Brandon Leuallen, The Business Times

During a joint meeting of the Grand Junction City Council and Mesa County Commission on Feb 3, county officials laid out what they describe as a coordinated pipeline designed to move homeless and low-income residents from crisis to long-term stability, even as both governments navigate constrained budgets.

The workshop came at a pivotal moment for local homelessness services. HomewardBound of the Grand Valley closed its North Avenue emergency shelter on Feb. 28, with final intake on Feb. 27. HomewardBound will now focus operations at its Pathways Family Shelter at 562 29 Road, which has capacity for about 110 people under normal operations and more during emergencies.

In the months leading up to the closure, a combination of private donations and public funding kept the North Avenue shelter operating through the winter. In late 2025, HomewardBound raised approximately $150,000 from community donors to sustain operations through the end of the year. In January, the nonprofit raised an additional $60,000 to keep the shelter open through February.

During that period, the City of Grand Junction released approximately $185,000 in previously allocated shelter funds, and Mesa County contributed $30,000, bringing total public support to roughly $215,000 as HomewardBound consolidated services and prepared for the transition.

The closure follows months of financial strain, as the nonprofit reported funding shortfalls tied to reduced federal and state support and declining private-foundation contributions. Those financial pressures have added urgency to conversations between the city and county about how limited public dollars are allocated and how services are coordinated.

County Commissioner Bobbie Daniel emphasized the county is structured to administer services funded through federal and state programs that cities do not receive directly through the Department of Human Services.

Mesa County Department of Human Services Executive Director Jill Calvert gave the services-pipeline presentation and said, “Our work is to provide safety, stability and meaningful employment to those people in our community.”

Where the pipeline starts: Crisis and contact

Homelessness is not a static number. Some individuals are moving out of homelessness, while others have more recently fallen into it. Still others have been homeless for extended periods.

There are multiple entry points into the county’s service pipeline. Calvert described “crisis” as one of the primary ways individuals enter the system. That crisis may begin with law enforcement, a behavioral health co-responder team, a hospital visit, a domestic violence call or contact with a shelter.

Mesa County Public Health and Human Services operate co-response models alongside law enforcement, coordinating with local nonprofits, and they are partnering with the City of Grand Junction’s community paramedic program.

Under that pilot, a Grand Valley Connects resource navigator works alongside paramedics to address housing, benefit and behavioral-health needs for individuals who frequently use emergency services.

Grand Valley Connects serves as a primary gateway into the system. The county’s resource navigation program has no income barrier and averages roughly 500 client contacts per month. From there, individuals may be referred to benefit programs, housing lists, behavioral health services and workforce support.

Stabilization: Address, ID and benefits

Calvert said for individuals experiencing homelessness, stabilization often begins with basic documentation and benefits.

Calvert explained that unhoused residents may use a Department of Human Services address to apply for public-assistance programs, because most benefits require a mailing address. The department also provides fee waivers to help eligible individuals obtain a Colorado ID.

Mesa County administers food, medical and cash assistance programs, including:

• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
• Medicaid, also known as Health First Colorado, and Child Health Plan Plus.
• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, also known as Colorado Works.
• Old Age Pension.
• Aid to the Needy Disabled.
• Child-support services.

According to figures presented at the workshop, the county’s economic-assistance division brings in more than $455 million annually in medical benefits for Mesa County residents and more than $47 million in food and cash benefits that flow into the local economy. More than 42,000 individuals in the county receive at least one public benefit.

The presentation emphasized these programs are state and federally mandated, regulated and administered at the county level by certified caseworkers. Much of the funding flows from federal and state sources rather than local general-fund revenue.

Calvert acknowledged some programs, including WIC, may be underutilized, meaning not all available federal benefits are accessed locally, and if some of the money goes unused, then it is returned. She said participation levels have fluctuated, and enrollment gaps are smaller than they have been in the past.

Behavioral health, prevention and coordination

Stabilization, officials said, also requires addressing behavioral-health needs.

Mesa County created a behavioral health division in 2025 and is working to standardize protocols across co-response teams and school-based interventions. Officials acknowledged behavioral-health capacity remains a major challenge, but described ongoing efforts to reduce duplication and improve coordination among providers, including the Mesa County Collaborative for the Unhoused.

Calvert said the relationship with the coalition is collaborative, and the goal is to streamline services rather than duplicate them. She emphasized the importance of identifying where programs intersect and ensuring community members do not have to navigate multiple systems unnecessarily.

The Mesa County Collaborative for the Unhoused includes a broad cross section of local government, nonprofit, health care and housing organizations. According to its publicly listed partner board, participating entities include the Grand Junction Housing Authority, Hilltop Community Resources, the Grand Junction Chamber of Commerce, the City of Grand Junction Housing Division, Mesa County Public Health, Grand Valley Catholic Outreach, Intermountain Health, the Grand Valley Coalition for the Homeless, Health Solutions West, United Way of Mesa County, Contexture, Mutual Aid Partners and HomewardBound of the Grand Valley.

The coalition also operates work groups and engages additional service providers, first responders and individuals with lived experience of homelessness as part of its broader collaborative structure.

The county emphasized it is not the sole provider of services that can help the unhoused. Beyond the county-administered pipeline and the collaborative, numerous other local organizations work directly with individuals experiencing homelessness or housing instability.

These include: The Joseph Center and its related transitional-housing programs; The Latimer House, which provides shelter and support for survivors of domestic violence; The Pregnancy Center; HOPE of the Grand Valley; The Salvation Army of Grand Junction; and MarillacHealth. This is not a complete list, but it reflects the breadth of faith-based, nonprofit, medical and service organizations operating alongside government programs in Mesa County.

Child Welfare and Youth Transition Services

The county also operates child-welfare and youth-transition services. In 2025, the child-abuse hotline received more than 4,500 allegations. About 28 percent met criteria for assessment, and 5.3 percent of children who were assessed required out-of-home placement. Nearly half of those children were placed with kinship providers.

For youth aging out of foster care or the juvenile-justice system, emancipation and transition services provide housing assistance, education support and life-skills training, part of what the presentation described as long-term prevention.

Services for veterans

Calvert highlighted services specifically available to veterans. Mesa County operates a Veterans Service Officer program through the Department of Human Services to help veterans and their families navigate federal disability, pension and education benefits. Officials reported serving more than 4,000 veterans and family members annually and helping secure roughly $7 million in federal benefits.

Veterans may also access workforce training and job-placement services through the Mesa County Workforce Center, as well as housing referrals and coordinated entry through Grand Valley Connects and local-housing-authority partnerships.

Prevention and employment: The end of the pipeline

As outlined during the workshop, the county’s pipeline is designed to move residents from crisis contact to resource navigation, benefits enrollment, behavioral-health support, workforce training and ultimately self-sufficiency.

A key component of that final stage is the Mesa County Workforce Center, one of only four in Colorado housed within a human-services department. Officials said that structure allows the county to create what they described as a continuum of services, connecting individuals receiving public assistance directly to employment resources.

Workforce Center services are available to job seekers and employers and do not require income eligibility.

The center provides resume assistance, mock interviews, skills testing, job fairs and on-the-job training opportunities. Officials reported that participants who engage in Workforce Center programs see a median annual wage increase of $11,492, and 71 percent remain employed after 12 months.

The center also funded child care for more than 1,100 children, graduated 51 GED students in the 2024 to 2025 program year and paid approximately $785,000 to local businesses to support internships and workforce training.

“It really provides us an opportunity to create a continuum of services for individuals to get them to self-sufficiency,” Calvert said.