Grand Junction wakes up Saturday to a harsher reality: Homeward Bound, the city’s only year-round, low-barrier emergency shelter for 26 years, will lock its doors for good. Hundreds of people who slept there last night will have nowhere in the city to go tonight.
The shelter that once kept 80 to 100 people a night off the streets is gone. No other facility in Mesa County offers the same walk-in, no-questions-asked beds.
Why the Doors Are Closing Forever
Homeward Bound leaders say they simply ran out of money and staff.
Executive Director Lisa Cota told 11 News the shelter needed $1.8 million a year to operate safely under new state rules that demand more employees per guest. Donations and grants fell far short this year.
“We have been bleeding money for months,” Cota said. “We can’t keep people safe with the staff we have left.”
The board voted unanimously to close rather than limp along and risk someone’s life.
Staff turnover hit crisis levels. Several employees quit after violent incidents, including one guest who attacked another with a knife last winter. Pay at the shelter started at $17 an hour, far below what hospitals and retail jobs now offer in Grand Junction.
The People Who Will Feel It Most
When the doors close Saturday morning, real people lose their last reliable place to sleep.
Robert has stayed at Homeward Bound off and on for four years. The 62-year-old Army veteran lost his legs to diabetes and gets around in a wheelchair.
“Where am I supposed to go now?” he asked Friday while packing his few belongings. “The riverbank gets cold fast in October.”
Sarah, 34, moved into the shelter with her two young children last month after fleeing domestic violence in Utah. She starts a warehouse job Monday but has no apartment yet.
“I have 48 hours to find a place for my kids,” she said, voice cracking. “I don’t even know where to start.”
About 75 people slept there Thursday night, the shelter’s last full night of operation.
What the City Is Doing Right Now
City officials say they are throwing money at the problem, just not at another big shelter.
Grand Junction is giving almost $500,000 to local nonprofits this fall. Catholic Outreach will get the largest share to expand its day center and meal programs. The Joseph Center plans to add more case managers.
City Manager Catherine Sickles insists the money will help more people than keeping Homeward Bound open would have.
“We learned from Homeward Bound that one large congregate shelter isn’t the best model anymore,” Sickles said at a press conference Thursday.
Instead, the city wants tiny homes, permanent supportive housing, and more street outreach teams.
Those projects, however, won’t open for months or years.
The Growing Crisis in Numbers
Homelessness exploded in Mesa County during and after the pandemic.
The 2024 Point-in-Time count found 725 people living unsheltered or in shelters on a single January night in Grand Junction alone. Local advocates say the real number is easily double that when you count people doubled up on couches or living in cars.
A new study released this month by the Grand Junction Area Unhoused Coalition estimates 2,415 people experienced homelessness at some point in Mesa County in 2024.
Rents jumped 40 percent in three years while wages stayed flat for many service workers. A one-bedroom apartment now averages $1,350 a month.
Where People Can Turn Starting Saturday
Mutual aid groups will be at the shelter Saturday at 7 a.m. handing out sleeping bags, coats, tents, and food.
The Grand Valley Peace and Justice Community Fridge will run extra food distributions next week.
Catholic Outreach Day Center at 6th and White opens at 8 a.m. daily for showers, laundry, mail, and coffee.
The Rescue Mission on Ute Avenue offers beds but requires religious service attendance and has strict rules that keep many people away.
For now, many will simply head back to the Colorado River trails, the abandoned motels on Horizon Drive, or the patches of scrub land behind Walmart.
Grand Junction built its reputation as a friendly outdoor town with good jobs and low crime. This weekend, the city joins the growing list of Western communities that can no longer shelter everyone who needs it.
The need isn’t going away. The question is how long people will have to wait, and how cold it will get, before something better opens.
What do you think Grand Junction should do next? Drop your thoughts below, and if you’re talking about this on social media, use #GJHomelessCrisis so we can all follow the conversation.
