Advocacy at Habitat Metro Denver is centered on one simple goal – to increase affordable homeownership and ensure more families in our community have a safe, affordable place to call home.
Affordable homes are not possible without advocacy. We need policies, funds, and support from local officials to increase affordable homeownership investment and create accessible homeownership for all. February and March were busy months for advocacy at Habitat Metro Denver – we had the opportunity to voice our support for housing affordability at the state and national levels. Read on for a recap and highlights from these recent advocacy efforts.
Each year, during the U.S. legislative session, Habitat for Humanity International hosts Habitat on the Hill, a gathering of 400+ Habitat affiliate representatives from across the nation.
The purpose of the conference is to meet with colleagues and federal legislators to advocate for affordable homeownership and policies that affect the entire continuum of housing affordability in our communities. Habitat Metro Denver’s CEO, Jaime G. Gomez, and Advocacy Coordinator Jesselina Cordova attended and presented a poster about one of our local policy wins, called ”YIGBY” or ”Yes, in God’s Backyard.” Habitat Metro Denver’s has had successful partnerships with faith organizations who are leasing land for Habitat to build affordable homeownership opportunities. Learn more about these faith land partnerships work on this webpage.
During the conference, we also met with federal legislators and asked them to support an increase in several federal funding bills that support housing affordability, including the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) and Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP) for fiscal year 2026 appropriations. Both of these funds can be used by Habitat to acquire affordable land, support infrastructure, build new affordable homes, or repair housing stock in our communities. SHOP is the only HUD grant program that provides funding exclusively for homeownership projects serving low-income families. HOME provides formula grants to states and localities that are used in partnership with nonprofits like us to fund a wide range of affordable housing activities.
During our meetings with members of Congress, we also asked them to ensure that any tax package includes provisions that increase the supply of starter homes and protect the tax status of nonprofit housing providers.
We had the opportunity to meet with the offices of Senator Michael Bennet, Senator John Hickenlooper, Congresswoman Diana DeGette, Congressman Jason Crow, Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen and Congressman Gabe Evans. Our week in D.C. was a motivating and educational experience as we engaged these leaders in conversation about affordable homeownership!
In March, a group of team members from Habitat Metro Denver attended Habitat Colorado’s Coffee at the Capitol. We joined other Habitat for Humanity affiliates from across Colorado at the state capitol to advocate for legislation that will advance affordable homeownership. Our affiliate had meetings with seven different state senators and representatives who represent the Denver Metro area.
We met with Senator Iman Jodeh, Senator Jeff Bridges, Representative Brianna Titone, Representative Steven Woodrow, Representative Meg Froelich, Representative Manny Rutinel and Representative Lindsay Gilchrist. Below are some pictures from the day which include staff members and volunteers who represent Habitat Metro Denver.
Thank you to our partners and fellow advocates for your support and hard work, coming alongside us to advocate for affordable homeownership! We are grateful for the momentum that we can build when we work together.
To see more of our advocacy work in recent months, please visit the advocacy page of our website.
