RV living on the road to housing

Photos and story by Giles Clasen

The first night, homeless in a camper, was not easy for Devine Carter

“It was scary,” Carter said. “It doesn’t sound too bad until you stay outside and you hear the noise of people walking past, talking, and chattering. It was a little unnerving.”

There has been a rise in the use of RVs by those experiencing homelessness in Denver. Cars and other vehicles are often the last resort for individuals who become homeless, but RVs are unique because they stand out when parked in Denver neighborhoods.

Carter and her partner Cornelius Jenkins have been living in their 22-foot trailer for over 18 months. They have had to navigate Denver’s parking laws, deal with a hit-and-run, and respond to Denver’s weather extremes. Still, their trailer has become a home they worked hard to build.

 Carter and Jenkins lost their housing when their son was arrested.

Carter and Jenkins moved in with their son in 2020 to provide support when their son began exhibiting chaotic behavior, trespassing at businesses, and eventually, was arrested. Their son lost his publicly supported housing in the process leaving Carter and Jenkins homeless.

“We moved in with our son to help him,” Jenkins said. “When he lost his housing, we lost ours. We sacrificed for him but lost everything ourselves.”

When her son was arrested, Carter lost her job, as well. Before then, she had been working to care for her son under Colorado’s Family Caregiver Act and was employed through the Mental Health Center of Denver, which is now called Wellpower. Jenkins had his own handyman and construction company but struggled to find work in the early days of the pandemic.

 “It happened so fast we couldn’t react,” Jenkins said. “We did the best we could, and it led us here.”

After their eviction, Jenkins and Carter lived in hotels trying desperately to find a foothold and get another apartment. Instead, the cost of hotels depleted their savings.

The saving grace was that Jenkins did some construction work for a woman who had an old RV in her yard. The RV needed new tires but was mechanically sound.

“This RV saved us. It was the luckiest thing for us, or maybe, the best blessing. I don’t know where we would be without it,” Jenkins said.

OFFERING SECURITY

Lisa Barczak, a peer support specialist with Stout Street Health Center, understands why individuals would try to live in a camper when homeless. Stout Street Health Center is a program of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless that provides medical, dental, and vision services.

As Barczak pointed out, RVs are safer than sleeping on the sidewalk and have extra storage space, which is a precious commodity when most shelters don’t have storage.

Barczak, who does outreach to unhoused individuals throughout the Metro area, was homeless herself. She often slept on sidewalks without any shelter and had people pee and pour beer on her while sleeping. She even woke to men masturbating, she said.

“I do feel like having an RV would be worth it for having that peace of mind and having that safe place to sleep,” Barczak said. “[An RV] would be valuable to be able to actually sleep when you want to go to sleep, to lock the door and feel safe. When you’re sleeping outside on the street you really couldn’t be more vulnerable.”

RUNNING AFOUL OF THE LAW

The added security of an RV comes with a unique cost. According to an email sent to Denver VOICE from the Denver Police Department’s Media Relations Unit, RVs longer than 22 feet that are parked on Denver’s streets must be moved 100 ft every 72 hours.

For the first few months in their camper, Carter and Jenkins spent their time trying to avoid the police. They moved their RV every few days and tried to stay under the radar. It didn’t matter. The two still accumulated their share of tickets.

Jeff Landis, another individual living in an RV, has also lived with this threat. He said the biggest hassle he faces is police and code enforcement.

“The cops want to run us off and call that the solution,” Landis said. “It is obvious the powers that be don’t want to help us. They want to run us off and move us one block away. But the problem isn’t solved, we don’t get help. It is just one big shell game.”

Landis would like to find stable housing. As he explained in an interview with Denver VOICE, he is tired of living in an RV. He is connected with services through the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless and works with a case manager who helps him apply for housing. But the wait for housing is long.

Landis has tried to find work but has not been successful.

“I can’t find a job in the best job market of my life,” he said. “And it isn’t because I’m not trying. It isn’t because I don’t want a job. When you’re homeless, you can’t find a job. It is discrimination because you don’t have clean clothes and you don’t have a shower. Who is going to hire you?”

Additionally, Landis has an injury he sustained after working in construction for 30 years, and that limits his options. He recently applied for SSDI. Landis said he will continue to try and hide from police or parking enforcement until he can get an apartment or other housing.

“Sometimes. they find me and give me a ticket,” Landis said. “When I can’t pay the ticket, everything gets messier and harder for me. The next ticket or the ticket after that may mean I get booted or towed. and then, I lost my last bit of shelter. That added cost [of moving the camper every day] means it is even harder for me to get out of this mess.”

According to Landis, the higher gas prices have hurt him, making the possibility of getting housing even less likely.

“With inflation, I’ve got nothing,” Landis said. “I need to panhandle $50 a day to get 10 or so gallons of gas. And 10 gallons don’t move a camper far.”

Landis is hoping to improve his situation by participating in Denver's  Basic Income Project. The project recently received $2 million in funding from the city of Denver to test the impact of a no-strings-attached basic income for individuals experiencing homelessness.

Landis said he is a little discouraged the Basic Income Project is prioritizing women, transgender, and gender-non-confirming individuals. He understands the unique needs of the target population but hopes all individuals in need of help could have equal access to the funds.

He points out that single homeless men often have access to fewer services than other populations making their recovery from homelessness a more difficult climb.

FINDING OFF-STREET PARKING

To avoid parking tickets, Jenkins and Carter explored renting space at an RV park. The cheapest they could find was $900 a month, but Jenkins felt it was a “shady” deal. He said a decent one costs $1,400 a month, which was outside of their budget.

Eventually, they were lucky to receive an invitation from a friend to park on private property in Northeast Denver. This has ended their run-ins with law enforcement, and now, the two consider the RV their tiny home.

“I love living in our RV,” Carter said. “We had to simplify our lives to make it work. We had to get rid of almost everything because there is [little] storage, but it works for us.”

ALWAYS A RISK OF LOSING A HOM

In addition to the stress and ticket fees, RV owners experiencing homelessness face other costs like licensing and insurance, which can put housing even further out of reach.

“A lot of these vehicles don’t run, and the ones that do are in constant need of repairs and money to fix them,” Barczak said.

And leaving a vehicle, even if it’s to get services or health care, can result in a vehicle being towed. When an RV is unattended, it could be considered an abandoned vehicle.

Landis has experienced additional difficulties because his RV needs repairs. He is trying to do the repairs himself, but it is expensive. He is hoping his current parking spot is far enough off the beaten path he won’t be noticed before the repairs are complete.

As the Denver Police Department media relations unit explained, if a vehicle has been determined to be abandoned, they issue a Notice of Abandoned Vehicle and route the information to the Denver Sheriff’s Department Impound, Abandoned Vehicle Unit.

The department does not track how many complaints come in about RVs on Denver streets because there is not a specific nature code in the dispatch system, they added.

According to Barczak, the threat of being towed prevents some individuals from coming to Stout Street Health Clinic for medical care or other services.

“I’ve had clients whose vehicles were towed while they were meeting with me for two hours at the clinic,” Barczak said. “They come back, and their vehicle is gone. [They lose] that last little bit of safety and privacy.” 

RV LIVING AND LOST OPPORTUNITIES

The requirement to move a vehicle every 72 hours can cause Barczak and the Coalition to lose track of individuals as well.

“[When individuals move their campers] it makes it very difficult for people to access services. By being forced to move every couple of days, they have to keep starting over, and starting over, and starting over,” Barczak said. “We have people every day that qualify for housing vouchers. We have maybe two weeks to find them, or the voucher goes on to someone else, and they lose this opportunity because they’re having to constantly move around.”

According to the DPD media relations unit, DPD officers can request the Support Team Assisted Response (STAR) unit to engage unhoused individuals living in RVs, rather than directly engaging and issuing citations.

The STAR program is a specially trained unit that sends mental health specialists or paramedics to respond to nonviolent situations. The unit, founded in 2020, is designed to “engage individuals experiencing crises related to mental health issues, poverty, homelessness, and substance abuse,” according to its website.

During several months of conducting research and interviewing individuals at multiple RV camping locations for this article, none of the individuals who spoke to Denver VOICE had been contacted by the STAR unit. Instead, many of these individuals reported being harassed by on-duty officers.

Jeff Landis said he had been heavily monitored and harassed by one specific officer but did not want to give the officer’s name for fear of future retaliation.

Not all interactions with officers were negative, though. Josh, who asked to be identified by only his first name for privacy reasons, said a DPD officer helped him when he was unable to start his RV. The police officer had Josh’s camper towed to another location at no charge. According to Josh, the officer thought the new location would be a safe place to park while the vehicle was being repaired. 

TRYING TO REBUILD

Jenkins is proud of what he has accomplished. He carries around a black binder with all the licenses and credentials he earned while running his small construction company.

He has carefully saved letters from the days he worked for Marriott Hotels, including one offering him a job with a six-figure salary to oversee the maintenance of multiple hotels.

He has misgivings about not taking the security that comes with a corporate job. He had been told all his life that true prosperity came through owning a small business. Jenkins thought his finances were improving, but then, the pandemic hit, and his son’s mental health became a bigger issue.

“I always say I have been rich twice and I have been poor twice. But I don’t know if there is any coming back from this,” Jenkins said.

Jenkins now works full-time for a car parts company. Carter works full-time, too, but their combined income isn’t enough to come up with a deposit and pay rent in Denver.

 SEEKING A NEW OPTION

One organization working towards a solution for individuals living in RVs is the Colorado Safe Parking Initiative, which offers overnight parking for individuals living in vehicles throughout the front range.

The organization partners with faith-based organizations and businesses to provide overnight parking at 12 different locations throughout the metro area. Every vehicle must move in the morning because the current lots are used by the host locations for business or programming purposes. 

“Each lot has a lot of autonomy [to decide who can park and for how long],” CSPI Executive Director Terrell Curtis said. “Right now, they only operate overnight, and the vehicles leave in the morning, and that makes it a lot harder with an RV.”

Curtis said it is unreasonable to expect unhoused individuals to get off the street on their own, and this expectation comes from a level of ‘privilege’ that is out of touch with the realities of homelessness.

“We need to shift our systems and lower barriers to accessing housing,” Curtis said. “There are shelters and affordable housing that you can’t go to if you have some sort of criminal background or drug offense. Most shelters also don’t allow pets. We need to be realistic about the needs. You’re going to be lucky if you can get into housing.”

CSPI does not currently have a lot dedicated to RVs, and not all lots allow RVs to utilize the service.

“We want to [open a parking lot specifically for RVs] because there is such a high need,” Curtis said. “The City of Denver zoning allows it, but it falls under an ordinance [governing] trailer parks. If we provide for several RV-type vehicles together in a space, it is considered a trailer park, and we have to provide dump stations, electric hookups, and all this other stuff that we’re not in a position to do right now.” 

CSPI was awarded a $150,000 contract from the city to operate a parking site and to explore providing an RV-specific lot. But the unique requirements of zoning laws for mobile homes and trailers may not make a lot dedicated to RVs feasible.

Many of those who park at CSPI have jobs and are experiencing homelessness for the first time. Most are trying to work while actively seeking permanent housing – all while trying to stay safe without running afoul of the law.

“There is trauma that comes with the uncertainty when you’re living on the edge,” Curtis said. “You’re trying to stay warm; you’re trying to stay cool, and you’re trying to get to work and not look like you spent the night in your car. That level of anxiety wears on you. Living in a heightened state over time is damaging. Even just one night would be traumatic, especially over time. It can impact folks’ resilience.”

Individuals staying in a safe parking lot do have the security of being in the same place every evening. This makes accessing case managers from different service providers easier.

FOCUSING ON FAMILY

Carter and Jenkins are the hub of a big family. From time to time, Carter and Jenkins’s children and grandchildren come by.

“We don’t want anyone to treat us any differently,” Jenkins said. “When the grandkids come by, they go straight for the fridge looking for treats.”

“They clean us out,” Carter said laughing.

Carter spends many nights on the phone with her mother who has dementia. It is common for them to have the same conversation multiple times in an hour.

Carter is glad she can be there for her mom and plans to remain in Denver as long as her mom needs her.

Jenkins and Carter are trying to make their 1979 Itasca Suncruiser RV road-ready by repairing the engine. Their hope is to either trade in their current camper for a larger and more reliable model or make their current camper safe to travel with. 

The two would like to move to Detroit before winter sets in. In Detroit, the two plan to buy an inexpensive house at auction and repair it. They know there is a risk in trying to make a dilapidated house livable. But they don't see another path out of homelessness and are betting on Jenkins' skill as a handyman and builder to construct a new home. 

If the rebuild goes as planned Jenkins is hoping to make a business of buying abandoned houses, rebuilding them, and then selling the homes.

Carter and Jenkins feel Denver is not a viable future because of increased housing costs and a lack of support to help them recover from homelessness and they don’t want to live in their camper forever.

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story first appeared in the October 2022 issue of the Denver VOICE. It has been updated for the Denver VOICE website.