Violence, Protesters and Failed $3M Bid Embroil Salvation Army’s Denver Homeless Services

Ministry says it was ‘scapegoated’ for city’s overwhelming homelessness crisis

On April 8, a few dozen people stood outside The Salvation Army’s Denver headquarters for a protest organized by Housekeys Action Network Denver (HAND) against the Christian ministry’s partnership with the city.

Protestors organized by HAND on April 8,2025 / Photo via social media @Housekeys Action Network Denver

Two weeks earlier, Denver City Council blindsided The Salvation Army by voting 10-1 against an expected $2.9 million contract to place the homeless in permanent housing.

The Salvation Army has been one of Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s primary partners in his “housing first” initiative to tackle the city’s rampant homelessness. But as the crisis deepens, the group is being targeted with accusations of poor stewardship of the more than $27 million in city contracts it has received since 2022 to serve the homeless.

These criticisms followed a series of violent crimes at The Aspen, one of three large former hotels the nonprofit runs on behalf of the city as homeless shelters. Incidents included a double homicide, a nonfatal shooting, and the arrest of employee Billy Johnson for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman at the shelter.

HAND’s website blames The Salvation Army for failing to provide adequate security. It also claims many families in need of housing have struggled to get through to the ministry’s Connection Center phone line.

“Many of these families have been calling for months, as far back as November of last year, however they were recently told they only appeared on the waiting list since this March,” HAND said.

The mayor, however, praised The Salvation Army’s work and, according to local news source Denverite, accused opponents of intentionally overloading the hotline with hundreds of calls a day — a claim HAND denies.

“We are a better city today for the efforts of The Salvation Army,” Johnston said in a statement reported by Denverite. “The Salvation Army performs a difficult job at an extremely high level, and I know they are as committed to accountability and improvement as they are to our shared mission of ending unsheltered homelessness in Denver.”

Jennifer Forker, communications and marketing director for The Salvation Army, defended the ministry’s efforts to shelter up to 1,800 people per day on a limited budget. She told MinistryWatch that “bad actors” accuse the organization of “profiting off homelessness, but the opposite is occurring. We are not profiting; we are actually dipping into our own profits.”

“Just in dealing with these three large shelters,” Forker said, “the Salvation Army spent $5.2 million in addition to the contracts from the city.”

A study released in November by the Denver Auditor’s Office at least partially corroborated Forker’s statement. The audit noted that the city’s Department of Housing Stability had only granted $807,000 of a requested $890,000 security grant for The Aspen in 2023, and that the rapid growth of the mayor’s program, which aimed to shelter 1,000 people by the end of the year, exacerbated the situation.

“Housing Stability staff said the speed at which The Aspen shelter was opened overwhelmed them,” the report said. “The mayor’s House 1,000 initiative required them to quickly establish eight new shelters, most of which were operating by the end of 2023.”

In 2024, the mayor set a new goal to double that number by the end of the year.

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Forker also contested criticisms of the hotline, insisting The Salvation Army’s small team of 12 call center employees is doing a phenomenal job despite being under-resourced. She said the center receives from 50 to 200 calls per day and each call takes from 45 minutes to an hour, and the load is only getting worse. In February 2023, they received 863 calls. This year, the February total was 2,258.

As for the sexual assault case, Forker said the employee, who had a history of criminal convictions that included robbery and kidnapping, had passed a criminal background check because Colorado law puts a seven-year limit on how far back those searches can go.

But, said Forker, it’s easier to criticize than to help. “Critics are scapegoating the Salvation Army because it’s easy to do. It’s harder to do the work.”

What’s more, the ministry’s troubles are not unique.

According to BusinessDen, city Councilwoman Shontel Lewis, one of The Salvation Army’s most prominent critics, previously worked as vice president of equity, inclusion and diversity for Colorado Coalition for the Homeless (CCH). That nonprofit has also been contracting with the city to serve the homeless and has jointly administered at least one program alongside The Salvation Army. In May last year, local news Denver7 reported that whistleblowers accused CCH of housing the homeless in substandard conditions and not addressing serious safety risks to both clients and employees.

Amid these mounting safety concerns, Johnston has spent $155 million on his “housing first” strategy. Some local homeless advocacy groups, such as Citizens for a Safe & Clean Denver, have criticized his approach, instead opting for a rehabilitation-first strategy that tackles the root issues putting people on the streets.

Conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation agrees, arguing in a 2020 report that the rush to put the homeless in shelters with no strings attached “has failed to reduce overall homelessness and does not improve human well-being.”

Preferring a “treatment first” approach, The Heritage Foundation says “policymakers should redirect housing funds to programs with a proven record of helping the homeless to overcome addiction, find employment, and achieve independence.”

Meanwhile, the Colorado homeless population continues to soar, increasing by 30% from 2023 to 2024 according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, as reported by the Colorado Times Recorder. In the city itself, local news Fox 31 reported a 10% rise to a record 9,977 unhoused individuals, based on point-in-time numbers from the Denver Homelessness Initiative.

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