Community Initiatives
Program Overview
Housing Justice! has chosen the communities of Aurora, Brighton, Salida and Trinidad for a special outreach and community organizing program. Our goal is to assist these communities to identify their housing needs, explore options for resolving their housing challenges, create a local dialogue to consider long-term housing issues, and ultimately work to solve a tangible housing need. Our role is convening congregations and people of faith to catalyze new partnerships and to bring the resources and commitment of the faith community into cooperative enterprise with other stakeholders in the community.
The Community Initiatives Program
In Colorado, people of faith in 4 wide-ranging locations are creating innovative, community-based solutions to meet urgent housing needs. They are part of the Community Initiatives Program, developed by Housing Justice to identify local housing concerns and new short and long-term solutions. Our role is to convene and connect people of faith with other local stakeholders, generating political will, building consensus, catalyzing new partnerships and attracting new resources– all to create new opportunities for decent housing or shelter.
In Trinidad, people of faith and community leaders initiated a new transitional housing program for low-income families called Haven of Hope. The subject of a recent New York Times article, this program has begun by providing a house and supportive social services for one family. A core group of stakeholders developed a partnership to lease and manage the house and provide services for the Haven of Hope residents. The house was obtained through the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture - Rural Development for $1 a year. Other people of faith and goodwill are initiating a “Paint-A-Thon” program and are participating with the Colorado Rural Development Council to draft a new Community Action Plan
In Brighton, our Housing Justice chapter implemented the Help for Homes Program. Help for Homes was made possible by 12 congregations coming together to work in partnership with the City of Brighton and Brothers Redevelopment, Inc. Over 200 volunteers repaired and painted 24 homes owned by low-income seniors or persons with disabilities. One team captain told of the relationship he formed with a homeowner his church was going to help. Initially, the homeowner felt shame at having to turn to others for assistance and apologized profusely. The captain reassured her. "God has asked us to take care of each other. You are not to blame for your circumstances - we are helping you because of God’s calling.” Reviewing the improvements to be made to her home, he said that a new roof would be installed on her garage. She started crying and repeating the words “thank you, thank you, thank you”. When her daughter walked in and found out that a new garage roof was planned, she gently said, “Mom, your prayers have been answered.” The team captain, now with tears of his own streaming down his cheeks, knew his congregation’s work was an expression of God’s love. On November 9th, the Brighton chapter sponsored a forum to examine the issue of foreclosure and prevention options.
In Aurora, the Home Chapter developed a plan to shelter homeless men, women and families on severe winter weather days. Twelve congregations that partner with four non-profit groups are providing vouchers to local motels. Follow-up contact is made with hotel guests to connect them with appropriate services. Congregations play a vital role in directing and giving funds for the program. They were able to give out over 600 vouchers, providing shelter for over 1200 individuals. The work in building this collaboration includes direct outreach to solicit input from those who are homeless and focuses attention on the need for a cohesive plan to address the issue.
In Salida, escalating land values and changing land use patterns are hot topics of community discussion. Faith leaders participated in these discussions,specifically raising the concerns of low to moderate income working residents. Community forums are planned to inform and engage people of faith in a wider discussion of the long-term implications of land use and housing issues. To directly assist those in need, local congregations are disseminating information to inform low-income people of housing services available through the regional council of governments. These have been under- utilized due to the lack of a local office.
Our hope is that these four communities will more effectively utilize existing resources and identify new ones.
We will also engage faith communities and participants who partner with Housing Justice! to join our statewide network and become part of a larger constituency seeking meaningful policy reform and social change. We believe that the value we bring to our four selected communities and in our statewide process will make a real difference in creating new and better housing opportunities for those most in need.
We are seeking support for this endeavor through patron sponsors and other individuals, through congregational contributions, and through corporate and foundation support. We are happy to provide our donors with acknowledgement through recognition on our website, in printed materials and in our e-journal, CONNECTIONS, which is emailed every week to over 800 residents across Colorado. For further information, please email Mary at mary@housingjustice.org.