After years of searching, La Plata County commissioners voted in April to move to purchase property along U.S. Highway 160 for a managed camp, marking a significant development in the county and the city of Durango’s efforts to address homelessness.
But as plans for a managed camp move forward, residents of Purple Cliffs are speaking out against what they say is the lack of involvement of current camp residents by local governments and other nonprofit groups.
“Who is asking us what we need? And what they think we need is far from what is needed,” said Sarah Getter, a resident of Purple Cliffs since the camp was established in 2019.
When La Plata County first designated Purple Cliffs on county land near Walmart south of Durango, the county and its nonprofit partners worked with the homeless residents, inviting them to meetings and working with them to manage the camp, Getter said.
But as of late, that engagement has dried up.
The county and its local partners no longer inform residents of Purple Cliffs about public meetings on homelessness or the camp, Getter said.
Residents have been entirely left out of the conversation surrounding a managed camp and the closing of Purple Cliffs, said Antonio Espinoza, a resident and community organizer for the camp.
At the beginning of the year, Espinoza said, volunteers with Neighbors in Need Alliance told residents the county and other partners were looking to buy property for a managed camp.
Since then, those who call Purple Cliffs home have been left in the dark, even as the county has entered into a contract to purchase four properties near the Durango Dog Park and partnered with the city to move the properties through the necessary land-use steps.
The unhoused community at Purple Cliffs was never asked about the location and found out about the milestone in the paper and through word of mouth, Espinoza said.
Without any consultation about the plans for a managed camp, some residents of Purple Cliffs feel burned by the county, city and local unhoused advocacy groups.
“I appreciate the thought and concern, but how do you know what my best interest is if you don’t know what it’s like to struggle for a shower?” Espinoza said.
Getter and Espinoza said the Purple Cliffs community would jump at the opportunity if afforded one by the county and its partners, but the constraints of being unhoused limit the extent to which residents can freely engage.
Simply paying for trips into town for meetings can be a challenge for some residents, and wireless internet for Zoom meetings is not readily accessible. Many of those who live at Purple Cliffs do not have a driver’s license or a car, said Roy Melead, a resident of Purple Cliffs.
For those like Espinoza, who works full time at a gas station, the timing of meetings can also create a hurdle.
“No effort was made to ease the process of our attendance (at meetings). We have a very different set of struggles,” he said.
But perhaps the greatest barrier for those who live in Purple Cliffs is the stigma associated with homelessness.
Getter, Espinoza and Melead each expressed the belief that their voices would be valued less than the county’s other constituents or the other groups involved in the managed camp because of a negative perception of homeless individuals and the association people often draw between homelessness and drugs and mental health.
They each said they wished they could bathe more and that personal hygiene would be a concern if they were interacting with county commissioners and other officials.
“I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little self-conscious or wary of going out because I know I’m going to get those biases,” Espinoza said. “I know I’m going to get judged. I know my opinions are going to be taken for less.”
The county has not engaged directly with residents of Purple Cliffs about the subject of the managed camp, but the county’s partners with the Coordinating Council on Homelessness, which include NINA, Manna, Housing Solutions for the Southwest and others, work closely with the Purple Cliffs community, said County Manager Chuck Stevens.
The Coordinating Council on Homelessness also includes four members of the Durango community who have themselves experienced homelessness, which was by design, he said.
“We have community partners that have very close coordination and contact (with Purple Cliffs residents), and I feel like that’s the tool that we’ve been using and we should probably continue to use,” Stevens said. “We feel that we have individuals who are giving us an informed perspective.”
Caroline Kinser, board chairwoman of NINA, said that part of the challenge for local unhoused advocacy groups is identifying and connecting with the fluctuating leadership within the camp. Since its inception in 2018, some of Purple Cliffs’ leaders have left, she said.
NINA has been taking steps to engage with the Purple Cliffs community, including through a recent survey funded by the group that aimed to collect information about the camp but also input from residents.
The group is vying to operate the managed camp and will seek input from residents of Purple Cliffs and the unhoused community throughout the development process, Kinser said.
“It’s just crazy to do anything for people unless they’re involved, and so that’s how we’ve been from the very beginning,” she said. “If they don’t have buy in, it’s not gonna work.”
Amid opposition from some residents, Kinser said La Plata County’s decision to move forward with a managed camp does not mean that the voices of Purple Cliffs’ residents are being neglected.
“Their voices are heard. It’s just sometimes the answers aren’t what they want,” she said.
In addition to the insights the county gains from those with lived experience who serve on the Coordinating Council on Homelessness, Stevens said residents could call him or visit the La Plata County Administration Building to share their concerns.
La Plata County has increasingly been vocal about its intent to close Purple Cliffs since last year when the prospect of a managed camp started to become clearer.
The county and the city previously agreed to allow Purple Cliffs to stay open until May 2022, but with due diligence and the initial preparations for a managed camp along U.S. Highway 160 still outstanding, the county has extended its timeline for closing the camp.
County commissioners have directed Stevens to work toward closing Purple Cliffs before this winter, Stevens has said previously.
Stevens empathized with those who live at Purple Cliffs like Getter, Espinoza and Melead who do not want to move and see the Purple Cliffs community dissolve along with the camp.
The county intends to close Purple Cliffs in a trauma-informed manner to mitigate those impacts to residents, Stevens said.
But for Getter, Espinoza and Melead the issue is that the county and its partners have not involved them in the conversations surrounding a managed camp and the closing of Purple Cliffs.
Espinoza said the county could not capture the perspective of Purple Cliffs’ current residents simply by speaking with members of the Coordinating Council on Homelessness with lived experience.
He argued that county, city and other local groups need to engage with Purple Cliffs residents directly.
“We know our internal struggles,” Espinoza said. “If we were going to be represented properly, then it would have to be done by someone who is as equally connected to this community.”
One of the solutions Espinoza proposed was that the county reach out to some of Purple Cliffs’ leaders, giving residents a date by which they must offer input to the county. The community’s leaders could then communicate with residents and collect their views before working with the county in a capacity similar to a spokesperson.
Ultimately, what residents like Espinoza, Getter and Melead want is a seat at the table.
“What we need is to be allowed to be heard and a choice in our own fate,” Getter said.
Espinoza added: “What we need is to be treated as people.”
ahannon@durangoherald.com
A previous version of this story incorrectly said La Plata County has purchased four properties along U.S. Highway 160 near the Durango Dog Park for a managed homeless camp. The county is under contract to purchase the properties.
