This site wasn’t built by an agency or a university. It was built by one person with lived experience of homelessness, a cheap VPS that costs about a slice of pizza and a Coke, and a determination to make real information easier to find.
This site runs on a small virtual private server that costs roughly what a cheap meal does. Using DirectAdmin, I can host multiple domains (like HomelessBoulder.com and HomelessColorado.com), manage DNS, email and backups, and install my own SSL certificates.
That keeps costs low and control high, which matters when there isn’t a big organization paying the bills.
The pages are built in plain HTML5 and CSS with a tiny bit of JavaScript. No heavy frameworks, no plugin bloat. That means the site loads quickly on old Android phones, in crowded shelters and on weak Wi-Fi.
The structure is designed with Google Lighthouse in mind: clear headings, mobile-first layouts, and accessible contrast so people using screen readers or tired eyes can still use it.
Each page has focused titles and meta descriptions built around real searches like “Denver winter shelter”, “free showers Denver”, and “jobs for people without housing”.
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) runs across the site so I can see which pages people actually use, what city they’re in, and when traffic spikes (like during cold snaps) and improve the pages that matter most.
Official data often comes from once-a-year headcounts that miss people in cars, RVs, tents and couches. This project is built on a different idea: go to the people instead of waiting for them to walk into an office.
I collect notes directly from stays at shelters like 4040 Quebec, trips on RTD, and conversations at day centers and camps. Those real details become updates on the site: where it feels safe, what’s confusing, and what you should know before you go.
The vision is to build a living picture of how people actually move through Denver’s systems: which shelters fill first, which food lines people trust, how far people have to travel, and what barriers keep them from getting help.
This isn’t about surveillance. It’s about honest, ground-level data that can be used to push for better decisions from the people who control funding and policies.
Many people move between Denver, Boulder and other cities on the Front Range. The larger project links HomelessDenver.com with HomelessBoulder.com and HomelessColorado.com so people can see the bigger picture of where help actually exists.
One VPS, multiple cities, one mission: fast, honest information for people without housing.
The first legal step is filing a Colorado LLC to hold all three main domains and protect the project as it grows. After that, the plan is to apply for federal 501(c)(3) status so this becomes a true nonprofit with a board, transparency and long-term stability.
Donations through Buy Me a Coffee go directly toward filing fees, basic legal costs and keeping the server paid while the structure is built.
To reach more people, the project needs trusted sites to link to it: city and county pages, shelters, outreach groups, libraries and clinics. Those backlinks raise domain authority so people searching “Denver shelter tonight” actually find the site.
It’s SEO, but it’s also community validation: proof that front-line groups see this as a useful tool worth pointing to.
Once the layout and content patterns settle, the plan is to move the site into a CMS like WordPress for easier blogging, translations and collaboration—without giving up speed.
AI will help keep information fresh (watching for changes to hours and locations) and power simple chat, voice and SMS tools so people can text or call a question like “where can I go tonight?” and get a straight answer.