Nearly 15,000 people were living on the streets of Colorado in 2023, according to the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless point-in-time count. That number, as we know, only applies to those who were actually identified on the streets by those organizing the count; meaning that number could be much, much higher.
Oftentimes, policymakers and community advocates take center stage in conversations about solutions for homelessness. And while some of those individuals are well-intentioned and work with unhoused folks directly, it’s extremely imperative that we also hear from those individuals living on our neighborhood streets.
Jack Crow has lived on the streets of Boulder for a little over a year now. They came to KGNU wanting to speak on their own experiences, and on behalf of their unhoused community, about what they think needs to change in Boulder.
Listen:
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Untitled Jackie Sedley
Transcript:
Jack Crow: If the homeless are speaking up, it’s not loud enough. I feel, uh, maybe I’m just that loud or annoying or both, but I don’t know. I just feel the need to stand up, speak out.
Jackie Sedley: So, you say that you feel like the homeless need to speak up and speak out more. About what?
Crow: Uh, well, that we exist. Genuinely. And you keep shoving us out. You shove us out with those pink slips.
Sedley: Pink slips? Explain those to me.
Crow: Uh, pink slips. You’ve probably seen them around. They’re hot pink slips of paper. Um, looks like a postcard, about *this* size, telling you what laws you’re breaking. But pink slips are saying to the homeless, “You have three days, move your entire life somewhere else.” Listen, we exist and shoving us away and shoving us away is not helping. The housing, it’s — look, I have been blessed with this great news that I may get housing very soon, but it, it came with a year of struggling. Torture, mental, physical, hardships. I mean, I got things I cannot heal from. And I’m not the only one out here. We got people dying, we got people struggling. And shoving us away and moving us every week, like some weird game of chess or checkers or Parcheesi, it’s not solving the issue.
Just let us have camping grounds. Let us have camping grounds. There’s plenty of open space. Plenty of open space. Talk with the rangers, you know, give us, just give us the space we need to get our life back on track. Most of us are strong and capable. We just keep getting knocked back down every time we stand up. So listen to us and try to have some respect. It can be mutual. We’re the ones helping out those even less fortunate than us. Like, thankfully she is housed now. I’m not sure for how long, but we had a woman out here. She’s like, 74. I wanted to say a rainstorm came through high winds, freezing cold rain. And this woman is 74 out there in the rain, sobbing into her, into a mattress, cause she can’t move quick enough. Enough is enough. You know, a little rain gets on you and suddenly it is the end of the world. I was out there helping her like get in the wheelchair, get into shelter.
And there are other people that, when it comes down to it, like, the guys in the community will get together, do the heavy lifting, build actual shelters. Like, if you give these guys enough lumber, you know, some actual freaking tools, they could build their own freaking houses, man. I’m telling you, you don’t even need to buy labor.
Sedley: Have you been in the shelters here?
Crow: I kind of refuse to go. I’ve heard horror stories. Um. I’m also immunocompromised, and they say the risk of infection is really high there, even just stepping into the showers, breathing the air. There’s apparently no security for your stuff. You could step outside for a cigarette, go back to your bunk, and all your stuff’s gone, and ha, your roomie, your bunkmate, oh, they’re gone too. Surprise. All your stuff, gone. And, uh, that’s the same with the pink slips too. I lost everything when the pink slips came through.
Letters to my kids, what pictures I had left. I, I had things for Umbrella Outreach, a homeless-helping-the-homeless initiative. And don’t judge too harshly, but yeah, I was in jail and I did a lot of that work in jail. And I had papers. I had found me a nice little like briefcase. I put everything in it and that was gone. And that was from an encampment clearing. That was not from the shelters. And we were on open space. And uh, nothing, nothing is worse than losing everything.
And then on top of that, those days where a, a friend has a warrant, out of county, out of state even. And then you’re down one friend. Um. Sorry, I’m gonna put that tear right back in there.
Sedley: You don’t have to.
Crow: If people are breezing through Boulder and uh, are just coming through town, don’t, don’t take away everything they got and send them off with nothing. And if they love Boulder as much as I do and want to stay, for God’s sakes, help them. Don’t, don’t keep taking away their life, their livelihood. And their only means of getting by.
I had a good 10-year stint of, um, I had a house. I have, I have two wonderful kids, uh, Rain and Luna. Figure I can say their names. Uh, I love them very much and I miss them dearly. That weepy dad type that’s crying into his beer? Yeah, no, I feel him now.
Sedley: So it seems like you found some community out here. Can you speak to that at all? What has that been like for you?
Crow: The community is Boulder’s saving grace. The community, the people, is why I haven’t left Boulder. I know the quote, uh, “The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.” I know this to be true. Um, I thought everyone who actually loved me had died. You know, blood relation or what have you.
Um. But, turns out, I got people who love me out here.
Sedley: So, what do you think could change to benefit – I know you said you’re about to get housing, but – what do you hope are some steps that are taken so that things don’t just continue to be this cycle that you’re talking about?
Crow: Again, there needs to be a better line of communication between, you know, the city council and the homeless community. Like, if you need a liaison, hi. It’s Jack Crow here. Uh, you know, I, I know a guy who knows a guy and I am the guy. Alright. You know, um, you can talk to me, I can connect you with other people passionate about getting the homeless less so. Um, other than a clear line of communication, With that communication comes respect a mutual respect.
Number two. Um, some of you guys are respectful. Some of you guys treat us like garbage. You know who you are. Please. We’re someone’s daughter, we’re someone’s son, we’re someone’s father, we’re someone’s mother. Think on that. If it was your daughter, if it was your son, if it was your mom, if it was your dad. Please. Sorry. And, so respect, communication. And, lastly, get proactive. Um, if you can’t find it within yourself to get interactive with the homeless, get interactive with your city workers. There are people like BTHERE. They are amazing. Anytime, like I really needed to get it done. My food stamps, my birth certificate, other things I lost in those, those sweeps.
Um, I called be there. And guess what? They were there, they came through, and when they said, “Jump,” to these people, I was like, holy cr**, there’s my license. It was amazing, like magic. Talk to them. Talk to any city worker, and for the love of everything holy and unholy. Donate to these people. Volunteer, if you’ve got time, volunteer.
Sedley: So tell me about how you’ve ended up finding housing. Potentially.
Crow: Potentially and hopefully. Um, I’ll be real with you, it’s kind of a lottery. Literally. I, it was the first thing I did when I got to Boulder. So it’s taken almost two years, and I’m finally, maybe, on the list. So, if you are, uh, let’s say you’re homeless right now, or you just find yourself in a bad spot, sign up for that lottery. Just look up Boulder County Housing Lottery, and it’ll take you there. Get to your local library. Sign up for that lottery now. Do not waste time.
Sedley: Why do you say that you think you got housing? What’s the unpredictability about it right now?
Crow: The background check is not just like extensive but, put a glove on it feels like a cavity search, you know. They really look over you with a fine-toothed comb and that takes time at least two weeks and you can get in trouble out here being homeless like camping tickets. You don’t show up for court on a camping ticket, that’s a failure to appear. You rack up four or five failure to appears, you’re looking at felonies now. See the slippery slope we’re on. and how I could ramble on because each little niche that we’re discussing here just branches out into what’s so inherently wrong and what could also be potentially turned around into something so amazing.
I know I’ll be active and I will be out helping the community, but I will be so entirely thankful to have a place to call home. I can come and sit down. I can write. I can plan. My stuff will be safe. My kids can come visit. And that in and of itself is what the housing is all about.
Sedley: Well, is there anything else you want to add? I mean, I think that was unbelievably comprehensive and just so much to reflect on and think on. Do you have anything else that we didn’t touch on though, that you would like to?
Crow: The, there is so much, um, that I could get into the, hows the whys, my story of how I got here ended up homeless again.
I mean, at first I was a teenager, uh, as a grown-ass adult. What should be my excuse? Well, it happens to the best of us, and it’s happening to more of us, unfortunately. Like, there is a crisis happening, and we’re gonna see more homeless adults with children. We don’t want to see that. So, preemptive measures.
Let us help our community so we can have a community. Alright? Community. It’s togetherness. And, uh, hey, Boulder, we’ll be your friend if you let us.
Links to the services Jack mentioned during our conversation:
Boulder Housing Partner’s housing voucher lottery program
Boulder Targeted Homeless Engagement and Referral Effort (BTHERE)
