In 2024, our areas of advocacy are:

  • Ending Hunger

    • Improve access to healthy, Colorado-grown produce for local communities
    • Continue to promote the implementation and continued success of Proposition FF, Healthy School Meals for All, and related issues for school districts
    • Encourage greater participation in food & nutrition programs, particularly for children and youth
    • Support and collaborate with allied faith-based entities in local and regional work, including ELCA World Hunger, the Rocky Mountain Synod World Hunger Team and Bread for the World
  • Poverty Reduction

    • Protect access to federal programs for people living in poverty and support statewide direct assistance programs, including energy assistance, legal defense, and more
    • Support reform of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights to give our democratically-elected legislature fiscal authority in taxation
    • Work to reform medical debt reporting as a barrier to using credit to access housing and other human needs
  • Access to Housing

    • Support follow-up legislative work to implement voter-approved Proposition 123, which sets aside a portion of income tax revenue for a variety of housing programs
    • Promote measures to expand and protect housing options for low-income individuals and families, particularly renters
    • Ensure that people experiencing homelessness have the right and responsibility to access robust services and support, particularly emergency shelter and health care
    • Address the balance of policies and procedures governing evictions to promote equity between landlords and renters
  • Criminal Justice Reform

    • Work with advocates on sentencing reform, with a focus on sentences for which there is evidence of disproportionate racialized impacts
    • Advocate for equal access to the justice system for low-income persons
    • Continue to refine the implementation of clean slate legislation
  • Public Health

    • Protect health care access as a public good and human right that should be available to everyone regardless of ability to pay
    • Support awareness of public safety in relation to firearms, and understanding firearm-involved deaths (homicides and suicides) as a major public health concern
    • Promote access to care and treatment for those suffering from opioid addiction
    • Address the impacts of anxiety, depression, stress, suicidal ideation and other mental health conditions among youth and young adults
  • Migrants and Refugees

    • Support ELCA Washington Office advocacy around asylum, refugee, and immigration policies and collaborate, where possible, with Global Refuge (formerly known as Lutheran Immigration & Refugee Services) and Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains
  • Caring for Our Environment

    • Engage legislation to address the root causes of the climate crisis, particularly fossil fuel extraction and greenhouse gas emissions
    • Address economic implications of transitioning communities away from fossil fuel and extraction-based energy economy
    • Support and collaborate with allied Lutheran entities in local and regional work, including the Rocky Mountain Synod Creation Care Team