The Action Center is a nonprofit organization that has helped Jefferson County’s residents in-need for nearly 50 years. It doles out food, life skills coaching and shelter to help residents become self-sufficient.
Since 1978, The Action Center has also offered the Tenant Landlord Helpline, a volunteer-run, non-emergency phone line focused on answering residents’ questions about finding and keeping housing. Executive director Mag Strittmatter estimates the center received an average of 350 calls per month since it started about topics such as tenant-landlord relations and mortgage guidance.
On July 1, The Action Center passed this responsibility to Colorado Housing Connects, a program of Brothers Redevelopment Inc. dedicated to providing accurate housing information to Coloradans.
At the Action Center, getting answers for callers had been a drawn-out process from the beginning. Callers would leave their questions in voicemail messages. Then, a highly-trained volunteer would sort through the messages, research any pertinent issues and call each person back with individualized information. Now, through Colorado Housing Connects, the process is streamlined, and callers receive answers faster, usually talking to a live person as soon as they call.
“As time went on, we realized our role around housing and dealing with housing concerns was too broad. There are other agencies in the community that could do it better … it’s an assessment of our strengths and their strengths. It became clear it was time to let another organization take over the helpline,” Strittmatter said.
The Action Center worked with Brothers Redevelopment and the Colorado Housing Connects program for nearly two years before turning the reins over to the helpline.
“Housing is not our expertise. We feel good that those phone calls are going to a place that has the knowledge and capacity to handle those situations. Now we have the opportunity to focus our efforts on people with immediate needs,” Strittmatter said.
Colorado Housing Connects received an average of about 1,000 calls per month before it took on The Action Center’s callers, said Colorado Housing Connects coordinator Patrick Noonan. After the transfer, it received about 1,890 calls a month, many attributed to the transition, Noonan said.
The Action Center’s volunteers also made the switch, which eased the transition, Strittmatter said.
“Our volunteers had to go through rigorous training. They don’t provide legal services, but they still have to have a bounty of knowledge to be able to speak to how the law works. Our volunteers were happy to make the switch,” Strittmatter said.
Since the transfer, former Action Center volunteers have provided Colorado Housing Connects with more than 80 volunteer hours.
Strittmatter is excited about how the Tenant Landlord Helpline transfer will affect The Action Center, Colorado Housing Connects and the people the organizations help.
“It was a win, win, win,” Strittmatter said. “The stars aligned, and it was just the best thing to do.”
For more information or to ask a housing question, call 1-844-926-6632, or visit coloradohousingconnects.org.
