Douglas County’s Board of Commissioners officially adopted an intergovernmental agreement at a meeting Tuesday forming a partnership with the city of Aurora on its regional navigation campus, described by officials as a “one-stop shop” for homelessness services. 

The county board voted in July to contribute money to the campus and voted unanimously to make the agreement official at Tuesday’s regular business meeting. 

In the agreement, the county states that it will contribute just over $1.1 million from American Rescue Plan Act money to the campus and get five beds designated to the county, according to county staff in the meeting. 

Aurora’s City Council voted at a meeting in January to move forward with the purchase agreement for the site of the navigation campus, a 13-acre former Crowne Plaza hotel and convention center site at 15550 E. 40th Ave., which the city plans to officially purchase in May.

Once established, the proposed regional navigation campus will consolidate services for homeless people in one location, a model similar to that of the Colorado Springs Rescue Mission. The center will be the culmination of a year-long exploration by city officials who also traveled to Texas, where they researched strategies to reduce homelessness.

Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman expects to have the campus operational by early 2025.

In total, the city will pay $26.5 million for the property, based on an appraisal prepared by a third-party firm in November.

The city has collected almost $40 million in funds for the project so far, with funding coming from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, Aurora American Rescue Plan, Aurora Housing and Urban Development, Adams County ARPA, Adams County HUD, Arapahoe County ARPA, Douglas County ARPA, and Community Development Block Grant COVID funds.

Douglas County’s 2023 point in time count showed a total of 72 unhoused people, according to county staff. Parts of Aurora are in Douglas County.

In 2022, the county began its homeless initiative with the goal of addressing homelessness through partnerships with other jurisdictions, non-profit organizations, school districts and residents, according to a news release.

As part of the effort, Douglas County established its Homeless Engagement Assistance and Resource Team (HEART), a co-responder team that pairs navigators with local law enforcement to respond to homeless calls and gives people support and resources. 

“For the percentage of unhoused individuals who are not service-resistant or justice-involved, we are pleased to partner with Aurora and others in the region to ensure case management and wrap-around services are available to those seeking a dignified pathway to self-reliance,” Commissioner Abe Laydon, who is also the founder and chair of the homeless initiative, said in the news release. 

In Tuesday’s meeting, Commissioner George Teal thanked the city of Aurora for leading the way on the navigation campus for the region, saying he was “very much in favor” of the partnership.