Denver is using $150,000 in federal pandemic aid to provide safe overnight parking to people living in their car, city officials said Thursday.

The city’s Department of Housing Stability entered into a contract with the Colorado Safe Parking Initiative, which is administering a program that will allow for two safe parking sites in Denver with eight parking spots at each location. 

Each site will have portable toilets, handwashing stations and drinking water. Case managers will offer to help people find employment and housing, and they will provide referrals for health care and mental health services. The program is expected to help about 60 households through May 31, 2023.

CSPI has 12 safe parking sites throughout the Front Range thanks to partnerships with faith communities and other organizations. One of the sites is in southeast Denver, and this program will continue funding that site and one other at a location that has yet to be determined.

Data shows close to 13% increase in Denver homelessness

“While unsheltered homelessness has risen in Denver, so is our dedication to providing shelter alternatives to assist individuals with achieving greater stability that ultimately leads toward housing,” HOST Executive Director Britta Fisher said in a news release. “This is a modest step in the evolution of Denver’s support system for our unhoused neighbors. We hope to see greater capacity among community partners to grow this model in the future.”

Current safe parking sites that CSPI operates typically serve working households that are newly homeless.