How RTD’s homelessness outreach program helps keep transit running smoothly
Since establishing the program in 2022, RTD’s homelessness outreach program has grown to four coordinators who connect those experiencing homelessness with resources in support of a welcoming transit environment
The Regional Transportation District (RTD) has grown its homelessness outreach program from one homelessness outreach coordinator in 2022 to four as of May 2025 to take a more proactive approach to address loitering or encampments at RTD stops and stations and support a welcoming transit environment. Through the sector-based program, each homelessness outreach coordinator is assigned to an area across the district to offer basic to deeper resources to those experiencing homelessness. The outreach can connect individuals with mental health and/or substance abuse treatment, shelter and in certain instances, help start the process of establishing housing. The outreach helps provide potential solutions to some of the root causes of encampments on RTD property and can deter repeated, unwanted behaviors in support of a welcoming transit environment for operators and customers.
RTD implemented its homelessness outreach program in January 2022 under the direction of Chief of Police and Emergency Management Steve Martingano, who then served as the agency’s deputy chief. Martingano recognized that those loitering or establishing encampments on RTD property needed to connect to a variety of resources – housing, Medicaid, treatment for co-occurring mental health and substance abuse conditions – rather than be approached as individuals engaging in criminal behaviors.
Four homelessness outreach coordinators work on behalf of RTD from the Jefferson Center for Mental Health. The RTD team includes Alton Reynolds – RTD’s first homelessness outreach coordinator since January 2022 and who now leads the program; Karen Chenault, working on behalf of RTD since November 2024; Ryan Berger since March 2025; and Iasmin Lafleur since May 2025.
Whereas Reynolds originally covered the entire district on his own to offer resources and outreach, sometimes traveling from Adams County to Douglas County in a day, additional coordinators enable the team to be assigned to specific areas to more proactively perform outreach at RTD facilities and property. Reynolds continues to oversee all areas across RTD’s district in support of general outreach and to respond to any request. The team effort ultimately supports RTD transit services running smoothly, its operators, the Transit Police (RTD-PD) and wider community within the service area.
The program’s development by Martingano provides a “sustained solution,” said Reynolds. The coordinators work closely with the RTD-PD’s sector commanders to address concerns in those areas rather than telling individuals to “move on,” he said. RTD-PD’s commanders advise the outreach coordinators about any concerns so that the coordinators can connect an individual with a case manager, shelter or other resource. Reynolds said this approach requires planning beyond enforcement to take “the best steps possible to address concerns in a sector and accounts for the vulnerability of the homelessness population.”
Berger, who covers Boulder, Longmont and Golden, said he consistently interacts with RTD Transit Police officers, operators, and Allied security personnel to help engage with clients experiencing homelessness on the agency’s property. RTD-PD officers and security personnel are educated about the ability to reach out to coordinators when encountering individuals on RTD property who need support.
Through the outreach, “we can offer a possible permanent solution, help change their situation and enable them to not be on RTD property anymore,” Laufler said, who is assigned to the Denver Union Station and downtown Denver. “The next day, they may be there again if no help is offered or there’s not a connection to continuous support. It’s most important to meet the client where they’re at. Some might be looking for a job or be new to experiencing homelessness or need someone to listen during a crisis,” she continued.
Chenault, who has been working on behalf of RTD since November 2024, covers the Lakewood and Arvada service areas. She perceives results from the outreach efforts. “I notice improvement at locations where we offer services. When nobody has any place to go, they gather around. If we can educate them about RTD property and connect them to other services – we’re not the ones to remove them, we try to offer services prior to that point – it eliminates the calls into RTD.”
Though not every individual experiencing homelessness – or clients as coordinators address them – is ready for the steps needed to establish long-term housing, assistance is available through RTD’s outreach program. Chenault addressed the coordination involved in assisting individuals with getting required documentation for housing. “I set an appointment with them to sit at a computer because it takes an hour to 90 minutes to assist,” Chenault said. “Others will sit down where they’re at and we’ll use a cell phone and a computer to start the process to establish housing.” During the more extensive visits, coordinators obtain a clearer picture of how to meet clients’ individual basic and longer-term needs.
Given the sheer size of the agency’s 2,345 square mile district, coordinators look to services available by proximity to an individual’s needs. “Whether it’s in downtown Denver or Adams County, we use what’s closest, what’s available and offer all of them. If it’s by Jefferson Center for Mental Health, we use our own providers. If a person is struggling with depression, we try to connect them with a provider, and get them signed up for Medicaid,” Reynolds said.
RTD’s homelessness outreach coordinators work in tandem with case managers from other organizations that proactively offer support to individuals throughout RTD’s district. These organizations can include the Downtown Denver Partnership, Stride medical team, and community medical services teams from Arapahoe and Jefferson counties as well as case managers from Boulder Shelter for the Homeless or Recovery Works in Lakewood.
Outreach coordinators work to see if individuals who need housing have proper identification cards, mental and physical health needs that are being unmet, and then connect them to services to take actionable steps forward. “We approach individuals by introducing ourselves, saying we’re a case manager with RTD, and we want to see if they have Medicaid benefits, look to see what their housing status is. We can give people help even if housing is a difficult thing to get, to give clients hope they can improve in the future,” Berger said.
Chenault, who covers RTD’s Lakewood service area extending into Colfax, explained how she connects with individuals in need. “We bring certain supplies with us for basic needs for an icebreaker – water, drinks, bus tickets, and we can help with directions.” Once the introduction is made, outreach coordinators then can offer deeper sources of support. “We identify resources such as The Action Center and places that can provide help without them needing an appointment.”
Reynolds also noted that outreach coordinators work in support of Truckers against Trafficking (TAT) and are trained to identify the signs of trafficking.
Working as a coordinator brings challenges and rewards. “Everybody has a different rock bottom,” noted Reynolds. “Some people’s rock bottom is being face down in a ditch. Somebody else’s rock bottom may be that they used fentanyl and something else mixed together, need Narcan and say, ‘That’s enough’. For others who are not ready to release the situation to find another situation, we try to reconnect them with people and resources.” Repeated encounters with an individual can help steer people to another path. “If you’ve reached out and they’re not quite there yet, you hope you’ll see them again and they’ll get there.” Not everyone accepts help when coordinators have attempted to make it available. “I’ve known a few people who’ve passed on and that’s not what I wanted but we continue the hope and do the outreach and have more wins.”
RTD’s outreach coordinators focus on offering all types of support that could bring a positive difference to the life of someone experiencing homelessness. “Being able to offer the support the client needs at the moment, whether a water bottle or connecting them to mental health service, this job is one of the greatest things I bring to a person’s life,” Laufleur said.
Chenault, who has been a social worker for about 25 years total, has seen funding issues impact some of the outreach that can be offered. “All the different agencies are dealing with cutbacks. Food bank populations have seen tripled populations coming in. We’re looking for a place that may have an opening or a resource for people not having solutions in place and calling around to ask, “Are you still offering services? Do you have any vouchers?”
In addition to staffing homelessness outreach coordinators, spearheaded under Martingano, RTD became the first transit agency in the country to have a mental health clinician work alongside its transit police in 2019. Since then, the agency has expanded its outreach to include four mental health clinicians working on behalf of RTD through the Jefferson Center for Mental Health.
Since launching the co-responder units of mental health clinicians and homelessness outreach coordinators, Martingano noted that transit agencies across the U.S. have reached out to RTD to learn more about launching similar programs of their own.
