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October 2026 issue includes:
- Letter from our CEO
- 2025-2026 Annual Report
- Policy Workplanning at CCLP
- Colorado Champions Awards - Register today!
- Policy report
- CCLP in the news
- Protect Colorado's Future - YES on Amendment 87
- Our 2026 Ballot guide
- 2026 Election is coming up!
- Community updates & opportunities
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Letter from Lydia McCoy, CEO
An excerpt from our 2025-2026 Annual Report
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As we head toward the midterms under a presidential administration that has done so much to harm the people CCLP works to support, we continue to see resources constrained, rights curtailed, and wins of the past wiped out with the stroke of a pen.
But we’ve seen something else, too. We’ve seen the movement to fight for struggling Coloradans coalesce. We’ve seen bridges built amidst wreckage, new relationships forged, and opportunities discovered.
As you may already know, last year’s budget reconciliation bill, H.R. 1, made some significant and deeply harmful changes to the ways in which states must administer public benefits. The “work requirements” component of these changes is a particularly cruel jab at those who are most vulnerable in our society.
In addition to being proven many times over to be ineffective, it creates enormous problems for health care providers, health advocates, and state administrators who must now spend significant funds following new federal obligations that are designed to ensure fewer people access the care and help they need.
Given the complexity and dangers of the federal changes, we identified the need for collaboration across these very different stakeholders with expedience...
| | CCLP's 2025-2026 Annual Report | | |
When they dismantle, we unite, strategize, and build again.
Check out all the things CCLP has been up to over the last year, including:
- A letter from our CEO
- Spotlight on coalition building
- CCLP by the numbers
- Examples of advocacy across our priorities
- Donor testimonials, and more!
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Policy Workplanning at CCLP | | |
In the spirit of the back-to-school season, CCLP staff spent time together at the end of August engaged in a fruitful work planning meeting. Led by our new Chief Legal and Policy Officer, Annie Martínez, we spent time identifying priorities for our organization and planned ahead for the work to be done through 2026 and into 2027.
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Our team discussed our collective strengths as well as the needs and opportunities arising in this current moment. Some themes from our discussion included the ways we can continue to engage the community in our work to create community driven policy.
We also spent significant time thinking through ways CCLP can continue to leverage our legal expertise and litigation strengths to further implement and enforce antipoverty progress in the state and federally.
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Join us for our Colorado Champions Awards on Thursday, November 12, 2026 from 5:00-8:00pm at Skylight in Denver's Santa Fe Arts District!
This annual awards ceremony will highlight the individuals and organizations advancing the rights of every Coloradan. Their stories inspire action and show the power of community partnership.
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Our 2026 Colorado Champion Community Advocate of the Year, Josh Stallings!
Josh has been active in Colorado’s immigrant rights movement across Denver metro and Northern Colorado since 2016, as a community organizer and advocate.
He most recently supported passage of the 2026 “Safety, Not Status” law, House Bill 26-1143.
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The evening will feature a cocktail reception with an OPEN bar, appetizers, a live jazz band, and prizes to win, like a signed item from the Denver Summit!
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Interested in sponsoring the event?
This event is a unique opportunity to demonstrate visible commitment in advancing justice and be alongside Colorado’s most committed champions of change and the communities of people they represent.
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Economic Policy and Young Adulthood in Colorado: Part two
The narratives we tell about young adults play an important role in how policymakers view the issues and shape the policies that affect this population of Coloradans.
Read more
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What We Get Wrong About Young Adults
This second issue brief in our series builds on the first by examining eleven common narratives about young adults
Despite their prevalence, many of these narratives are contradicted by the data and research reviewed in Brief 1. We cannot evaluate how well our social safety net does or does not support young adults without an accurate picture of their circumstances and needs.
This report is the second in a four-part series on young adults and their economic security in Colorado.
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PROTECT COLORADO'S FUTURE
YES on Amendment 87
| | Amendment 87, officially the Income Tax Fairness Act, is on the ballot this fall! With a little over a month left before the election, join us in supporting the measure by participating in any of the following 3 opportunities: | |
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Protect Colorado's Future YES ON 87 WEEK OF ACTION, Oct 5-10! See this campaign calendar for the many events the PCF campaign is throwing during their official week of action next week!
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WEEKLY Tuesday and Thursday virtual phone banks with PCF from 5-7 pm. Sign up here.
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Sign up for the Fair Share to get updates from the campaign about additional ways to get involved all the way up to Election Day!
| | And vote YES on Amendment 87 in November! | | |
Colorado voters will decide an unusually large number of statewide ballot measures this November. The results of this election day could affect many aspects of Coloradans’ daily lives.
As an antipoverty organization, CCLP evaluates these measures through an economic justice lens, examining how each proposal could affect people currently experiencing—and those who are at risk of experiencing—poverty.
We focused on systems that influence Coloradans’ access to food, health care, housing, and income, as well as civil rights and access to justice.
| | 2026 Election is next month! | | |
Important dates to remember:
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October 9 - Ballots mailed to voters
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October 12 - Drop boxes begin accepting mail ballots
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October 19 - Voter Service and Polling Centers open
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October 26 - Last day to register and receive a mail-in ballot
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November 3 - Election Day!
| | | CCLP is a part of Count Me In, a civic engagement effort that reaches across the state to educate communities on the issues they will see on their ballots. The focus is to spark community conversations about the power we have to influence the public investments that shape our communities | | |
Join Count Me In at our annual Ballot Bash & Fall Festival!
With 14 statewide measures to weigh in on, filling out our ballots this year will be no small feat. Make sure you have the information you need to make an informed vote on every statewide measure.
Enjoy festive food and drinks with a side of ballot education. We’ll have fun prizes throughout the evening! Bring your friends, family, and neighbors to this free event for a night of fall fun!
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- Thursday, October 22
- 6:00 - 8:30 PM
- Downtown Denver - Exact location released with RSVP
| | | Community updates & opportunities | |
Work Requirements Toolkits for Medicaid
Starting in 2027, a new federal law will require some adults with Medicaid to complete and report work, school, work program or volunteer activities to keep their health coverage. These new rules are called work requirements, or community engagement requirements.
Learn about the requirements with Health First Colorado's Work Requirement Awareness page and toolkits.
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Fair Housing Summit
Denver Metro Housing Center is hosting a community resource fair! Join neighbors and colleagues uniting to protect Fair Housing in Colorado. Unlock immediate, valuable information on fair housing rights, renter protections, down payment assistance, and affordable financing.
Hear directly from leaders in our state, including Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and State Senator James Coleman, and Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen. Admission is free for the public.
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- Saturday, October 3, 2026
- 8:30 a.m.–3:00 p.m.
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CSU Spur Center, 4777 National Western Drive, Denver, CO 80216
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Hunger Free Colorado Webinar
Join Hunger Free Colorado to learn how Amendment 87 could impact the resources communities rely on and why food and hunger advocates should join the fight for a fair tax code.
- Monday, October 5 | 2-2:30pm
- Spanish interpretation available
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Seminario Web de Colorado Sin Hambre
Únete a Hunger Free Colorado (Colorado Sin Hambre) para aprender cómo la Enmienda 87 podría afectar los recursos de los que dependen las comunidades y por qué los defensores de la alimentación y la lucha contra el hambre deberían unirse a la lucha por un código tributario justo.
- Lunes 5 de octubre | 2 pm a 2:30 pm
- Se dispone de traducción al español
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Don’t Ghost Your Vote: A COLOR AF Ballot Pachanga
COLOR Action Fund is throwing Don’t Ghost Your Vote: A COLOR AF Ballot Pachanga, a free Halloween party where politics meets cultura.
They're bringing community together for a night of costumes, music, dancing, food, drinks, games, and real talk about what’s on our ballots and what this election means for our communities.
- October 23 | 6-9pm
- Free to attend | Cash Bar | Apps & snacks provided | Costumes encouraged
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Ballots, Brunch, & Bridging Divides
Join the Women's Foundation of Colorado for Ballots, Brunch, & Bridging Divides, a special event designed to help find the humanity in one another while preparing to make informed choices at the ballot box.
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- Saturday, October 24 | 9 – 12 pm
- Social Fabric Hub, 7 Inverness Dr. E., Unit C, Englewood, CO 80112
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Office of Health Equity's Rural Health Equity Report released
The Well-Being of Place: Understanding and Advancing Health Equity in Rural Colorado, is a rural health report discussing disparities, provider shortages, and economic challenges in rural Colorado, as well as the resilience and strong community ties of these regions.
The report urges increased investment in community-led solutions and targeted state initiatives to improve rural health and advance equity.
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Colorado Rural Philanthropy Days
October 29-30, 2026 | Leadville, Colorado
The goal of RPD, put together by Community Resource Center is to bring increased access to resources to support sustainable rural nonprofits, increase the engagement of funders in rural communities, and encourage effective collaboration on a regional scale.
The 2026 conference will include multiple professional development opportunities over the 3-day conference. The Heart of Colorado RPD Conference will provide a powerful opportunity for the state’s most influential funders to meet one-on-one with local and regional grantseekers in a series of Funder Roundtable discussions.
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Every dollar makes a difference
We depend on support from individual donors to help us improve economic security and access to affordable health care for Coloradans facing poverty. We cannot do this important work without you.
| | CCLP is a 501c(3) nonprofit organization, and all donations are tax deductible for state and federal income tax purposes. We’ll send a letter acknowledging your donation and noting our tax-exempt status. | | |
Colorado Center on Law and Policy is an antipoverty organization advancing the rights of every Coloradan. | |
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Colorado Center on Law and Policy
789 N. Sherman St., Suite 300
Denver CO, 80203
Call: 303-573-5669
Fax: 303-573-4947
copolicy.org
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