Life or Death Part 3

Yesterday, advocate Jen Castaneda spent hours scrambling to try to make sure people wouldn’t die while being deflected and dismissed by City officials.

She was transporting people to try to get to banks to pull out money to cover the night so they don’t freeze. In these conditions, people beg anyone who will help. Even if you can have a family member wire you money, how do you get to the location to pick it up?

These are the essential roles played by volunteers, except we’re spread thin, so it fell to her, to shuffle rides, and problem solve with people, while pleading with City Government to step in and do their jobs.

Alison Hade explains City of Loveland decision making during inclement weather.

Yesterday, I published an email Jen sent to Alison Hade. Begging for help.

Jen actually spent a lot of the day trying to reach out through text.

She sent the email at 1:34pm.

Jen continued to scramble to secure accommodations while Alison deflected.

I encourage you to ask how much free labor the City is relying on to do its job here.

Jen was working on getting a list of names together so they could be covered by voucher. This is after two months of begging and demanding that the city create a navigable process.

Does this seem like something you could navigate while you’re freezing, and hauling around everything you won with no transportation and no clear answers for who to contact, when to contact, or what to expect?

The unhoused person they are speaking about was “ADLed” a few days ago.

Yesterday the sun set at 4:35pm.

Please think about what it’s like at 5:30 at night, an hour after sundown, to not know where you will sleep, and know if you don’t figure it out, you will likely die.

At 5:24pm Jim Thompson replied:

Hi Jen;

I am adding Bob Paulsen to this email response so he can be ready for when Red Cross provides a location. If you know where this might be it would help us determine the appropriate process to assist them expeditiously.

You noted you are working with Alison on the hotel vouchers which is the appropriate person to assist.

Thank you.

Best,
Jim

At 8:11 Sat 29, 2025 Jen wrote:

Jim and Laura,

Thank you for your email I just received word that Laura and you are prepared to assist with the Red Cross shelter being open thank you so much for your executive decision making to save lives. I reached out to the Calvary Church just south of LRCI did not get a response and I reached out to the First Methodist United Church on 6th and Grant who’s trustees had yet to make a decision on how they would be able to help. That said the office manager was willing to forward any information on to the trustees pertaining to a Red Cross shelter and the potential for opening one. Please reach out accordingly so that we can get one opened my hope is for both locations so that we can have men and women in one shelter family is youth and disabled in another as I do not believe either will be able to house all. Thank you so much for your willingness to do the right thing for the community members of our unhoused. Please let me know how we are going to spread this information once we have that solidified so that all of our homeless Community has access to that information. Thank you so much and I look forward to confirmation as to the location and dates and times that this will be made available immediately. I also look forward to the publicity by the city of Loveland so that we can share that information with multiple Community pages to inform as many as possible on our end but ultimately this is your responsibility to ensure the safety of your community.

Near this time, the City of Loveland released the following on social media.

City of Loveland, Colorado – Government

20h ·

The Loveland Resource Center (LRC) will operate under inclement weather protocol from 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 29 – 7 a.m. Monday, Dec. 1.

If you or someone you know needs a safe, warm place to stay, please contact the LRC:

137 S. Lincoln Ave.
(970) 962-2951

During inclement weather operations

Jen is still waiting to hear back about the Red Cross Shelter. Theere Nobody from the city ever provided a location or contact person, just a promise and deflection while another cold night passes.

We will dip back down to 9 degrees on Wednesday.