In the winter of 2021, Mike Coffman dressed as a homeless veteran and spent seven days and nights living on the streets of Aurora, Colorado. Coffman is a U.S. Army veteran, a Marine, a former state treasurer, a former secretary of state, a former representative to Congress, and the current mayor of Aurora. His week as “Homeless Mike” was a way for him to learn about homelessness among the people he serves.

That week, he slept in shelters and encampments, covered with a tarp as temperatures dipped into the teens. “It wasn’t fun. It was really hard … but incredibly impactful,” he told CBS4 News. “I never want to do it again.”

Founding the shelter he now sleeps in once a week

His experience on the street led the mayor to help found the non-profit Advanced Pathways. The incentive-based program includes a 600-person transitional housing facility set up in a former Crowne Plaza hotel, now known as Aurora Regional Navigation Campus (ARNC). When the facililty opened in November of 2025, the idea was that people could advance through a structured program in three tiers. The first tier is a basic-needs shelter for people just off the streets. Tier II offers semi-private rooms for those utilizing addiction recovery........

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