Homelessness in Colorado

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Homelessness is a growing problem in Colorado and is considered the most important social determinants of health (State of Colorado). Homelessness is very difficult for many Coloradoans to escape due to the continuous increase in costs for housing in Colorado, along with mental health treatments and other factors. When people are forced to live without stable shelter, they are then exposed to a number of risk factors that affect physical and mental health (State of Colorado). Although it is difficult to pin point any one cause of homelessness, there is a complicated combination of societal and individual causes.

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Point-in-Time (PIT) Count,^[1] there were 10,857 people who were homeless within the state of Colorado in 2018. The number of homeless people increased from 2016 to 2017 by 1,121.^[2] Colorado was ranked 7th in 2017 for largest homeless veteran count as well as 8th in the country out of 48 major metropolitan cities for homeless individuals.^[3]