A free apartment comes with strings for Denver RV dwellers — and no place to park ...Middle East

Piles of old blankets and clothes. Worn-out carpet and wood paneling. Mechanics’ tools jumbled together. A propane heater and a spare gas can. Plastic containers overflowing with supplies. 

Some may see a mess when they look inside the 1990s Ford E350 RV that Chantel Draper and Thomas Turner own. But to Draper and Turner, it’s home. 

For the last nine years, Draper and Turner have been homeless together in Denver. Over that time, they have lived in four RVs they bought with money Turner earned as a mechanic. Their three previous RVs were impounded by the Denver Police Department because they thought they were abandoned, Turner told The Colorado Sun. 

The couple’s fortunes appeared to be changing when they were placed in a temporary housing unit at The Aspen, at 4040 Quebec Street, through Denver’s All In Mile High program in March. All In Mile High was created in 2023 to provide temporary housing for people who are homeless in Denver, connect them with additional services, and then move them into permanent housing options. The program costs about $57.5 million per year to operate, according to the city’s budget. 

While the housing placement might seem like good news, Turner describes the couple’s situation as a Catch-22. They rely on the RV to travel to doctor’s appointments, buy groceries and go to work, but they aren’t allowed to park it at The Aspen. So, they must park the RV elsewhere and hope it doesn’t get towed, or live in the RV and risk being subject to criminal penalties.  

“Anybody else in America can park on the street and the cops won’t give two shits,” Turner said, “I park for two minutes, and then I got people calling the cops saying I’m dealing with drugs or whatever.” 

Personal challenges

For the last two years, Denver’s All In Mile High program has forced RV dwellers like Draper and Turner to make a difficult choice. Either give up the RV and accept temporary housing arrangements in a program where roughly 1 in 8 participants exit into permanent housing, or continue living in the RV and accept all the risks that come with it. 

Turner said this situation has created a lot of issues for the couple as well. Draper has multiple health challenges, and Turner has needed to help her eat, bathe, and go to the bathroom when her feet swell to the point where she can’t walk. She also has poor eyesight and needs Turner to help her read and understand policy documents she must sign while living at The Aspen. 

Even so, Turner said The Aspen’s staff would not allow him to stay in Draper’s room, even though couples are allowed to live together at the shelter. Turner said it’s because he refused to turn in a pocket knife that he inherited from his father. Because of that, Turner has been living outside the shelter in the RV to prevent it from being towed. 

These issues have also caused the couple to move between multiple shelters, which increases the risk that their RV could break down or run out of gas. For instance, the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless paid for a room at the Super 8 Motel near Interstate 25 and 58th Avenue so that Turner could help Draper recover from cataract surgery in early April. Even though the room is less than 7 miles from The Aspen, Turner said the move caused the couple more stress than needed. 

“I’m struggling to get gas money to keep this (RV) moving, and Denver police ain’t stopping with their abandoned vehicle tags,” Turner said. 

It may seem logical to give up an RV for a room at a temporary shelter, but there are multiple reasons why someone who is homeless would want to keep the vehicle. Not only can it be used for transportation, but it can also serve as a shelter if they lose their living arrangement. 

The Good Neighbor Agreements that Denver negotiated with the communities surrounding the temporary shelters outline reasons why someone may be asked to leave. These agreements catalyzed the $150 million investment Denver made to acquire hotels and secure contracts with service providers like The Salvation Army to operate the All In Mile High shelters. 

For instance, people living at The Aspen and other temporary shelters can be asked to leave for being violent or abusive toward guests or staff, according to the agreement. Bringing weapons like baseball bats and knives onto the property is also prohibited. Those who fail to check in with staff on three consecutive days can be discharged from the property. 

Jennifer Forker, spokesperson for The Salvation Army in Colorado, told The Sun that the Good Neighbor Agreements effectively prohibit RV parking. The nonprofit also has concerns about people using RVs to conduct illicit activities, she said. However, she said cars and trucks are allowed to park at the shelter. 

Forker declined to answer questions about how many RVs have been towed from The Aspen since it opened. 

A statement of priorities

A confluence of factors, ranging from policy gaps to a lack of available resources, created the issues Draper and Turner are attempting to navigate. 

While Denver plans to launch programs later this summer to address the issues, advocates and some RV dwellers say the gaps have caused people to lose trust in All In Mile High itself. 

Since 2023, All In Mile High has prioritized reducing the number of large tent encampments in Denver by providing rapid rehousing options. Those encampments were a stark illustration of Denver’s rapidly increasing unhoused population, which has increased by 59% up to more than 1,200 people since 2016, according to data from the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative. 

By the city’s metrics, All In Mile High has been a success. According to Cole Chandler, Mayor Mike Johnston’s senior advisor on homelessness resolution, there are no more large tent encampments in Denver like those seen during the pandemic. 

But those placed in temporary housing have struggled to exit All In Mile High to more permanent solutions. Over 3,800 people received housing through All In Mile High, with about 671 people, or roughly 18% of those who enter the program, having exited to permanent housing, according to updated figures shared with The Sun. That means people like Draper and Turner could end up being unsheltered if they give up their RV and are asked to leave The Aspen. 

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Denver also does not have a dedicated Safe Parking Site for RV dwellers. Safe parking sites are parking lots where people who live in their vehicles can park overnight without the fear of being towed or ticketed. Some sites also connect parkers with local service providers.  

The First Baptist Church of Denver operates the only Safe Parking Site in Denver. A representative of the church told The Sun that the site is available for people who own cars and trucks only. The church will consider RVs on a case-by-case basis, but currently does not allow them to park there, the representative added. 

The only safe parking sites that are available to RV dwellers are in Westminster and Broomfield, according to the Colorado Safe Parking Initiative, a nonprofit that used to coordinate services for people at safe parking sites. The nonprofit closed at the end of 2024 because of a lack of funding. 

Third, Denver has made it more difficult for RVs to park overnight in the city. Outside of encampments, RVs have become one of the most visible symbols of homelessness in Denver since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020. 

Over the last year alone, 343 complaints were logged in Denver’s 3-1-1 municipal services database for large vehicle parking infractions. The data does not distinguish between RVs and other large commercial vehicles like 18-wheelers blocking the public right-of-way. Advocates like Terese Howard, an organizer with Housekeys Action Network Denver, suggest that many complaints are related to RV parking in residential areas. 

Denver also does not allow vehicles over 22 feet in length to park on a street for more than 24 hours. In 2023, the Denver City Council revised a law to give city officials more power to ticket or tow RVs classified as “junkers,” or inoperable vehicles. The law also required RV dwellers to move their vehicle at least one city block after being contacted by officials, instead of 100 feet as required by the pre-2023 law. 

Advocates with the ACLU of Colorado objected to the changes. The organization wrote a letter to the Denver City Council in 2023 saying the new law could be used to target people who are homeless. 

Turner believes Denver police officers have used the junker law to target Edwards and himself. The couple has collected more than 50 abandoned vehicle notices since 2022, despite their RV being operational. 

“Long overdue” solutions

Chandler told The Sun that the city is “very aware” of the issues RV dwellers face. The city also plans to roll out a few solutions for them this year. 

For instance, Chandler said Denver’s 2025 budget includes funds for the Department of Housing Stability to launch an RV outreach program to connect people living in those vehicles with services through All In Mile High. That program will be modeled after the large encampment outreach effort the city conducted over the last two years, Chandler said. The team is expected to be launched later this summer. 

Chandler also said Denver is working with All In Mile High shelter providers to change their policies regarding parking RVs on site. Chandler held a meeting with some providers on April 11 and said those who attended the meeting supported the policy change. The policy changes could occur over the next few weeks, Chandler said. 

Forker confirmed that The Salvation Army attended the meeting and that “some changes are coming.” However, she did not specify when the policy changes would take effect. 

“What we’ve asked the providers to do is make sure that there’s a basic agreement in place with the RV owner and focusing on ensuring that no one is going to live in that RV while it’s parked there,” Chandler told The Sun. 

Howard says the solutions Chandler offered are long overdue. 

Howard and other advocates raised the idea of providing dedicated parking for RV dwellers at the All In Mile High sites during a meeting with Chandler in October, she said. They also discussed creating an RV buyback program where RV dwellers could sell their vehicle to the city in exchange for placement at an All In Mile High site or other rapid rehousing option. However, Howard said the Denver City Attorney’s office shot down the buyback program idea. 

Howard added that many RV dwellers she has spoken to are skeptical about trading their vehicle for a room at an All In Mile High site. “It’s not perfect, but a lot of people have things set up functionally in their RV, and to go into a controlled shelter environment with a shit-ton of people is not what people are looking for,” she told The Sun. 

Trusting the process

The challenges RV dwellers face within All In Mile High seem to have caused some to lose trust in the program over the last two years, Howard said. Turner and Draper appear to be an example. 

The couple was willing to share videos, audio recordings, and photographs of their experiences at multiple All In Mile High sites with The Sun via email. When The Sun initially interviewed Turner over the phone, he spoke at length about how he does not trust service providers because of multiple instances where he felt mistreated or unsafe. 

Turner shared a video of when he was attacked while trying to make breakfast at the former Comfort Inn on Quebec Street. He was cut in multiple places across his face and was knocked unconscious, according to a video depicting EMT workers interviewing a bloodied Turner. 

“Everybody says you gotta pull yourself up by your bootstraps, but what happens if those bootstraps keep getting stolen?” Turner said. 

Draper said that the couple feels like they must watch their property at all times to prevent staff at The Aspen from taking something. She also said she feels like the staff has tried to take advantage of her disabilities by forcing her to sign policy documents when she has trouble seeing and reading them.  

“This whole time, they’ve been telling us that we will get into a home,” Draper said through tears. “All I want is a home, a place of my own. I don’t think it will ever come.” 

Despite the distrust, the couple is still making their way through the All In Mile High system. When Draper returned to The Aspen from the Super 8 Motel, she found two notices posted on her door. One introduced their new case manager, and the other was from a housing navigator who said the couple could be moved into permanent housing within a month. 

The news was almost hard for Draper to believe. After months of bouncing back and forth between shelters, their journey seems to end with a housing placement. The notices also made Draper reflect on the couple’s journey and the amount of trouble they’ve gone through to protect their RV while waiting for housing. 

“We don’t want to have to deal with them continuing to torture and torment us because our vehicle happens to be a motorhome at this point,” Draper said in an email.

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