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Creating a Shelter Alternative in Colorado

Advocates in Fort Collins are hoping to provide a safe overnight parking program for people experiencing homelessness.

David Lewellen,

AARP

Published March 01, 2026

Getty Images

Sue Beck-Ferkiss knows that for older Coloradans experiencing homelessness, sleeping in a shelter can be especially challenging.

“Congregate sleeping is not for the faint of heart,” says Beck-Ferkiss, social policy and housing programs manager for the city of Fort Collins. “It’s easy to catch colds, and it’s hard to get the rest you really need if you’re working.”

Local nonprofits hope to offer an alternative in 2026: a safe overnight parking program with access to toilets, electrical outlets and other essential services.

The city does have a ban on overnight camping, but such a program could be allowed with City Council approval, Beck-Ferkiss says. She notes that a similar program in nearby Loveland has been well received.

“People took it up immediately, so the need was clear.... Most of the people who have been car camping were going to work every day and were over 60 years old,” she says.

In Fort Collins, the Family Housing Network and the Catholic Charities’ Samaritan House are organizing the effort to establish the overnight parking program. If approved, the designated parking lots would be located at churches that already provide overnight accommodations on a rotating basis for people who are experiencing homelessness, says Annette Zacharias, the Family Housing Network’s executive director.

The nonprofit is working with city staff to secure the necessary approvals and hopes to be up and running later this year.

Many people who are reluctant to stay in a shelter overnight might be willing to park their car outside and sleep there, particularly if they knew it was a welcoming space, Zacharias says. The nonprofit and others have been meeting with neighbors and received a good response since the churches involved already have a successful track record of sheltering those in need, she adds.

For older adults on fixed incomes, an increase in just one expense — such as rent or medical costs — can be a slippery slope to eviction, says Marissa Volpe, director of livable communities for AARP Colorado, which is advocating for the parking lot program.

“When you have no partner and no kids, you’re particularly vulnerable, and we’re experiencing that more and more,” Volpe says.

Zacharias notes that shelter workers will also talk to people who take advantage of the overnight parking program about accessing other services, such as food, pet fostering and job assistance.

“The hope is that eventually they will allow us to shelter them,” she says.