Program providing safe space for Summit County workers who sleep in their cars needs more parking spots
After losing access to eight spots off Galena Street in Frisco, Unsheltered in Summit is calling on local governments to help find new spaces for the summer
Paul Minjares estimates he paid around $500 for a single bedroom when he moved to Summit County in 2012. By 2021, he was paying around $1,200.
He changed housing four times during those nine years, forced out by high rents or because his unit was converted to a short-term rental. Each move only became more and more expensive, he said.
“You need $3,000 to $4,000 just to move in — you need the first month’s rent and the deposit — and it’s hard for people to keep switching up like that,” Minjares said.
So in 2021, Minjares decided to live full-time in his car with the help of Unsheltered in Summit, a program that partners with county and town governments to provide safe parking spaces for county workers who sleep in their vehicles.
“The reason why I got into the program is because I had been shoved around four different spaces,” Minjares said, “and landlords kept raising the rents ridiculous amounts.”
Launched in 2019, Unsheltered in Summit originally provided safe parking at the Agape Outpost Church along Colorado Highway 9 near Breckenridge. Since then, it has worked with local officials to secure new spaces including parking lots at the Frisco Bay Marina and county-owned facilities.
Now, after several years of growing participation, the program is in need of more parking spots after losing access to one of its sites.
Last year, the Town of Frisco provided the program eight spots for the summer at the town-owned 602 Galena St. property, which hosts the Colorado Workforce Center. But this summer, the building is slated to be demolished to make way for a new affordable housing development, leaving Unsheltered in Summit unable to access the lot.
Get the news you want, when you want it. Sign up for daily or weekly newsletters at SummitDaily.com/newsletter
It means the program will be down from 26 spots last summer to 18 this year. It still has eight parking spots secured at the County Commons building outside Frisco and 10 at the Justice Center parking lot in Breckenridge. During the winter, the program uses 25 spaces at the marina lot in addition to spaces at the County Commons.
The loss of access comes as the program sees increased demand. This summer marks the first in the program’s five-year history to see a waitlist, which stood at 11 people as of May 9, according to program director Diane Luellen.
‘Challenging to find enough space’
Luellen said the waitlist is being driven by a growing number of workers who want to stay in the county year-round as opposed to just seasonally.
“What we’ve seen is that more of our people, members from the winter, are wanting to stay for the summer than we’ve seen in the past,” Luellen said. “As the county has declared, we have a housing emergency. It’s just a scramble for people to find places to live. And so, one viable option is to live in your car.”
Now, Luellen is seeking local governments’ help in finding enough additional space to not only make up for the loss of Galena Street but also whittle down the waitlist. So far, the program has been in talks with Frisco and the county government with plans to present to Silverthorne Town Council at a later point, Luellen said.
Frisco Communications Director Vanessa Agee, in an email to the Summit Daily News, said the town has been looking for other options for the program but is challenged by limited parking availability.
“It is discouraging, as we have found that it is especially challenging to find enough space that is appropriate and has some level of privacy during summer in a town that is 1.89 square miles and is often busier in summer than winter,” Agee stated.
The proposed affordable housing development at Galena Street is one of two projects the town is working on in partnership with The NHP Foundation, a national nonprofit organization that promotes affordable housing efforts.
The current plan calls for up to 54 below-market-rate rental units to be built at the Galena Street location and another 49 units to be built at 101 W. Main St., where a 1970s-era office building now stands.
“While Town Council believes that there is a real and present need to provide this safe and reliable option for those residents living in their vehicles, they also acknowledge that making available more affordable rental housing options is likely to offer a much better quality of life than living in a vehicle in the long term,” Agee stated.
The county says it is looking into the request but wants more data from Unsheltered in Summit about how existing parking is being used before making a decision.
County Communications Director Sarah Wilkinson said county staff have been made aware that not all eight spots provided at the County Commons building are always in use, adding, “We want to make sure that that is the case, because it feels from our experience that there are spots available.”
Wilkinson said the county is also seeking more information on who in the program is using it to find more longer-term housing so that the county can gain a better idea of participants’ housing needs.
“We don’t want to ascribe a need to a group of people that isn’t there,” Wilkinson said. “But also, if there is a need for long-term housing … that’s something we want to consider.”
With parking remaining a “premium everywhere in the county,” Wilkinson said it is difficult to find additional spots that can be reserved for the program outside of what has already been provided. But county officials are supportive of the program and open to exploring options, she added.
Luellen, the Unsheltered in Summit director, said most vacancies at the sites are usually temporary, adding, “I liken it to the fact that, if you live in a house, you’re not always there either. And it’s the same with folks who live in their cars in a parking lot, they’re not there every night.”
Still, Luellen said there have been instances where members are gone “more often than we would like” and the program is screening participants to ensure spots don’t go underused.
“We are taking steps to make sure that the generosity of the county is not wasted,” Luellen said.
Seeking a ‘secure life in our community’
While vehicle living is a lifestyle choice for some, it is also a practical solution to record-high housing costs, Luellen said.
According to a 2023 housing needs assessment conducted by Root Policy Research, the availability of low-rent housing units has shrunk significantly over the past two decades.
In 2000, most rental units occupied by permanent renters were priced between $500 and $800 per month, with few units renting for $2,000 or more. More than 1,600 rental units, or nearly half of all rental units at the time, rented for less than $800 per month, the study states. By 2023, the median rent countywide stood at $2,300 for a studio or one-bedroom and $3,100 for a two-bedroom, according to data analyzed between March and June of that year.
“There’s always of course been people who live in their cars, but more so now because of the higher cost of housing,” Luellen said.
Those who rely on the program like Minjares want governments to know how impactful it’s been on their lives.
When he was renting, Minjares said he worked 60-70 hours per week to afford his cost of living. Taking on multiple jobs, including as a chef, he had little time to focus on his passion: music.
But since participating in Unsheltered in Summit, Minjares said he’s been able to make music a full-time job. By saving money that would otherwise go to rent, Minjares has been able to start an LLC and purchase instruments. He now works as a musician, performing and doing contract work in the county.
“All that money that I make is getting invested into me,” he said, adding that he’s seen an improvement in his mental health, too.
And having a safe space to park has brought him peace of mind.
“You don’t have to worry about cops knocking on your window. You can wake up, have a morning routine without having to automatically leave,” Minjares said.
The program employs several guardrails aimed at avoiding conflict with law enforcement and ensuring its members act respectfully while utilizing public spaces.
The application process includes providing proof of employment in the county, a questionnaire, interview, a signed waiver of responsibility and a community respect agreement. The program appoints hosts to ensure the community rules are followed, a role Minjares currently serves at the County Commons site.
While local governments do not charge for the spaces, Unsheltered in Summit does require monthly payments from its members to help cover the costs of trash cans and portable toilets, which it provides at each space.
Beginning June 1, Luellen said the program will raise its fees from $50 to $75 per month, both to keep up with escalating costs for amenities and to discourage more casual use.
Neither the county government nor the Frisco have reported issues in hosting the program, with Agee, Frisco’s communications director, telling Summit Daily the town’s partnership over the past two years “has been terrific.”
“They are well organized, passionate, and thoughtful in how they create agreements with residents so that the program provides peaceful and safe residential camping,” Agee stated in an email. “The town has found that residents in this program are a lot like all of us and have many of the same hopes and dreams for a good and secure life in our community.”
For those reasons, Luellen is optimistic the program will find more parking this summer. Luellen added governments can help, but also businesses and other organizations.
“I am hopeful that somewhere out there somebody knows of a space that would be available,” she said.
Luellen can be contacted at dianeluellen@comcast.net. More information on Unsheltered in Summit can be found online at UnshelteredSummit.org.
Support Local Journalism
Support Local Journalism
As a Summit Daily News reader, you make our work possible.
Summit Daily is embarking on a multiyear project to digitize its archives going back to 1989 and make them available to the public in partnership with the Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection. The full project is expected to cost about $165,000. All donations made in 2023 will go directly toward this project.
Every contribution, no matter the size, will make a difference.