Strengthen Community Health

Solidify the entrepreneurial programmatic services of MetroDEEP to connect resources to and nourish community wealth building of Black individuals and families in Colorado.

Combine catalytic capital and pre-fabricated construction to deliver a 64-unit multi-family building that provides high quality housing for affordable rent in the Santa Fe arts district in Denver CO via Blue Room House One. Proposed inhabitants are students, artists, hourly employees and other community members that are contributors to the community but yet earn 50% of area median income for the area.

Build on the momentum gained over the last four years. SRTFE's work is rooted in equitable practices where those who are most impacted by systemic issues are those leading the charge. The implementation phase includes continued work with the education, youth development, programs and activities, and equitable institutions planning teams.

Remove barriers to homeownership for Colorado's Black and African-American families via the PATH Grant program. The program works to supply individual grants to help cover down payment and closing costs to first-time homebuyers who identity as Black or African American, which is one of the most underrepresented homeownership races/groups.

Expand an innovative approach to implementing afterschool meal programming that eliminates barriers to access and increases impact. Programming reduces the time tax encountered by BIPOC and low-income families and additional resources will allow our organization to collect and analyze short and long-term data points that demonstrate the health and economic benefits to participating families.

Support the organizational development and strategic growth of the Black Resilience in Colorado (BRIC) Fund to further its mission and expand grantmaking in service of Black communities and Black-led organizations.

Advance health and economic equity in the Globeville and Elyria-Swansea neighborhoods by launching a full service, community-owned grocery store that will provide culturally-relevant, affordable foods produced by local BIPOC-farmers where possible, as well as a commissary kitchen that will provide access to professional food processing, cooking equipment and food safety training and certification to community members and food entrepreneurs.

Increase food access for all through systems and policy change.

Continue to advance health equity and food security with and for La Plata County BIPOC, senior and rural residents by directly tackling systemic food system barriers and opportunities, building impacted communities' sense of belonging and agency while supporting participation and leadership and developing a cross-sectoral network of food and health system partners who center equity, inclusivity, collaboration and power-sharing as they engage in their work.

Create a worker-owned platform cooperative of rideshare drivers in Colorado through the Drivers Cooperative-Colorado to increase drivers' control over their working conditions, reduce worker exploitation and increase driver earnings. This cooperative model has been pioneered by The Drivers Cooperative in New York which has over 6,000 members, yielding pay increases of up to 30% for drivers and a reduction in driver expenses by up to $1,500/month.