Education Programs

Day Under the Dome, March 2008
Housing Colorado’s held their third annual Day Under the Dome Wednesday March 12th.  CHIF and Housing Colorado!, along with many other organizations worked hard to guarantee a successful day. Over 100 people attended, coming from as far as Grand Junction, Fort Collins, Greeley, Summit County and Colorado Springs, to learn more about the 2008 strategy to make housing happen and strengthen their skills as advocates.

Britta Fisher was among the Senators and Representatives that spoke.  She talked about how the time is now to achieve the goal of a dedicated dependable funding source for affordable housing.  The Day under the Dome encouraged individuals from across the state to let their representatives know that Colorado needs a minimum of $30 million annually and asked them to become friends of the Housing Investment Fund Coalition.

Lutheran Advocacy Day Hunger for Justice: Interfaith Voices against Poverty, March 2008
Organizing in faith communities has been a long tradition with the Colorado Housing Investment Fund Coalition.  One of our partners is Hunger for Justice, they held a one day training with representatives from different faith traditions uniting together for social justice.  Britta Fisher spoke about affordable housing and the Colorado Housing Investment Fund Coalition’s efforts.  Many future meetings were scheduled as a result.  Attendees were encouraged to ask their legislators to support affordable housing and HB 1340. 

Steamboat Springs
What a beautiful drive!  Kim Cooke spent a few days visiting Steamboat Springs and Craig to discuss CHIF’s efforts.  Folks were excited about funding for housing and were supportive of the concept of the investment fund.  While some concern existed about the allocation of the funds, Kim is encouraged that the affordable housing community will be able to work out an acceptable model in 2009 with the Legislature. 

Stories from Around Colorado, October 2007
Troy Gladwell, from Medici Communities and I woke up early one September morning and drove to Fort Morgan to present at the Progressive 15 fall membership meeting.  Folks were quite excited about affordable housing and had an array of opinions regarding the issue in their communities.  We look forward to continuing the dialogue with these individuals. 

 

 

The next day it was on to Adams County Housing Task Force where several of you are members.  Many new people signed up as friends and had suggestions for others in the community that we should continue the discussion with. 

A day later I was in Grand Junction meeting with folks from the educational, health care and housing worlds. What a beautiful place.  I loved walking down mainstreet with the local artwork on display.  Before heading back to Denver, I drove down to Ouray and talked with folks at the City.  It’s amazing how only 2 hours away a town can have such different housing needs. 

 

Later that week Alana Smart with Housing Colorado and I did a workshop at the 5th Annual Conference on Homelessness in Colorado Springs.  How encouraging it was to be around so many people dedicated to housing. 

Monday was off to Vail for the Housing Now Conference.  At the conference we signed up over 65 friends, meaning, we need less than 100 before we reach our goal of 1000 friends!   At our workshop Ray revealed preliminary results from the statewide poll, please contact myself or Ray for more information.  In addition, we unveiled the Colorado Housing Investment Fund bumper sticker with much success. 

 

Stories From Around Colorado, July 2007
Local entities in La Plata County have been working on educating and forming key relationships in the community while searching for local solutions to affordable housing.  Without their hard work, Durango may not have been so accepting of the Colorado Housing Investment Fund Coalition’s efforts.  The Colorado Housing Investment Fund encourages organizations and individuals to support both statewide and local efforts to fund affordable housing as housing is as complex and diverse as the communities in whichwe live.

With newspaper articles full of stories and opinions regarding the lack of affordable housing on the Western Slope, it was no surprise that I received a warm welcome on my recent trip to Durango.  From meetings with County Commissioners to City Managers to Homebuilders; the need for affordable housing is clear.  Unfortunately, I was not able to ride the railroad or enjoy a hike due to my busy schedule, guess I’ll need to make another trip.  I was, however, able to meet with many individuals and organizations willing to dedicate time and resources to ensure Colorado creates and sustains a housing investment fund.  Hopefully other communities will be so receptive!  In order to ensure this, I would appreciate introductions in the areas in which we are working.  Currently, I am currently working on a trip to Grand Junction.  If you have contacts in that area, please call or email me to help further CHIFC’s mission. 

Affordable Housing Coalition of Larimer County, June 20th 2007
Kimberly Stenberg was invited to speak with the Affordable Housing Coalition of Larimer County.  There she updated the group on CHIF’s activities.  This was a great opportunity for Kim Cooke to meet supportive individuals up in the northern part of the state.  Kim made some contact with the League of Women Voters as well as the County Commissioners.  After the presentation, Kim met with Rusty Collins to discuss how best to engage Larimer and Weld County.     

CCH Conference, May 23rd 2007
Kimberly Stenberg and Kim Cooke manned a booth at the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless Conference.  At the conference they raised money for CHIF as well as awareness.  Twenty five new friends were added to the Coalition as a result of their hard work.  In addition, several new volunteers emerged.  Lee Willis, from Colorado Springs, joined CHIFs Communications and Education Team.  Several folks signed up to be a part of the speakers bureau, and are willing to host a booth at conferences.  All in all, it was a productive conference to kick off Kim’s first speaking event!