Support At-Risk Edge of Lowry Tenants [Mid-Feb Closure!!!]
Tax deductible
[UPDATED STATS AS OF 1:25PM, FEBRUARY 15TH]
The Aurora City attorney has officially told advocates that an emergency order will be used to shut down the Edge of Lowry buildings halfway through February - with little to no support from the City in relocating tenants. We as a community must now band together to make sure that hundreds of people & their children don't end up on the streets!!!
On Monday, January 13th, Housekeys Action Network Denver, The Redress Movement, & others gathered with tenants of CBZ buildings in Aurora & Denver to protest CBZ Management’s horrible neglect & mistreatment of their tenants, & the resultant wave of anti-immigrant rhetoric being echoed by local & national leaders.
Aurora tenant JC shared receipts of payments & an official lease while standing with his partner & four children, describing the horrible conditions they had to endure, which left his children covered in bites from rodents & bedbugs. Denver tenant Natasha Barshalom White, known in the advocacy community for her work with the unhoused, described how her raising concerns about the conditions in her own building in Aurora caused Aurora City Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky to reach out & connect her with CBZ so they could offer her a management position in attempts to quell her discontent. Barshalom White also echoed the harmful migrant narrative that has been perpetuated despite her & her neighbors being proof of the horrific conditions spanning across all CBZ properties outside of the fabricated “gang control” zone, & urgently demanded that viewers at home act now… Unfortunately, despite having solid media turnout at the rally, most didn’t cover these brave voices or the tenants’ demand for justice. The revolution will not be televised.
Once we entered the courthouse at 3pm for the case, our tenants & community members made up three times the capacity of the room, & with media filling most seats inside, the majority of folks had to go into a hard-to-hear overflow room to listen in. What ensued was ridiculous… CBZ had failed to properly follow the channels to switch lawyers after those formerly representing Zev Baumgartner’s case had dropped out. His new lawyer wasn’t present in the courtroom, & originally hadn’t appeared virtually either. It wasn’t until the Aurora City attorney happened to have the other lawyer’s personal cell number that the lawyer eventually joined, citing a medical emergency for his absence without excuse for his misfiling of paperwork. Additional documents hadn’t been submitted in time & the judge allowed for a 42-day grace period for this lawyer to present himself in a better light. Meanwhile, the City’s emergency affidavit was pushed through & decided, with no pushback from CBZ, such that the Edge of Lowry buildings are set to be condemned halfway through February.
42 days for a rich man’s illegally assigned lawyer. 28 days for hundreds of poor, hard working community members & their children to uproot their lives and, despite a world of barriers against them, find somewhere to live.
Thankfully, dedicated & concerned staff members with Colorado Health Foundation reached out to Housekeys Action Network Denver following a press interview & provided a generous, one-time donation of $50,000 "to support direct cash assistance for individuals & families impacted by the condemnation or risk of condemnation of buildings in East Colfax" - & we have been steadfastly putting these funds to use!
Given that the City of Aurora has promised relocation assistance on numerous occasions but not delivered, the responsibility for relocating >90% of tenants before Edge of Lowry is condemned on February 18th falls on local community organizations like Housekeys Action Network Denver (Denver member of the national Western Regional Advocacy Project), The Redress Movement... & YOU!!!
FUNDS SPENT SO FAR:
Between 11/15/24 - 2/15/25:
- $56,471.64 total was spent relocating 32 formerly CBZ-managed families by providing move-in assistance with application fees, first month's rent, & security deposit
- --- $47,176.14 of that was spent on 24 families at the to-be-condemned Edge of Lowry
- --- $4,700.00 was spent on critical rental support for 4 families formerly at Fitzsimons Place on Nome St, which was condemned last year
- --- $4,595.50 was spent on critical rental support for 4 families at Whispering Pines, another target during the last major ICE raid on the morning of February 5th
- As in 67 adults, 53 children, 4 pregnant women, & 3 senior citizens for a total of 127 individuals!!!
WHAT'S STILL NEEDED:
- We should be proud that, as a unified community, we were able to support the relocation of dozens of families into safe & dignified homes! That being said, the City of Aurora, Property Solutions, & Denver Metro Security have complicated the issue by intimidating tenants out of the building before they could be connected to assistance…
- --- Many have reached out for support due to continued housing instability that has followed these tenants, both due to the stain on rental history that CBZ caused, as well as the disgustingly xenophobic narrative perpetuated by their PR team & both local & national politicians. Based on those who contacted us for additional support, at least 40 people (26 adults & 14 children) have been displaced from Edge of Lowry due to intimidation tactics by the off-duty police force Denver Metro Security, which has been openly communicating with ICE. Many reached out from shelters, cars, & the streets asking for support after their units were prematurely boarded up & they could no longer return to the building after receiving threats of detainment.
- --- 44 people (24 adults, 19 children, & 1 pregnant woman) from Whispering Pines are asking for assistance to escape dire conditions & continued threat of ICE, as well as 17 people (8 adults & 9 children) formerly from condemned Fitzsimons Place
Based on the estimation that $50k serves 25 families, & dedicating every bit of funds raised to financial assistance for former CBZ property tenants, we're hoping that community will keep stepping up in this time of need & uncertainty & continue offering as much support as possible so we can prevent families & their children from ending up on the street!
Immigrant detention is NOT housing!!! It's a billion dollar industry that destroys communities by tearing parents from children & leaving behind emotional trauma & financial hardship.
Donate NOW to invest in keeping families together & off the streets!!!
Organizer
V Reeves
Organizer
Aurora, CO
Western Regional Advocacy Project
Beneficiary