Tuesday, September 22, 2026, 3 p.m. (Denver time), Parr-Widener Community Room, Room 389
This Budget Hearings meeting covered the proposed 2027 budget for the Human Rights and Community Partnerships (HRCP) agency, presented by Executive Director Perla. She reviewed the agency's four divisions (Aging and Financial Well-Being, Community Empowerment, Access for All, and Immigrant and Refugee Affairs), its 10 advisory commissions, and priorities including registered neighborhood organization (RNO) support, the My City Academy program, ASL/ADA accessibility, and an aging-focused 'Age Matters' report. Council members questioned the mediation services contract, which was split into three vendors after an RFP, with concern that the vendor Find Solutions had spent most of its funding by late July. Members also asked about a position moving to Denver License and Consumer Protection, internal budget-line shifts into the administration division, a drop in community partnerships, and the loss of ARPA loan repayments as general fund revenue. The department committed to brief council members on the mediation contract and provide historical usage data. No vote is reflected in the transcript.
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