Racial Inequities: Black Coloradans often face barriers in homeownership

the applicants visited properties, landlords denied their applications. is happened over and over again.

BY NINA JOSS AND HALEY LENA NJOSS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM; HLENA@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

A few years ago, Aurora Warms the Night, an Aurora-based nonpro t serving people who need housing, ran into a challenge when assisting its Black clients in applying for apartments. When

So the team decided to take a di erent approach, sending in White volunteers to check out the apartments rst.

“I would send one of our employees or people that were White to look at the apartment — to get the pricing, get everything, to make sure everything was available,” said Brian Arnold, who was executive director of the group at the time ve years ago. “After that, we did the application online and sent it in without them being able to see the person.”

Once the application got approved, the team at Aurora Warms the Night would let the real estate agents see the client was Black. Arnold said this process worked almost every time and became the organization’s own way of making a dent in the discrimination that people of color may face, but nd e authority earmarked $5 million previously awarded for the Brighton Ridge Project, building 264 apartments for households with a 60% median income – about $23,000 per year. e project comprises 96

A portion of the funds will also help with the food distribution bank at the authority’s Hughes Station property community room. Brighton Housing Authority Executive Director Debra Bristol said they are not experts in food access, so they will try to nd a partner willing to come to the Brighton community and expand their service area.

“We’re still in the capacity building stages, but what we tried to do for all of the a ordable housing projects here in the Brighton community, and in Adams County at large, is working with other service providers to identify gaps in the services, so that we can either help ll those gaps or help nd ways to create partnerships to ll those gaps,” Bristol said.

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