Boulder Shelter for the Homeless Reviews

They hate the homeless and expect you to wait on the street while getting you into transitional housing. Boo! No Go Boulder!

I recently reached out to Boulder Shelter for the Homeless with a community related inquiry. Tiffany Stamas got back to me in a prompt and timely manner and far exceeded my expectations! I'm very happy and satisfied with the organizations level of service and I sincerely appreciate everything they are doing for our community!

Great for homeless people in Boulder, CO. This was the first time, I see homeless shelter.

The intake had been more choosey about the client's. The lottery closes at 7pm sharp. Hot breakfast and supper. Is not as bad as I thought it would be.

Can't trust staff especially carly to nit tell others your business .I if u go to her with an issue and( she favors an certain man there) and she went straight to him and told him word for word of what I said and thought was safe to say and turned out nit to be. It ended very bad for me for her doing that? I would say they are not consistent on how they treat and in force the rules. Some have to follow the rules just right or leave even if there is a snow storm and I have seen others that manipulate and act aggressive and they let them stay with no consequences .

It's hard being put out and homeless, Who ever you are! But the Staff are great when you're respectful to them, and People that have found themselves in Boulder Shelter.

Mixed feelings about this place. The facility is very nice (not that I have anything to compare it with). They really helped me in my time of need.

That said, I must add that they have a lot of rules which often seem "unfair". The first line staff is generally very young. They use (are given?) very little discretion in situations that arise. I assume their low wages contribute to those last 2 realities.

The Volunteers are very nice and are essential to making the Shelter work. Kudos to the woman who manages that!

I have visited the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless, and I must say that it is probably one of the only shelter's that is completely poorly ran, and administered. It is considered one of the only shelters in the country, where I have come to know that the drug dealers can sell drugs in-side of the facility, and the staff are either completely unaware of this fact, or they know of it and are unable to, or are unwilling to do anything about it. It is my understanding that the States Attorney's Office has been informed, and the local Sheriff's Department, and I have come to know from a reliable eye-witness source still in-side the shelter, it is clear that the DRUG DEALING is still going on, (selling of Crystal Meth, Marijuana, and Crack Cocaine).

There are local citizens that are also paying for this shelter, along with donations, from several well known institutions, that are completely unaware of the current drug situation, and other related issues in this shelter, it is clear that there are state, county, and federal violations that are going on at this shelter. This situation is tragic, and needs clarity from a high administrative source. State Attorney General maybe, or maybe the local police department.

If you have to go, say nothing. Eat, go to sleep with your one blanket and leave as soon as you can.

I'm on my way there now I'll let the world know soon

Unable to find an apartment in my price range due to inflated rent, I m sleeping in my car until I find a place. It gets tiresome to constantly be out in the elements and without access to a shower or toilets so I decided to give the shelter a try despite my gut telling me it couldn t be a good place to be. This was my first time staying in a homeless shelter and here is my honest review:

I went through intake and was cleared to go to the shelter the same day, not sure what their screening process is but it was quick and easy. Rules are you have to be there by 7pm to get a bed, if they re to capacity a bed is not guaranteed and there s a lottery for beds and once you re inside you cannot leave the building until morning. You must leave the building by 8am and cannot return until 5pm, they re closed from 7am-5pm. I was given a bunk bed with a plastic mat to sleep on, a combination lock and locker, dinner was to be served at 7:15pm and breakfast in the AM, I didn t ask what time. The staff was nice and helpful, the shelter was quite clean though very similar to a jail or any other stars run institution and though locked in, there was a fenced courtyard for smoking and hanging out.

Women s dorm is separate from men which is great since they allow sex offenders and that was the part I was most uncomfortable with, the idea of being in the same building as men in general. However, it wouldn t take much for a man to enter the dorm as there s no security or locks and the men s sober dorm is just steps away. The dorm is filled with about 50 bunk beds, extremely close quarters with no storage or shelves, the dorm opens to a bathroom with showers and toilets, unfortunate for the bunks closest to the bathroom as the toilets are very loud when flushed as are the hand dryers and the bathroom lights are very bright and stayed on through the night. Downstairs they offer a very thin blanket and one towel, no sheet or pillow, it was very uncomfortable to sleep on such a thin mat without a pillow and the plastic sticks to your skin since they don t have sheets. I didn t eat dinner because I d just eaten before entering the shelter so by 9pm I was very hungry and asked if they offered snacks and they did not so since I wasn t allowed to leave or I wouldn t be allowed to return, I went to bed hungry. Lights went out at 10pm and for the most part everyone was quiet and in their bunks and I quickly fell asleep from exhaustion. I didn t sleep long though, between the severe coughing of two women close to me and the sounds of everyone tossing and turning on their uncomfortable, squeaky plastic mats and no pillow for my head, I wasn t able to sleep and ended up leaving at 2am to sleep in my car. I left mostly because I couldn t sleep and was so uncomfortable but also because the two coughing women sounded very, very ill and I cannot afford to get sick. I mostly stayed because I needed a shower and had planned to take one in the AM but didn t make it through the night unfortunately. My eye is swollen today as if I have some sort of infection so there s that. This is my honest review of the shelter and though it was not a bad experience, it definitely was not a good one either.

The "staff" are, "Well meaning but damaged individuals". There are some tyrannical individuals on Boulders Homeless Shelter's payroll, who have low training and no protocol. Brandy, Chad and Ben use a whimsical system of vengeful consciquinces doled out at random upon individuals in a gangstalking like manner. Their free wheeling, cruel trial-less methods routeenly put people, "weak and vounerable", out in the elements (ice, wind and night) without logical guidelines. Rules are unbenounced to the clientele or long-term residents who have been part of the programs.
I'm just "worried" the standards are being applied in-consistantly. The negligent infliction of "emotional distress" unsettles even the most patient of Boulder's firts-class citizentry.
Thankyou for your valuable time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Mr. Kelly Engel
A sew-n-so, who cares, so much.

I'm so sad to hear this place has sutch mixed reviews. After growing up in Boulder and not wanting to take help I can't afford Boulder and understand others can't as well. I was working on 1-2 million dollar homes and could not get paid anymore for the work I was doing to be able to save money. This place is needed and has saved 2 of my friends. The number of jobs here that pay living wages is getting less and less each year. It's going to not get better any time soon.

Excellent program. Give you a fish and when your ready you have many opportunities just ask they will help you learn to fish. Help you get on a positive path in life again.

Great place to volunteer; what a wonderful organization.

More than half of those staying at this facility are transients from outside of Boulder County (and some are from other states). There are also many registered sex offenders (including a few Sexually Violent Predators most likely to re-offend) in residence --- and the adult survivors of sex crimes who happen to be homeless are forced to live under the same roof with the perverts. Volunteers do everything, while the homeless residents do nothing for themselves. What about staff? Last March, $350 in cash was stolen from my secure locker ("someone" with access to the combination kept in the locker log or with a master key was the culprit), and the higher-ups refused to do anything, not even questioning staff members on duty during the time of the theft. This place needs a complete turnover in the executive director, program director, and board members if it is to become anything besides a travesty of compassion!

Ran very strange, by people that dont have a clue what its like to be homeless

People are awful, not much helps. I request one time emergency needs for my 2 years old daughter diapers and they said we will not come and help because they are in meeting, thinking meeting is more important than my daughter needs, not cool at all, not cool!! I suggest you dont go there anymore. They getting worse. Its not the same as its used to be. The staff started so rude to me and my daughter, thinking my daughter is annoying because she is 2! She likes out of curiosity, it never was her fault!! Like i said its not cool at all, i hope you get fix this!! Left my daughter with no damn diapers when she in needs i hope someone else wake up and not going thrre becaude no body dersve like that by mistreated! People matters! People important!

Staff are good folks and the food and shelter is decent.

This shelter has very professional staff and is as clean as the ones utilizing the services can keep it day to day. A five star, if there where no insolistic behavior coming from the ones that which utilize the service, varying from person to person; as is the usual Fair at a shelter ( so if you have PTSD, have coping skills, as to not freak out on the ones freaking out). Otherwise I am looking forward to utilize some of their other services.

Even though I was only allowed to stay one night, it was still better than the ones in Denver!

Amazing place, despite daily difficulties, and undeserving negative feedback, staff maintains patience and respect for both homeless and the surrounding community. The food is delicious and the place feels safe.

Thanks for supporting the people that need it the most

Rude Staff, Bed Bugs an issue STILL. DRUNKs & Parolees get preferential help

The volunteers are super the food is excelent but the staff is sometimes not very understanding and treat the homeless with kurt and distain. They need to be kind though its just a job and excelence in kindness and dignity needs to be trained. Understanding the dilema the homeless face they are at times rudes and grossly belittling. For example if a person chooses to clean on thier own volition they treat the person as if he did something wrong and are very rude and Curt not very understanding at all no gratitude from them that a person is helping them clean they just assumed the person is trying to get favor it doesn't make any sense they need be retrained and how to treat people with kindness dignity and respect.

Feb 5, 18. Was Threatenen twice by long haired meth addict who has a permanent bed at shelter. He stays but i getcmy appointment for a bed taken away truly not right what the staff has done.

Very nice people working here, but I feel a lot more could be done to help the homeless people of Boulder County

I m very grateful for this establishment - a FREE warm bed to sleep in when it s cold outside (and any other time you need a place to sleep), a FREE hot meal at night and breakfast before leaving the next morning, a FREE hot shower in clean facilities, access to MANY helpful resources, FREE use of a small locked locker, and a place you can have your mail delivered for you to pick it up- you guessed it, FOR FREE.

Yes there are a few minor inconveniences associated with staying here on a regular basis, but honestly the idea that people actually complain about them in light of the reality of the situation (which is that we re given a RENT-FREE housing option) is ludicrous...

Bottom line is: this is a safe and immensely helpful resource and anyone taking advantage of the services it provides ought to be grateful for the opportunity to do so. Thanks Boulder Shelter.

Its a good place to start. I moved from Peoria Illinois to Boulder Colorado. This city takes better care of the homeless then any city in Illinois ever will. I also found a job in 2 days of being in boulder.

I am all for helping out those less in need, but god forbid you live anywhere around a Chapter 8 transitional housing unit. Everyone in our condo complex surrounding one of these units has been smoked out.
The Shelter for the Homeless says they want the tenants of these units to get along with their neighbors but obviously they don't care as no one is addressing a number of issues.
1. Supposedly one person gets the unit for 2 years. In our case, the current tenant moved a man into her unit.
2. According to the Shelter for the Homeless there is no smoking in the unit. Our tenant's new 'tenant' smokes both in and outside, the smoke permeates the entire area via the ventilation system and wafts up from the porch. We have a whole collection of people hanging out day and night, smoking on the porch. Everyone else living here has to keep their doors and windows closed. (Two of the adjacent units have people who work at home, no fun in summer, none of us can use our decks or porch). I am allergic to cigarette smoke and had to get a tiny office in another part of town.
A number of us have spoken to current tenant who sneers at us and rolls her eyes.

The Shelter for the Homeless doesn't return calls.

So my tax dollars go to what looks like a great cause, but in reality go towards wrecking the quality of my and my neighbors life. If we are all about helping the homeless, how about the the Shelter for the Homeless help out the rest of us by enforcing their rules? How about they consider what they are doing to the quality of life to the people living around their units who are actually supporting them?

This is so not ok.

They are doing this out of the kindness of there hearts

The staff at the shelter treat the guests with respect I have been there.

This is the place to go if you are residentially challenged.

They Send Homeless Out To Freeze To Delth on a 10 Degree night

This place is awful! They have a bunch of untrained collage kids running the place they get donations and keep what they like for thselves and what we do see is the stuff with the holes or stained..They are rude to the people staying there and if your crying or upset I stead of helping you they will kick you out for the night. I highly recommend not donating anything to that shelter in money or clothes ECT..Because we do not see any of it.

Decent staff, decent food, beds if your in a bind and good resources to get you on your feet. The company is to you. But as far as a shelter, it's the best one I have come across.

I just loved it! (Volunteering) I had so much fun making dessert!

The boulder shelter what can I say! Unfortunately my mom is had to stay there she's going through some rough times. And what a great facility hard-working volunteers and staff clean friendly welcoming! Thank you for the Boulder shelter!

Exactly as Described in previous reviews. I have begun to address issue.

I genuinely care to help those is need, sexual predators is where I draw the line.

Its a warm bed but don't bring personality or individualism... The corrections officers running this place ain't having it.

They do have one of cleaner shelters warm foods at night once on Thursdays have morning breakfast they have choir program a sober dorm even though the majority are not sober staff say that we r to respect dignity even being to loud however I filed a grievance about doorm noise but all that did was have staff give me wearied reaction they don't take those grievance system serious and if u challenge that to they will take it personal .If I was a women or somebody who have kids or black or some other race other than white or 65 or on probation or prole then they would help me better each company in this town hates this shelter they won't hire me any were n this city because I'm staying n the shelter.

They house 17 sex offenders at a time who never get in trouble for assaulting women at the shelter. Only the most elderly or hideous women are not harassed and molested. The staff is amazingly disrespectful and sleeping outside is better and usually more safe.

Good mats good food but was denied a second go because I'm not local they're kind of strenuous on coordinated entry go on a Wednesday night for the Thursday breakfast

Not a bad place to stay when your homeless and the food is good.