Tuesday, September 22, 2026, 3 p.m. (Denver time), Parr-Widener Community Room, Room 389
0:40 It's of their last budget
0:42 hearing of the case. Thank
0:45 keeping with we have human
0:49 rights community and
0:50 COUNCILMAN Founded by host the
0:53 Housing and Planning Committee
0:54 and will get started. Start in
0:54 from the live in Flint,
0:56 Southwest numbers, district
1:00 and we are chief operating
1:03 What does called up to
1:04 financial office by an
1:06 American pulse of the Stamper
1:08 District Watson Fine District.
1:09 Minutes or just revised from
1:12 Tillis district. Victoria
1:14 human rights and community
1:20 partnerships to monoclonal
1:21 human rights and community
1:26 partnerships thank Council
1:27 woman felt it look like
1:28 district's. Not that can have
1:31 any councilmembers online, but
1:32 we might have councilmember
1:36 and the cars are good
1:36 afternoon. Try not to keep you
1:40 from leaving today. Not too
1:41 long it is an honor to be here
1:43 in front of you and for our
1:45 2027 budget. I think all of
1:47 you know, he'd be human rights
1:48 and partnership says, but I
1:50 want to express our mission
1:52 that we proactively protect
1:55 and advance human rights by
1:56 strengthening relationships
1:56 between the city and Denver's
2:02 diverse communities. I think
2:04 sometimes people wonder what
2:05 does that mean by human
2:05 rights? And I think it's or cp
2:08 works too. Works with
2:10 communities to address local
2:12 issues, promote equal
2:14 opportunity and access,
2:15 protect the rights of all
2:17 people regardless of their
2:20 race, color, creed, gender,
2:21 sexual orientation, national
2:22 origin, age or disability. And
2:26 in addition to those divisions
2:30 that we support, we also have
2:31 10 advisory commissions in
2:34 2024. Denver voters added
2:35 feature cp as a permanent
2:35 cabinet-level department.
2:36 Under the tartar of the city
2:40 and county of Denver. This is
2:40 a clear message that Denver
2:41 writes, want to see this work
2:43 elevated to all of Denver can
2:45 live try and be a part of a
2:46 community that lifts up every
2:50 fabric Denver's diversity. Our
2:51 priorities include program
2:52 development to develop and
2:54 lead programs for community
2:56 groups, nonprofits and Denver,
2:57 employers aimed at protecting
2:59 the human rights of
3:00 underserved and historically
3:04 marginalized communities. City
3:05 training. We also conduct city
3:06 training and educational
3:07 programs for city employees to
3:10 improve their understanding of
3:12 if she's facing marginalized
3:13 communities and groups
3:13 supporting nonprofits and
3:17 ensuring equitable access. All
3:20 this to say that h or cp
3:20 champions, equity
3:21 inclusiveness by protecting
3:21 human rights through program
3:23 services and partnerships,
3:26 amplifying the voices of the
3:27 underrepresented communities.
3:29 We currently comprised of 4
3:31 divisions. 24 Ft, East, 10
3:33 commissions and currently 146
3:37 commissions with more in q.
3:38 Put our strategic priorities
3:44 for Twenty-twenty 7. We
3:45 continue from our 2026
3:47 priorities with some some of
3:50 these that you'll see. And and
3:50 remember from last year, but
3:51 community empowerment, which
3:54 we launched in JANUARY of
3:58 2026, to promote and to
3:58 promote Sorry. I'm having a
3:59 hard time reading this to
4:02 promote and increase the
4:03 guidance and participation of
4:06 neighborhood forums and
4:08 monthly commission efforts
4:11 citywide summary this 2
4:13 city-wide promotion and
4:15 community outreach. We also
4:16 will improve the operational
4:18 effectiveness and capacity of
4:19 registered neighborhood
4:19 organizations which are are
4:20 nos by providing targeted
4:23 training and resources. You
4:25 can see that this is this
4:26 coincides with City Council
4:26 priority Empowerment
4:31 Communities. We believe that
4:32 this between citywide
4:32 engagement with all the
4:34 citywide divisions and
4:36 departments and with our and
4:37 our no engagement that we are
4:39 really bringing everyone
4:41 together to be inclusive with
4:42 not only internal
4:43 stakeholders, but our external
4:46 stakeholders as well. We also
4:47 have our immigrant refugee
4:50 affairs. We want to continue
4:51 to be a welcoming Denver to
4:53 the delivery of my City
4:55 Academy program. This direct
4:57 engagement will with Danvers
4:57 immigrant and refugee
4:59 communities. Shares knowledge
5:00 of critical resources and the
5:01 empowerment of civic and
5:05 community engagement through
5:05 education. This city Council
5:07 priority is to increase that a
5:08 typo instead of increased MAY
5:10 Stearns. And could he say, but
5:12 really it's increased
5:14 increased community safety.
5:18 And by doing this, I think our
5:19 I see the academy really
5:19 addresses relationship
5:21 building with Denver Police
5:23 Department with not profits
5:24 that come in and talk about
5:26 know your rights. And also
5:30 with our no participation and
5:30 recorder for civic engagement.
5:34 So really being inclusive to
5:36 stakeholders, partake in this
5:36 not just our city
5:37 information out to the most
5:38 influencers of the community
5:39 and having them shirt with a
5:40 knee, took their
5:45 neighborhoods. We also access
5:46 for all has an area that we
5:48 feel we've really really done
5:49 well on with our deaf and hard
5:51 of hearing people with
5:52 disability, making sure that
5:55 our 88 barriers are being
5:59 mitigated and also using our
6:02 it sells for people who don't
6:06 access to communication
6:07 outside of interpreter and
6:08 also to equitable access to De
6:09 government services and
6:13 facilities. I believe this
6:15 falls under the city Council
6:16 priority of ada,
6:16 Accessibility, improved
6:19 numbers, infrastructure. We
6:21 also have our aging and
6:21 financial well-being, which we
6:27 combined for 2026. I believe
6:29 this hat. Because with party
6:30 building healthy communities
6:31 with our aging well initiative
6:32 and addressing housing needs
6:36 with our financial catching.
6:37 The support, financial
6:38 stability, generational wealth
6:39 and successful aging, a place
6:40 for all Denver community
6:41 members to Taylor Financial,
6:42 coaching and resource
6:43 connection. And this, I
6:47 believe that we are one
6:49 helping our older adults age
6:50 in place, but also working
6:52 with individuals and families
6:54 too not only have temporary
6:55 housing but to move into
6:56 permanent housing once they
6:56 have the coaching that they
7:02 need. In our aging well
7:05 initiative Re address 231
7:07 older adults to our
7:09 partnership with Denver,
7:09 American Indian Center and the
7:13 Montbello organization. We
7:19 also coached 408 individuals
7:22 into housing. I think that
7:24 sometimes we we don't see that
7:24 because we're behind the
7:25 scenes were trying to mitigate
7:28 people from becoming homeless
7:29 that we work with Warren
7:30 Village. We work with mercy,
7:33 housing. We work with a lot
7:34 nonprofit organizations that
7:37 contact us to help there there
7:38 residents with coaching so
7:39 that they can move on to the
7:44 next level permanent housing.
7:46 And then we also have our 10
7:47 commissions, which I will talk
7:49 to talk about later. What are
7:51 the impacts and
7:53 considerations? Well, for
7:53 community empowerment, we
7:55 believe that it's going to
7:59 improve the feedback from
8:00 community in implant implement
8:02 a plan for our nose. Right now
8:04 we have over 280 our nose. And
8:08 I think that there probably 25
8:11 to 30 that are really doing
8:12 bollen following the process
8:12 and then the others that maybe
8:18 don't have a full bored or are
8:19 challenged with getting
8:19 activity in their
8:20 neighborhoods. And so we
8:23 really want to work with
8:25 COUNCILWOMAN County
8:26 COUNCILMAN, Cashman and
8:26 COUNCILWOMAN Said Emma
8:27 Gonzalez get Harris and we
8:28 have been working with them
8:33 since JANUARY of 2026. Meeting
8:34 biweekly not just going out to
8:35 the our nose but evaluating
8:36 the feedback and what
8:37 processes could be
8:41 implemented. We have a 4 page
8:43 document that we've been
8:45 reviewing on what could come
8:47 what can hold off to until
8:47 to a chur cp immediately and
8:51 processes are put in place.
8:51 We've also been partnering
8:54 with our mayors outreach
8:56 Department on citywide
8:58 engagement and hopefully we'll
9:00 have a framework built in 2028
9:01 so that all citywide
9:02 engagement calls a process
9:04 that we can have all hands on
9:06 deck instead of little
9:10 one-offs here. And there. And
9:11 then Denver days is
9:15 implemented by our community
9:15 Empowerment Division. And this
9:17 year, we're really excited to
9:19 share that. Not only did they
9:23 give away 1000 backpacks, we
9:25 3,000 attendees and it was a
9:26 great success and city council
9:28 district number 3 at the
9:28 Westwood Community Event
9:32 Center. Access for all handles
9:34 all the asl request. Court
9:37 press conferences and
9:38 department request Dbt dpr and
9:40 we're seeing a higher request
9:42 from our internal stakeholders
9:44 versus ours, external
9:45 stakeholder. So we're seeing
9:46 that some of the programs are
9:47 being operated by our sister
9:51 agencies need to have the
9:52 interpretation for whether
9:53 it's someone getting a swim
9:54 lesson or, you know, one of
9:58 our press conferences, we're
9:58 seeing more and more requests
10:04 from our asl interpreters. We
10:06 also do training for out
10:07 disability and aging for law
10:08 enforcement. But for new
10:10 cadets and park cases and
10:11 government services and we see
10:16 the success in that when we
10:18 about older adults with
10:20 Alzheimer's and dementia or
10:24 persons that are, you know, on
10:28 the spectrum someone can't
10:28 speak and and how can they get
10:29 a trusted partner to help? And
10:31 so we're seeing really great
10:32 partnership us that especially
10:38 with the sheriff's department.
10:40 well-being do for the first
10:40 Aging and financial,
10:42 time in history. Colorado is
10:43 seeing more older adults than
10:45 younger people which is 0 to
10:47 18. So we see that a trend
10:51 across across the country we
10:52 have to build those
10:53 infrastructures to help with
10:55 our older aging older adults,
10:59 30% of Denver's older adults
11:00 live in poverty. And so this
11:01 year we're working on in age
11:03 matters report that really
11:05 looks at how each department
11:06 looking at aging with an aging
11:07 lens and how can we support
11:11 those gaps that we're missing
11:13 and make sure that our aging
11:14 people are being treated with
11:18 respect and dignity. Or
11:19 anti-discrimination. We have
11:21 had 61 complaints so far. But
11:22 have been able to resolve
11:26 Florida. 41 of them and we are
11:28 monitoring 16. So we continue
11:29 to do the anti-discrimination
11:30 work. And we're working with
11:31 Peak Academy to work on some
11:32 new processes to really make
11:38 that system better. And we are
11:40 also supporting the 18 to 62
11:42 year-old adults receiving
11:45 government. Support as you
11:46 know, hr one will impact a
11:48 part of the population that we
11:51 serve. And so we're working
11:53 with veto ddphe and dhs to
11:55 support those volunteer
11:55 efforts to make sure that no
11:56 one else can lose their
12:01 benefits. Equity
12:04 considerations. Hrc p this is
12:08 in our dna this is why we
12:11 exist. This is not a check the
12:13 box moment. We are all about
12:13 equity and making sure that
12:15 everyone in Denver has access
12:17 to it. So strengthening those
12:19 connections with city agencies
12:20 by engaging and empowering
12:21 Denver communities with new
12:25 changing and existing and
12:26 expanding programs. We've been
12:28 leveraging commissions and
12:29 community partnerships to
12:30 strengthen civic engagement
12:32 and to connect communities
12:33 with city resources and
12:34 opportunities. I would like to
12:37 give you an example of how
12:38 we've been doing that. We had
12:40 older adult. That was 82 years
12:43 old with dementia and
12:44 Alzheimer's, had no family in
12:46 Denver. I had a lot of code
12:49 violations on their home, not
12:52 just from cpd, but also from
12:54 ddphe, our financial
12:55 well-being department stepped
12:57 and connected all the right
12:58 people together and we're able
13:00 to not only clean up the house
13:03 and yard but also help this
13:04 individual sell their home and
13:06 get them into assisted living
13:07 a switch. What which is what
13:08 they needed because they were
13:10 out without running water for
13:13 4 years. So if you can imagine
13:15 not having someone to look
13:18 after you and going to, you
13:20 know, not being able to
13:21 connect the dots to how to how
13:24 to make fix this and make it
13:25 better. We were able to do
13:26 that and it makes me proud
13:27 that our staff went that extra
13:31 mile to make sure that. You
13:32 know, not only was the but all
13:34 that funding could go
13:36 somewhere to help this
13:39 individual live in a safe
13:40 environment. So that's just
13:40 one of the cases that we've
13:41 had around older adults where
13:44 we've helped them navigate the
13:45 coats that they no longer can
13:48 afford to pay and help them
13:56 get into a better situation.
13:57 Came amid to the next slide.
13:58 Our agency structure has not
14:02 MAY think you're all well
14:03 versed what every division is.
14:05 We have our aging and
14:07 financial well-being, which I
14:10 have to express. We have 4
14:11 team members and they all
14:12 speak different languages. We
14:14 speak Spanish Vietnamese
14:17 French Portuguese and German
14:18 with aging and financial
14:22 well-being division. So we can
14:24 help Immigrant and refugee
14:27 affairs. I see the academy
14:29 also worked in 5 different
14:29 languages. Spanish cooler,
14:33 which is western African. Are
14:36 bank French and Dari, which is
14:38 Afghanistan. So we are
14:39 reaching people across Denver
14:40 in so many different languages
14:41 with support and resources.
14:44 And I think that is one of the
14:45 things that makes this city so
14:48 great is that we're not only
14:48 diverse for meeting people
14:50 where they are to be able to
14:52 help them and help them have
14:54 access to the resources that
14:56 are needed to live here in
14:58 Denver. Then we have our
14:58 community empowerment, which
15:01 we just I'm going to review it
15:02 further access for all. And
15:04 our Ted Commissions. I wanted
15:06 to speak a little bit about
15:09 our Now, sometimes we don't