FORT COLLINS, Colo. The Fort Collins Rescue Mission is preparing to reopen in a new, larger building after a fire forced the shelter to close for more than a year.The new facility is expected to nearly triple the number of peop le it can serve, offering more space for people experiencing homelessness ahead of the winter months.Robert Gensmen knows firsthand how difficult it can be to find shelter during Colorado winters. He recently moved out of homelessness and into an apartment in Fort Collins.Being homeless out here, most of the time, especially at night in the wintertime, you cannot sleep. It's just too cold, Gensmen said. Learn More in the Video Player BelowGensmen said he spent about two or three weeks outside after the Fort Collins Rescue Mission closed following a kitchen fire in August 2025.I was on double time going to the churches, getting blankets, and, you know, making sure everybody had clothes and coats and blankets and stuff, Gensmen said.The closure left people who depended on the shelter looking for other places to stay.Seth Forwood, executive director of the Fort Collins Rescue Mission, said the organization turned away people during the months following the fire because it did not have space to accommodate them.Between August 23 and December 22, we turned away people 1,089 times who came to us, but we just didn't have space for them, Forwood said.Now, the organization is preparing to open a much larger facility designed to provide more room and a more welcoming environment for people seeking help.The original building was just under 5,000 square feet. The new facility is approximately 43,000 square feet, according to Forwood.The expanded building will increase shelter capacity from 89 beds to 250.Forwood said the design also focuses on helping people feel more comfortable when they arrive, with sightlines that allow them to better understand the space and what to expect.The entire building, even to the outside, and having sightlines where people can know what to expect as they're entering a new and different environment, that can help relieve a lot of their fears and anxieties, Forwood said.The $27.5 million project was made possible with community support.Forwood said the mission hopes to fully open the new building in January.Although Gensmen no longer needs the shelter himself, he said the additional space could make a life-changing difference for others experiencing homelessness.It's gonna be life-saving, Gensmen said. If you have the ability to shower, and to sleep at night and to wake up and get a meal in the morning, that's all we need to go out and get a job and be able to work. ...read more read less