still eligible to stay overnight in the houseless youth-serving shelter Urban Peak. He sleeps there some evenings, but most nights, Henstride sleeps on Colfax Avenue or on 22nd Street. For the last several weeks, though, his priority has been to escape the heat whenever possible.

“Just little areas of shade can honestly make a pretty big difference,” Henstride said.

Titan Jameson, an unhoused traveler playing the guitar and harmonica outside in Downtown Denver, said the heat has been “brutal” throughout his week in the city.

“I can usually walk 15 to 20 miles a day,” Jameson said. “But lately it’s been a lot less because of the heat.”

Jameson rents a $75-per month apartment in San Francisco through a homeless resources center. But he travels throughout the country, via Amtrak, playing outdoor music for whatever price passersby will pay. He said he usually makes about $30 a day, most of it paid in quarters and one-dollar bills.

“People are desensitized to the homeless out here, so if you really touch them and show them, you’re good at whatever you’re doing to make money out here, people will probably just give you one dollar at the end of the day, because they see 100 homeless people,” Jameson said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a smart, upstanding homeless person that has a skill. They’re probably just going to give you one dollar because they see 100 homeless people.”

Jameson uses whatever he can scrape in donations to buy Amtrak tickets and support his dog, Africa. He chose the name because she has a design in her fur that he believes looks like the continent.

“It’s hard to get water for myself because I have to douse her in water every 20 minutes or so when it’s this hot,” Jameson said.

Jameson also prefers to sleep in more expensive neighborhoods where he believes he is safer from robbery and police. He spends his days playing music for money in downtowns across the country, then walks or takes public transit to whatever neighborhoods are recommended as expensive and safe. In Denver, he slept in Cherry Creek and Berkeley.

“It works for me to live out of a backpack and travel through metropolitan areas because I have a body that is physically able to find myself a nice place to sleep every night,” Jameson said. 

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, who was elected in 2023, has vowed to house 1,000 of the city’s unhoused folks by the end of the year. He also hopes to end unsheltered homelessness in the next four years.  His administration plans to build 1,400 units of stable housing in 10 to 20 "micro-communities" which will include tiny homes and converted hotels.

Houseless community members and their advocates said they are cautiously optimistic about Johnston’s ambitious plans.

“We’re all across the whole spectrum. Some are really excited and hopeful, some are cautious and waiting to stand back and see, and some are a little pessimistic because we aren’t hearing anything new,” said Virya Kalsang, founder of Mutual Aid Monday, a volunteer group that serve houseless folks every Monday outside the City and County Building.

Kalsang said unhoused folks have requested ice packs, cold water bottles, wet rags and personal fans to help mitigate the heat.

While Kalsang said it may be too soon for celebration, she is impressed that Johnston has spent several hours speaking directly to unhoused folks. The mayor spent two nights at Mutual Aid Monday.

“I want to be hopeful,” Kalsang said. “We’re just kind of waiting to see if he’s going to be better than the last. I hope he is.”

Alison Berg is a reporter at Rocky Mountain PBS. You can reach her at [email protected].