The Boulder Police Department received 362 phone calls in the last year from Bluebird, a permanent housing complex for homeless adults that opened in January 2024. Unhoused community members can qualify for one of the 40 units if they have been homeless for at least one year. The facility provides on-site services for those with mental illness and substance use disorders. Sobriety is not a requirement to qualify for a unit at Bluebird.
Many of the police calls visits to the facility involved fentanyl and other drug overdoses. Bluebird staff call the police when they suspect someone is dealing drugs on the premises or when somebody is using drugs, which is considered a lease violation.
All Roads is the largest homeless shelter in Boulder and the administrator of Bluebird. “In the last decade we have helped over 2,300 people exit homelessness,” the shelter states on its website. “In 2022, we assisted 167 people in exiting homelessness. In 2023, we helped 303 people exit homelessness. Housing individuals reduces their emergency room visits by 80 percent and their municipal charges by a staggering 90 percent.”
Mike Block, the CEO of All Roads, said it is typical for a new facility to receive a large number of police visits in the early years of the program. Block emphasized the importance of housing-first policies that don’t require sobriety and don’t require residents to participate in substance abuse programs provided by the facility.
Jen Livovich founded Streetscape, a Boulder nonprofit dedicated to “removing the barriers that prevent individuals from accessing essential resources, healthcare, and sustainable housing.” Livovich has experienced homelessness and her organization focuses on “evidence-based best practices.”
Livovich has questioned whether Bluebird is actually improving the lives of the residents. She said it seems to be “perpetuating street behavior inside.” Livovich, unlike Block, believes in a treatment-first approach to achieve long-term success for people in the homeless community.
Livovich believes other Boulder deaths are connected to drug-use at Bluebird. A homeless man, who identifies himself as Double D, said the facility promotes drug use and should be shut down.
In an op-ed for the Daily Camera in 2023, Livovich offered a four-point plan to effectively deal with homelessness in Boulder. She said the first point is to have mental health first responder teams available 24 hours a day, seven days a week that would work in coordination with the police.
The second step is to have enough availability in detox centers so people experiencing homelessness have a place where they can be helped. The third step is to have a “hub” for homeless individuals to go when they exit the detox program or the local jail. The HUB would offer individuals a sober, safe place to go rather than being released into the streets. The fourth step is to create a transitional sober community with on-site mental health and addiction support.
