What We Do
Financial assistance when it’s needed most
Housing is a human right, and the loss of a home can lead to cycles of poverty that are exceedingly difficult to recover from. We provide coordinated services for benefits access, offering rapid assistance with rent or mortgage to clients who are behind on payments based on the individual circumstances of each. Our teams of caring navigators and lawyers are passionately committed to keeping our clients in their homes.
Legal services and representation
We are proud to offer free legal aid and guidance to tenants facing eviction, foreclosure, and housing insecurity. While progress has been made in recent years in the fight for tenant rights, laws related to housing tend to be weighted in favor of lenders and landlords, leaving residents to fight an uphill battle in a complex legal system. Our work ensures clients know their rights and have the resources they need to pursue a just outcome.
Customized solutions for better outcomes
Our clients shouldn’t have to shop around for what they need, navigating a disconnected, overly complex system while already in the midst of crisis or hardship. We build customized, community-rooted solutions to people’s most challenging economic problems offering rapid funding, advice and navigation, and legal services.
Advocating for a better system and a brighter future
Every aspect of our work is informed by the lived experiences of our clients. We partner with our clients and other community organizations to facilitate client-led organizing movements centered around efforts to reform and reimagine broken, unjust systems. The pursuit of our mission to build a world where all people have what they need to live and thrive doesn’t stop at intervening in individual cases of injustice. It also must involve building new systems to bring this world into existence.
Pet Deposit Assistance for District 10 Residents
We’re excited to share that the Denver Pet Deposit Assistance Program is now live! This pilot program provides a one-time $300 pet deposit to help tenants in Denver City Council District 10 keep their pets and access safe, stable housing.
Too many renters face the heartbreaking choice of giving up a pet because they can’t afford a pet deposit. This program aims to prevent that. It is a partnership between Councilmember Chris Hinds, the Community Economic Defense Project, and local and national animal welfare organizations committed to keeping families and their pets together.
Who qualifies?
You may qualify if:
- You have a pet you are at risk of needing to rehome because you cannot afford the pet deposit required by a landlord; and
- You currently live in, or are moving to, Denver City Council District 10.
Not sure if your address is in District 10? Check here: https://www.denvergov.org/maps/map/councildistricts
How to apply
Fill out the initial intake form, and our team will follow up with next steps:
- English: https://forms.gle/horoVRBrdvzKbs718
- Español: https://forms.gle/p5m6rDe74YYseju16
Don’t live in District 10? We still want to hear from you.
We hope to expand this program city-wide. If you live outside District 10, please share your information here so we can notify you if the program expands: https://forms.gle/bX2dkEcDPf6FaLYK9
Meet the team
CEDP is a diverse team of lawyers, legal experts, housing navigators, tenant advocates, customer care agents, economists, and policy experts. We partner with low-income and working people to build economic and racial equity.