East Colfax Community Collective

We at the EC3 are building collective power in our community to fight displacement and ensure that East Colfax and North West Aurora residents and businesses can stay and thrive in the place where they call home. In 2024 we will be advancing multiple programs and campaigns to live our mission and stand in our power to influence the way our neighborhood develops:

Fighting for Community Ownership– EC3 believes one of the most powerful ways we can impact displacement is to ensure we have ownership stake in our neighborhood:

• Small Business Buy the Block Program– EC3 will be working to pilot a Buy the Block Program in East Colfax that will support small businesses who want to purchase their properties to receive the training and access funding to own their buildings.

• East Colfax Mixed Income Neighborhood Trust (EC-MINT)– In 2024 EC3 will become the 5th pilot site nationwide of the MINT model in 2024. The EC-MINT will provide the EC3 a tool to bring apartments under community ownership and stabilize rents at a significant amount of the units we acquire!

• Expansion of Small Business Incubation Program– EC3 will expand our program that supports our multicultural residents to get a business license in the language of their choice...breaking down the systemic barriers that were keeping our community members from accessing this license.  

• International Markets– We will also work on building opportunities for incubated businesses and other small businesses to open and operate at our International Markets that work to build community in East Colfax by connecting small businesses to residents and celebrating the cultures of East Colfax.

Front Line of Defense Against Displacement:

• Residential and Small Business Legal Clinics– The EC3 will continue to operate and expand the reach of our pro-bono legal clinics that are providing free consultations and legal support to businesses and residents to fight evictions and illegal practices of unscrupulous landlords. 

• Residential and Small Business Relief– The EC3 will continue our programs that provide housing assistance and small business relief that have successfully assisted community members in receiving $3,683,000 in housing assistance and $545,000 in small business relief over the past three years.

Policy Advocacy:

• Small Business Taxation Equity Act– We are working to introduce a bill that would allow small businesses in Colorado to pay their property taxes over the course of 12 months rather than in 2 lump sums, to ease the property tax burden on small businesses.

• Housing Conditions— Together with partners in Denver and Aurora, we will be working on City level policy and process reform to address the crisis in housing conditions we are seeing in East Colfax and North West Aurora.

We have so much work to do, and are so grateful to each and every one of you for donating on Colorado Gives day and supporting our critical work building power and advocating for East Colfax! Thank you for believing in us and supporting our mission through your donation!