E-Updates June 12, 1009 Dear Friends of CHIF,  The need for a housing investment fund in Colorado has not gone away, and neither have we.  Our petition drive last year brought us closer than ever to realizing a housing investment fund in Colorado.  It also drove home the fact that there is much more work to be done.  Because you have been a strong supporter of CHIF, we’re sending this update to share our progress over the last few months and let you know how you can be part of our next steps.  Housing Colorado, Interim Steering Committee Lead Renewed CHIF Effort In February, the CHIF Coalition Executive Committee voted to establish a new organizational structure for the Coalition, led by Housing Colorado and an Interim Steering Committee.   Interim Steering Committee members include: Jennifer Erixon (Chair), Mercy Housing Colorado Roy Alexander, Colorado Housing and Finance Authority Stefka Fanchi, Habitat for Humanity of Colorado Ken Hoagland, Community Capital Corporation Don May, Colorado NAHRO John Parvensky, Colorado Coalition for the Homeless Jerene Petersen, Mile High United Way Daniel Romero, Hunger for Justice Alana Smart, Housing Colorado  Listening to Leaders: The Leader-to-Leader Campaign One of the lessons we learned last year was the need to engage a broad base of influential leaders – particularly leaders outside the affordable housing community - who have the capacity to move CHIF forward.  Starting this month, CHIF will engage a broad group of 30-50 influential leaders statewide in the Leader-to-Leader Campaign, a series of candid conversations that will help shape our future strategy.  Our special thanks to CHFA and the U.S. Bank Foundation for their contributions in support of this effort to help leverage Housing Colorado’s investment.   Look for more information on the Leader-to-Leader Campaign in the next edition of Housing Colorado’s E-News next week, and see below how you can be a part of these conversations.  New Opportunities for Advocacy and Involvement In the past, you received periodic updates on CHIF through CHIF E-News.  Now, we’re happy to announce that you will begin receiving regular updates on CHIF through Housing Colorado’s Action Network.  Housing Colorado is the lead organization for the CHIF effort, and CHIF is a top advocacy priority for the Action Network.  Along with receiving regular CHIF updates, you’ll be able to stay informed on other key policies affecting affordable housing in Colorado, and speak out on critical housing issues.   The Action Network will be the new mode of communication for CHIF updates and actions.  You can learn more about the Action Network at http://housingcolorado.org/?id=20 or by contacting Seth Ford at 303-863-0126 or seth@housingcolorado.org.  You can unsubscribe from the list at any time by notifying Seth.  Now is the Time to Recommit The strength of the CHIF effort has always been in our Coalition of supporters. Here are a couple of ways you can be a part of our next phase:  Engage your Board in helping with interviews for the Leader-to-Leader Campaign.  Even 1-2 interviews can help us gain vital information to build our strategy.  Contact CHIF consultant Julie Pecaut at 303-919-7511 or julie@pecaut.us for more information.  Make your tax deductible donation to CHIF today at https://www.housingcolorado.org//index.php?title=Donations and indicate in the notes field that it is for CHIF.  You can also send your check made out to Housing Colorado/CHIF to:  Housing Colorado, Suite 575, 225 East 16th Ave., Denver, CO 80203.  These contributions will be used exclusively for CHIF and not any other Housing Colorado activity.    UPDATE ON THE HOUSING WORKS CAMPAIGN On Wednesday, July 2, 2008, the Housing Works for Colorado campaign ended their efforts to get on the ballot this November.  The campaign team made the difficult decision to halt the petition drive after careful review of the available time and resources. There were early delays and setbacks in getting the ballot title approved and petition drive started that the campaign was not able to overcome.  Had they been able to begin earlier, there would have been more time for grassroots petitioning by volunteers, instead of needing to rely on paid signature gatherers. Fundraising was also a challenge for the campaign. Competition for funding has been intense during this election cycle and the current economic situation has hit many supporters particularly hard.   Despite the setback of not making it onto the November 2008 ballot, these efforts moved Colorado closer to having a dedicated, reliable funding stream for affordable housing. There are many successes to be proud of, thanks to the hard work of many dedicated friends and supporters. The Colorado Housing Investment Fund Coalition and the Housing Works for Colorado Campaign built the infrastructure for a successful grassroots petition drive and developed a network of over 1,000 statewide volunteers. They raised significant contributions, though ultimately fell short.  These were not easy tasks and they can be directly translated into future campaign efforts.  Although we are all disappointed with the outcome of our efforts this year, we are grateful for the hard work and dedication of the hundreds of people carrying our petition.  The dedicated supporters are indeed this campaign’s greatest asset and together we will ultimately make the Housing Investment Fund a reality for Colorado.  Housing Colorado would particularly like to recognize our dedicated members and volunteers for their support of this important effort:  Roy Alexander Susan Andre Sarah Archibald Jennifer Balkcom Sarah Batt Jan Marie Bell Sam Betters Lynne Brown Sarah Burh Robyn Burns Debra Bustos Emily Bustos Bill Callison Janeen Cameron Phil Caplan Breandalee Connors Kim Cooke Kacey Cordes Meg Costello Pat Coyle Kimball Crangle Michael Dorsey Ryan Economy Betsy Emond Jennifer Erixon Stefka Fanchi Britta Fisher Angela Fletcher Laura Folkwein Alison George Paula Greer Jennifer Gremmert Janet Grimmett Ismael Guerrero Holly Hamilton Karen Harkin Jane Harrington Tom Hart Ken Hoagland Mary Hupp Ganette Isaacson Brooke Jackson Lara Jakubowski Linda Jaster Annmarie Jensen Ellyn Johnson Willa Johnson John Kefalas Jerry Kiefer Cherie Kirschbaum Jody Kole Charles Kreiman Karen Lado Heather Lafferty Diane Leavesley Elfriede Leicht Julie Levy Erika Lindholm Randle Loeb Anne Lovett Pamela Lozow Donna Lynch Leigh Lyons Sandy Maben Tavie Maroncelli Michael Martinez Chadrick Martinez Mariam Masid Don May David Mayeranderson Candace Mayo Tom McCabe Randy McCall Darcy McClure Arthur McDermott Ray Merenstein Heather Meyer Signy Mikita Aaron Miripol Michelle Mitchell Terry Moore Nan Morehead Tracie Murrell Bill Myers Charlotte O’Donnell Alison O’Kelly Rob Osborn Irene Perez-Law Amanda Peters Melinda Pollack Sue Powers Jessie Rathburn Paul Reid Jennie Rodgers Ricardo Rodriguez Joseph Rosenblum Emily Sander Joel Schwatzman Denise Sealover Jeff Seifried Dan Shah Bill Shaneyfelt Jim Sheehan Carol Shires Susan Shirley Jennifer Siegel Teva Sienicki K Simpson Alana Smart Doug Smith Frank Stampf Pat Steadman Melissa Stirdivant Ray Stranske Ed Talbot Shelly Tanner Cate Tiller Becky Treece Kimberly Urish Kirsten Vermulen Ann Watts Mark Welch Dan Whalen Kathi Williams Liz Wolfert Brad Wood Jeff Yegian