When I was a young first-year principal at a high school here in Denver, my mentor told me there are only two things you can offer students: truth and hope. She said, “if you never tell them the truth, they’ll wake up every morning searching for something that doesn’t exist. But if you don’t give them hope, they won’t go searching for anything at all.”

That sentiment rings true in Denver today. On any given night, over 1,000 Denverites are outside trying to find a sidewalk to sleep on or a bridge to sleep under because they have nowhere else to go. These are the hard truths facing our city.

A few weeks ago, I met a man waiting in line outside a shelter with a bag in one hand and a hard hat in the other. He was a disabled veteran who served two tours in Iraq, and when he came back to the United States, he got hooked on opioids. He told me that he has to be on-site for his construction job by 5:30 am, but he also needs to get on the bus at 5 am to go across town to the methadone clinic to receive treatment. He wasn’t sure if he’d make it without treatment that day, so he was forced to skip his shift just to get through the day.

A single day without a paycheck meant he didn’t have enough money to pay for a room at the hotel he was staying at, so for the first time in 11 months, he was back on the street. His story exemplifies the moment we’re in — he wanted housing and a steady job, but a series of seemingly logistical problems stood in the way. Tonight we are failing him. That is a hard truth

But there is real hope around what we can accomplish on homelessness.

Throughout my career, people have told me that the problems we faced were too big to solve. Despite the skepticism of some that my plans are too bold, I deeply believe that with a big vision, the right leadership, and relentless commitment to building coalitions that deliver results we can make a real difference on homelessness in Denver.

I spent the last two years of my career working on affordable housing and homelessness. And those lessons shaped my plan to address Denver’s homelessness crisis. So here is what we need to do to make a real difference in our city’s homelessness crisis.

We learned from the leadership of homelessness advocates right here in Denver that we should be providing safe, stable, dignified housing. That’s why my plan to address homelessness will immediately build micro-communities of tiny homes and convert hotels to provide real housing for people. The benefit of tiny homes and hotel conversions is that we can build them extremely quickly (a tiny home can be 3D printed within 5 days), and we can build them affordably. We know that when people have a roof over their heads, a door that locks, and an address where they can receive mail, they have the stability they need to get back on their feet and succeed.

We also know that we have to offer more than just stable housing. Access to high-quality wrap-around support services makes a real difference in an individual’s ability to succeed in the future. Under my homelessness plan, each micro-community across the city will provide mental health care, addiction support, and workforce training. And the benefit of a housing-first approach like this one is that individuals who have stability in their housing are much more likely to accept services and succeed with those services.

We’ve also learned that it’s important to rehouse individuals with the community they formed in their encampments, so they have built-in support systems in their new housing. It’s equally as important to create specific communities for different people, like one just for women or just for families, or just for folks with service animals, so people can feel more comfortable and more willing to accept both housing and support services.

The hard truth is that we’re in a tough position, and too many of our neighbors are fighting for their lives on the street every single night. But the hope is that we know we can fix this with compassion, respect, and real solutions that will make Denver the first major city to end unsheltered homelessness.

Mike Johnston is running for Denver mayor. He was a Colorado state Senator and then the CEO of Gary Community Ventures.

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