February 2010
Dear Friend, What do we hope to see in 2010? We hope for more affordable housing near transit so that residents can save on transportation costs and have more housing choices. We hope the tens of thousands unemployed Coloradans find good jobs that can support families. We envision a New Green Economy that is environmentally and economically sustainable for workers and creates opportunity for women and people of color to access the jobs. Additionally, our state faces a serious budget shortfall that threatens our quality of life, and change is needed in 2010 and beyond to ensure that families have what they need to thrive. In 2010, we have the opportunity to put our collective hope to action. We need good jobs, affordable and accessible healthcare, and real opportunities to achieve the American dream. See the articles below for more details about our work in the next few months, how we work to achieve positive change in our neighborhoods and our state, and how you can take action to create the communities that we all hope for. Sincerely, The FRESC Team	February News Connecting Affordable Housing and Good Jobs to Transit Green Jobs and Weatherization 5 Million Jobless Will Lose Benefits Meet our new staff
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Connecting Affordable Housing and Good Jobs to Transit FRESC is at the forefront of local and national movements to promote transit and transit-oriented development and to ensure equitable outcomes including connections to affordable housing and career pathways.  Locally, FRESC is supporting state legislation and policy change at the Regional Transportation District.  The combined costs of housing and transportation consume around 60 percent of low- and moderate-income families’ gross household income.  So if you can lower both costs at the same time, you can dramatically improve families’ quality of life.  FRESC and Enterprise Community Partners are releasing a new report that highlights transit agency best practices on affordable housing to inform our local work. Building on these best practices, FRESC is part of a diverse coalition of local governments, businesses, and affordable housing developers supporting state legislation that clarifies the ability to include residential housing on property owned by the transit agency, House Bill 1143 . To send an electronic post-card to your legislator in support of this common sense change, please click here. We have also been working side by side with Enterprise and leaders on the RTD Board to develop a process for the agency to work with local jurisdictions to consider an affordable housing goal prior to any land transaction involving residential housing. At the federal level, FRESC supports federal transportation funding reform to bring America into the 21st Century in a way that supports stronger economies and communities in cities across the nation, including Denver.  This vision includes more funding for transit projects that help the environment as they create jobs such as FasTracks, rewarding regions that connect transit to good land use including affordable housing, and job training provisions that help connect those who need jobs the most with high quality apprenticeship training on transit build-outs. Whether it is reaching out to build grassroots support for a full FasTracks build out, providing technical advice on local policy, or working to influence national reform in ways that will benefit Coloradans, equitable transit and transit-oriented development are among FRESC’s highest priorities in 2010.

Green Jobs and Weatherization There is a new vision of job creation that helps to save the environment and uplift vulnerable workers. Projected growth of the new energy economy and increased public investment through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for weatherization and renewable energy provide a unique opportunity to respond to both the economic and environmental crisis by ensuring the expanding industries provide career pathways to family-sustaining jobs. Green Careers for Colorado is a 3.6 million dollar grant from the US Department of Labor which will train existing and new workers in energy efficiency assessments and renewable electrical power. It is a partnership between public workforce, community college, labor and non profit organizations. Under the leadership of Labors Community Agency and the Building and Construction Trades Council of Colorado, the project will utilize the state-of-the-art training program of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 68, including wind and solar. FRESC played a key role in helping to bring partners together and will provide outreach and support to help connect individuals to the training opportunities during the grant period. FRESC is also working to ensure that increased funding for home weatherization creates good jobs that provide training, family supporting wages and benefits and prioritize the hiring of women, veterans, people of color and the underemployed. FRESC is partnering with the Sierra Club, the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA), Change to Win, and a broad coalition of community, environmental and labor organizations who have endorsed our Good Green Jobs Principals. Working with LiUNA’s top-notch training program, our vision includes recruitment of community members who have been traditionally excluded from good construction jobs into a good green jobs pipeline that uplifts workers and helps consumers save energy and our environment.

Urgent: 5 Million Jobless Will Lose Benefits! As our nation continues to battle double digit unemployment rates, Americans all over the country are depending on public benefits to continue feeding their families, staying warm during the winter months, maintaining health care benefits and preventing them from losing their homes. Thanks to your leadership, Congress extended these benefits last December for two months. Unfortunately, these benefits will expire at the end of this month. As a result, 1.2 million workers will lose their benefits in March and by June, that number will increase to 5 million. Congress must act right away to continue this vital safety net coverage for families that are struggling. Nearly 40% of the unemployed (6.1 million people) have been out of work for 6 months or longer. The average duration of unemployment is now at 29 weeks. Please contact Senators Bennet and Udall to urge them to extend unemployment benefits and eligibility for the COBRA Premium Assistance Program through the end of the year.  You can take action on this alert, by clicking here!

Meet our new FRESC Staff! We are thrilled to announce our two new staff members, Allison Halprin Lovejoy, our Civic Engagement Director and Aurita Apodaca, Organizer in leading FRESC forward. On behalf of the entire organization, we welcome them to FRESC and are sure that you will share our excitement as you get to know them over the coming months and years. Check out their personal bios here!