Elevated Denver uses storytelling to tackle older adult homelessness

Efforts to Address Homelessness Among Older Adults in Denver

DENVER — Homelessness among older adults in the Denver metro area is a persistent issue. For the past few years, the nonprofit Elevated Denver has worked to help solve this problem by partnering with those who have experienced it.

“Elevated Denver was started to be a part of the solution to homelessness in our community,” said Co-founder and CEO Johnna Flood. “The foundation of it is really based on three principles … looking at homelessness and other challenges from a systems lens; where is the system functioning well, and where is it breaking down, and how do we solve that collaboratively, so not just the nonprofit sector, but also with government, business.”

The organization focuses on storytelling through podcasts, art exhibits, and community events. This includes a gallery in downtown Denver that highlights the voices of those who have experienced homelessness.

“We’re really aiming to open people’s hearts and minds to the fact that we’re all humans having our own human experience,” Flood said. “The most important to our work is, how do we lift up the voices, stories and activate lived expert leaders in our community … and ensure that they’re the primary folks working on the solutions.”

Flood mentioned that interviews with many unhoused adults showed it could take three to six months, on average, to find help beyond immediate food and shelter. In response, the group started a Community Resource Connection Hub at the Westwood Community Center, staffed by neighborhood members with lived experience of homelessness.

“A lot of things can happen in those three to six months,” Flood said. “We wanted to reach people earlier and prevent people from having to experience homelessness, if we could, or make it brief and temporary.”

Their research also pointed out the unique challenges older adults face without shelter.

“In many cases, mobility is a big problem because they may or may not have health challenges just getting around,” said John Olander, who once experienced homelessness and now has permanent housing. “Absolutely [it’s challenging to ask for help], because in most cases, they’ve done it themselves all their life. And in fact, that was my biggest personal challenge.”

Olander noted that pride can stop people from seeking help.

“When you get to be my age, and then all of a sudden, you got to ask somebody to give you a handout … you don’t want to do it,” he said. “It’s pride, and it’s also stupidity.”

Flood highlighted the compounding effects for older adults who often live on fixed incomes amid rising costs, health events, and personal losses. Many, she said, experience homelessness for the first time later in life.

“These folks just will not give up, and they’re so resilient and persistent and hopeful,” Flood said. “Most of these stories are about resilience and hope, community and connection, and that’s exactly what I want to foster.”

For Olander, sharing personal stories has been part of his recovery and advocacy.

“That experience of talking to others and getting it out helps everyone,” he said. “It’s just a privilege to be a part of the solution.”

Through art, conversation, and community spaces, Elevated Denver hopes to turn individual experiences into collective action and change perceptions about homelessness.

“We just want them to open themselves up to the possibility of seeing life through somebody else’s experience,” Flood said, “and through all of our work … open their hearts and minds.”