In 2023, our areas of advocacy are:

  • Ending Hunger

    • Promote implementation of Proposition FF, Healthy School Meals for All, and related issues for school districts across Colorado
    • Address the material needs of ag workers who grow, tend, and harvest food in Colorado
    • Collaborate with faith-based entities in the regional network, including ELCA World Hunger, Bread for the World, and the Rocky Mountain Synod Hunger Team

  • 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 shelters and health care
    • Engage work from the legislature's Interim Housing Task Force

  • 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 reduced and/or safer police interaction and increased intervention by trained mental health professionals for those experiencing mental health crises

  • Public Health

    • Protect health care access as a public good and human right that should be available to everyone regardless of ability to pay, including the need for follow-up care for those continuing to suffer long-term effects from COVID-19 and related pandemic challenges
    • Support awareness of public safety in relation to firearms, and understanding firearm-involved deaths (homicides and suicides) as a major public health concern and support home safe storage measures
    • 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, particularly among front-line health care workers and young people

  • Migrants and Refugees

    • Support ELCA Washington Office advocacy around asylum, refugee, and immigration policies and collaborate where possible with 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
    • Support incentive-building programs and grants to local communities to build renewable infrastructure
    • 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 and Lutherans Restoring Creation