AURORA | Operators of Aurora’s troubled homeless Regional Aurora Navigation Campus say the city moved too quickly to open the $38 million facility last November, launching operations in a building that was not ready, contributing to ongoing problems that continue to frustrate residents and worry city officials.
City council members and the center’s operator said Tuesday that it was a misstep to open the center last November inside a hotel-turned-shelter before critical systems, repairs and infrastructure were fully in place.
“My answer is no, we should not have,” Jim Goebelbecker, CEO of Advance Pathways, the nonprofit group operating the facility, said during a March 31 City Council committee meeting. “We weren’t ready. The building wasn’t ready.”
The admission comes amid months of mounting complaints from residents, detailed in a February Sentinel Colorado story and the focus of numerous complaints from residents brought regularly to city council meetings.
Problems with the nascent homelessness project include everything from plumbing failures and mold concerns to inconsistent rules, lack of services and difficulty advancing through the shelter’s tiered system.
Some council members have registered their own concerns and, in some cases, regret.
“I think we moved too fast,” said Councilmember Angela Lawson.
The decision to open the facility in November was driven in part by urgency as winter approached and the city sought to expand shelter capacity during cold weather. But officials now say that urgency came at a cost.
“In the rearview mirror, yeah, we opened up way too early,” Goebelbecker said.
Still, center leaders and some city lawmakers said it’s clear the building and other challenges should have been addressed before bringing in residents.
The Navigation Campus was designed as a multi-tiered system to move people from emergency shelter into more stable housing. But ongoing building issues, including plumbing failures, heating and cooling problems, and mold remediation, have significantly limited its functionality, program and city homeless officials say.
Complaints of black mold in the building are founded, but limited to two top floors of the building where no guests or employees have access to, Stephanie Keiper, Manager of Homelessness and Behavioral Health, Housing and Community Services told city officials.
The city owns the building and contracts with Advance Pathways to operate the homelessness services. City officials said this week that portions of the upper floors remain under repair, with contractors working room by room to remove mold and replace affected materials. such as walls and flooring. Other issues, such as troublesome heating and air conditioning units and aging plumbing systems, continue to complicate operations.
Those problems mirror earlier reports from residents, who told the Sentinel that flooding, sewage issues and poor building conditions made living at the campus difficult and, at times, in their opinion, unsafe.
The building’s operational challenges are most visible in its top level of housing.
The campus is structured into three tiers: a low-barrier emergency shelter, a transitional tier requiring case management, and a third tier offering private or semi-private rooms for residents who meet stricter requirements, including employment and sobriety.
Despite having roughly 220 rooms available in Tier 3, only three people are currently living in that level, Goebelbecker said.
The stark mismatch created by hundreds of empty rooms alongside a crowded lower-tier shelter reflects both physical limitations in the building and barriers within the program model itself.
Some Tier 3 rooms remain offline due to ongoing repairs or concerns about plumbing capacity, program officials said. Operators say they are intentionally moving slowly, adding only a small number of residents at a time to avoid overloading building systems.
“We want to test the systems and make sure that they’re working properly,” Goebelbecker said, noting plans to increase occupancy gradually, by about 15 residents per month, possibly reaching about 100 residents in Tier 3 by the end of the year.
But operational issues are only part of the problem.
Strict eligibility requirements — including full-time employment and sobriety — have also limited the number of residents able or willing to move up.
Officials said some residents in Tier 2 are working but not sober, making them ineligible for Tier 3, while others simply are not ready or interested in advancing.
Goebelbecker said that about 55 people are currently in the Tier 2 “pods” program.
That dynamic aligns with complaints from residents who spoke with the Sentinel, many of whom said they felt stuck in lower tiers despite meeting expectations, or confused by changing rules and unclear pathways to advancement.
Another emerging issue, according to operators, is a growing population the facility operators say was not designed to serve: elderly homeless residents with significant medical needs.
Goebelbecker described older individuals as among the most difficult cases for the Navigation Campus, which is structured primarily as a transitional shelter rather than a medical or assisted-living facility.
“This isn’t the right place for elderly people who have significant health issues,” he said. “This is just not what this is designed for.”
He recounted a recent interaction with a woman he estimated to be around 70 years old, struggling to manage opening a door and breathe, needing help accessing oxygen equipment.
Cases like hers, he said, highlight a mismatch between the facility’s design and the realities of homelessness in the region.
That challenge is part of a broader national trend, experts say, with increasing numbers of older adults experiencing homelessness due to rising housing costs, fixed incomes and medical expenses.
Navigation Campus staff attempt to prioritize vulnerable residents, allowing those with mobility issues to move to the head of lunch lines, for example, and refer them to outside providers.
A nonprofit health clinic operates on-site during the day, and case managers work to connect residents with services.
Complaints by some elderly residents and others who just couldn’t make enough money working to pay for rent and living expenses illustrate a problem the center faces because the purpose of the center is to allow residents to move through the tiers and then move out, permanently, to live on their own.
The Tier 3 program, offering private rooms, was never intended to be a destination, but a transition, officials say.
The facility, by design, lacks the infrastructure for higher-level care, such as medical respite beds or long-term assisted living, leaving staff to navigate complex needs of some residents with limited resources.
Council members also pressed operators on staffing levels, training and services, echoing concerns raised by residents about inexperienced staff and insufficient case management.
The campus currently employs four case managers, with plans to hire two more. Officials say their goal is a ratio of one case manager for every 30 residents, though current caseloads can reach as high as 50 people.
Case management remains a critical component of the campus model, intended to help residents secure employment, access services and ultimately transition to permanent housing. But both officials and residents acknowledge it is an area needing improvement.
“This is one of the things that we’ve got to get better at,” Goebelbecker said.
Training for staff is also still being developed. While case managers typically have formal education and training, other frontline staff are receiving ongoing instruction in areas such as ethics, boundaries and recognizing mental health or trafficking concerns. Some council members questioned whether more formal, standardized training should be required before staff interact with residents.
Council members point to one instance where a shelter staff member took food stamps offered by a homeless guest.
Goebelbecker said the incident occurred last year, before the campus opened at the city’s day center, and that the staff member was fired.
Despite the challenges, city officials emphasized that the Navigation Campus is still in its early stages and undergoing what they described as “growing pains.”
The facility currently serves between 300 and 350 people on a typical night, a sharp increase from previous winter shelter operations. Officials say the campus has significantly expanded the city’s capacity to provide shelter and services, even if the rollout has been uneven.
Police and fire officials have also reported a high volume of calls to the site, including mental health crises and welfare checks, underscoring the complexity of the population being served.
Council members said they plan to continue closely monitoring the facility, requesting regular updates and pushing for greater transparency about operations, incidents and progress.
“I think we need to be more transparent with our residents and with the community about really what is going on,” one council member said.
For now, both city leaders and operators say the focus is on stabilizing the facility, completing building repairs, expanding staffing, and refining operations, all the while acknowledging that the early launch created challenges that will take time to resolve.
Immediate plans call for developing an outdoor area with picnic tables and shade for residents to spend time outside of the shelter. A permanent outdoor area is planned for construction later this year, as well as plans for improvements to outdoor lighting and other security.
“We’re here now,” Goebelbecker said. “And we’re working through it.”