In the early months of the pandemic, thousands of Colorado families faced the terrifying prospect of losing their homes. In April 2020, a small group of volunteers led by Zach Neumann and Sam Gilman stepped in to help. That effort grew and became the Community Economic Defense Project (CEDP), a community powered organization that is built to protect families from eviction, displacement, and financial crisis.
What began as crisis response evolved into a transformative model of stability. CEDP created a model for people in danger of losing their housing, by combining intake, navigation, rapid financial assistance, eviction legal defense, and rehousing support when needed. This approach is working: more than 60,000 Coloradans have been served, and nearly $300 million in housing assistance has been delivered to keep people safe in their homes.
But keeping families housed and stable requires more than emergency aid, it requires changing the systems that are harming them. CEDP has helped write and pass landmark policies: helped to create stronger protections for renters, reforms for mobile home communities, accountability for predatory towing and abusive HOAs. Every victory started by listening to our clients and their experiences and fighting alongside them.
Our belief is simple: housing is a human right. Losing a home triggers financial violence—job loss, school disruption, disconnection from community, and a cycle of poverty that becomes harder and harder to escape. CEDP works to stop that spiral before it starts.
Our team provides:
Rapid rent or mortgage assistance tailored to each family’s situation
Skilled navigators who help people access critical benefits and resources
Free legal defense for those facing eviction, foreclosure, or housing insecurity
Most importantly, clients do not need to bounce between agencies searching for help. When someone comes to us in crisis, we meet them exactly where they are and stay with them through the solution.
Our work is community-driven and client-led. We help individuals facing injustice today, and we organize with them to build new systems for tomorrow. Because real change means more than stopping a single eviction it means reshaping the conditions that made it possible in the first place.
Families deserve stability, dignity, and a fair chance to thrive. Together, we can make sure they get it.
Preventing eviction and foreclosure and confronting economic injustice.
The Community Firm dba Community Economic Defense Project (CEDP) is a not-for-profit organization established to provide social services, public benefits, legal aid, and policy change. We provide emergency services and serve low-income Coloradans in partnership with legal aid organizations and social services providers to reach those at greatest risk of displacement. Three core principles drive our programs. (A) Payments should move faster than the displacement timeline. (B) All the wrap-around services a client might need should be integrated under one roof, so asking for help is not a full-time job. (C) Services should be tied to community through integration with community organizations to ensure that people can access services and that client experiences are elevated to the policymaking table.
Organization name
Community Economic Defense Project
other names
CED Law
2020
Tax id (EIN)
84-4867019
Category
Housing & Shelter, Civil Rights, Social Action & Advocacy, Human Services, Public & Societal Benefit
Organization Size
Small Organization
Address
1600 N DOWNING ST STE 600CO, US