Looking Upstream: Why Prevention Must Be Central to Solving Homelessness

When we talk about progress on homelessness, we often focus on what we can see – point-in-time counts, the number of people visibly unhoused, or shifts in shelter utilization. These metrics matter, but they are only one part of a much larger story.

It is not enough to measure how many people are currently without housing; we must also understand, and actively address, the factors pushing people into homelessness in the first place. Without that, we are treating symptoms while the root causes continue to grow.

At the Westwood Community Resource Connection Hub (the Hub), we see this every day. Many of the people who walk through our doors are not yet experiencing homelessness, but they are close. What they need is often simple, timely, and entirely solvable: help finding a job, access to eyeglasses so they can drive to work, or assistance navigating the impossible trade-offs between paying for life-saving medication like insulin and keeping a roof over their heads. Prevention lives in these moments. And yet, it remains under-prioritized in how we define success and allocate resources.

Yes, it is important to demonstrate progress downstream. But if we do not slow the inflow, if we do not reduce the number of people being pushed into homelessness, we will keep adding to our economic, moral, and humanitarian crisis faster than we solve it. 

Real solutions require us to examine the full spectrum of need. In Denver alone, more than 40,000 individuals were identified as experiencing homelessness or receiving support services in 2025. Support services included street outreach, emergency shelter, eviction support, rental assistance, or supportive long-term housing (MDHI State of Homelessness 2025). 

These numbers challenge us to look beyond what is visible and confront deeper questions about our systems and our beliefs: What do we consider a basic need? Who do we believe deserves to have those needs met? And why are so many people working full-time still unable to afford rent in our communities? We must grapple with the rising cost of groceries, gas, healthcare, and housing. We must question what “affordable” truly means in a region where so many people we meet who are hardworking, resilient individuals, simply cannot make the math work.

In Denver, we may be able to point to progress in visible homelessness. But if we zoom out, the broader landscape tells a more complicated story of a system under strain. 

If we want different outcomes, we must expand our lens. We must invest in prevention, alongside response. We must design solutions that meet people earlier, before a crisis takes hold.

Because the true measure of progress is not only how many people we help after they fall, but how many we prevent from falling in the first place.