Pictured above: Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network
The diversity and unique perspectives of the people in our community are what make Colorado such a special place to live. This means all of our neighbors, including the roughly 563,000 immigrants who live here, and make up about 10% of Colorado’s population. As children, parents, students, friends, coworkers, entrepreneurs, and more – immigrants play a critical role in the social and economic strength of our neighborhoods, cities, and state. We believe in making investments that center the safety, security, and well-being of immigrants in our community.
In 2024, our funding to support immigrant communities primarily focused on legal aid, nonprofit operational support, and policy and advocacy. Additionally, our donors contributed $1.67 million through donor-advised funds to support immigrant and refugee organizations in 2024.
Given today’s uncertain climate, we will continue to coordinate and strategize with our partners – community members, nonprofits, and donors– to support our neighbors and invest in immigrant communities.
We believe that we can work together to where all of us, no matter where we are from, have the opportunity to thrive, and where our community benefits.
Our work in 2024
Legal aid
In partnership with The City and County of Denver, we supported grantmaking to increase legal services to Denver’s immigrant community through The Denver Immigrant Legal Services Fund. We awarded almost $1 million to these efforts in 2024.
The Denver Immigrant Legal Services Fund is a special project fund at The Denver Foundation, established by The City and County of Denver. Since 2018, the fund has provided qualified nonprofits with grants to:
- Offer direct legal representation to immigrants in detention and/or subject to removal proceedings
- Provide affirmative relief to individuals seeking help with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and various visa programs
- Support capacity building or other innovative projects to help organizations increase the pool of pro bono or low bono immigration attorneys available to represent immigrants
We awarded $940,010 in grants to the following organizations:
Nonprofit operational support
Through our Critical Needs Fund – a fund for rapid-response grantmaking that proactively addresses urgent needs in the community – we made grants to nonprofits and government agencies doing work to support integration, education, public health, and human rights efforts within our immigrant communities.
We awarded $330,000 in general operating grants to the following organizations.
- Colorado People’s Alliance (COPA)
- Newcomer Fund (We also sit on the advisory board)
- School districts, including Denver Public Schools Newcomer Fund, Aurora Public Schools Newcomer Fund, Adams 12 Five Star Schools, Westminster Public Schools, and Cherry Creek Schools
Policy and advocacy
We advocated for legislative change at the state and local levels to increase protections and provide funding that impacts immigrant communities.
We supported campaigns to fund the following work in our communities:
And we supported securing protections, such as:
Ways to support our immigrant neighbors
If you’d like to support our immigrant neighbors and emerging issues in our community, our Critical Needs Fund is an efficient and effective way to support a variety of organizations. The Critical Needs Fund is our fastest and most flexible way to respond to rapidly changing landscapes and crises in our community.
If you are a fundholder at The Denver Foundation, you can support these efforts through your donor-advised fund. If you have any questions, please reach out to your relationship manager or our team at information@denverfoundation.org or 303.300.1790.
