The Montezuma County Homelessness Prevention Coalition will put on a bench dedication ceremony Aug. 17 to honor the lives lost while experiencing homelessness and bring awareness to the community.
The event was held at 3 p.m. in Veteran’s Park.
Lucia Bueno-Valdez, a support specialist at the Piñon Project, says the ceremony is a way for people who experience homelessness to honor their lost loved ones.
She’s counting on about 75 people to attend today’s ceremony, including those from the city of Cortez and various organizations that have collaborated on the event. She also hopes the majority of the homeless community will attend and plans to “hit the streets and try to round people up who want to be there.”
“Their day-to-day living is different than ours, so it depends on what they’re going through,” Bueno-Valdez said.
Bueno-Valdez said 265 people experience homelessness in Montezuma County.
Accounting for deaths among the unhoused is challenging because some people might not be considered unhoused if they have an address. There could be many reasons why someone might not want to return home. And coroners’ reports don’t count the unhoused who have a documented address.
Relatively speaking, Bueno-Valdez estimated that eight to 13 unhoused people in Montezuma County die each year.
The homelessness coalition works to decrease the number of homeless people and to ensure that they are unhoused for a shorter periods.
The coalition’s staff supports people who experience homelessness by actively navigating resources. The coalition helps eligible clients – whom they call friends and relatives – to make stable adjustments through rehab, work and job placement. They also help clients through the process to receive benefits such as Supplemental Security Income and Social Security disability insurance.
If adults need protection services, the coalition can help coordinate referrals through the Department of Human Services.
Often, staff help the unhoused reconnect with family and friends. For some, that resolves their homelessness. For others, staff helps find referrals for stable housing.
The coalition received a transitional housing grant for $800,000 that will fund a day center. Bueno-Valdez hopes that it will open this fall for people to stay warm and safe.
“I’m very proud of our community right now on how they came together to address the homelessness community,” Bueno-Valdez said. “Our community is really great at collaborating.”
Thursday’s ceremony is a collective effort with groups including the Montezuma County Homelessness Prevention Coalition, Montezuma County Health and Human Services Departments, Sih Hasin Street Medicine, Axis Health, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Southwest Health System, city of Cortez, The Bridge Shelter, Indigenous Wellbriety Program, Renew, Grace’s Kitchen and Hope’s Kitchen.
