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Colorado turns to ice-fishing tents to house homeless

Homeless Ice Fishing Tents
Posted at 7:29 AM, Feb 25, 2022
and last updated 2022-02-25 09:29:57-05

DENVER (AP) — Gary Peters has spent the last seven years camping outside of a Denver golf course to avoid sleeping in a public shelter until last summer.

The 75-year-old veteran is among the benefactors of Denver's $4 million investment in a unique attempt at providing homeless people with "safe outdoor spaces" as an alternative to public shelters.

Each community member has an ice-fishing tent with electrical outlets, a cot and a zero-degree rated sleeping bag.

The nearly 42-square-foot tents cost about $300-$400 each.

The project by the Colorado Village Collaborative aims to provide stability and autonomy for people sleeping outside and help transition them to permanent housing.