We are deeply grateful to announce that Colorado Association of Realtors Foundation (CARF) has awarded $15,000 to Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence (SPAN) in support of our Housing Stability Services for Domestic Violence Survivors and their children.
CARF promotes safe and attainable housing, advances homeownership for all Coloradans, and provides housing-related disaster assistance to neighbors in need. These values closely align with SPAN’s commitment to ensuring survivors in Boulder and Broomfield counties have access to safe, stable housing as they rebuild their lives free from violence.
Housing Is the Foundation of Safety
For 45 years, SPAN has supported survivors of domestic violence in Boulder and Broomfield counties. What began in 1979 as a crisis hotline and emergency shelter has grown into a comprehensive continuum of services designed to help survivors and their children break cycles of abuse, instability, and poverty.
Domestic violence remains one of the leading causes of homelessness for women and children in the Denver Metro Area. In Boulder and Broomfield counties—communities often perceived as uniformly affluent—the reality tells a different story:
· Domestic violence rates exceed state and national averages.
· Broomfield saw a 31% increase in domestic violence arrests in 2023.
· Boulder County recorded more than 1,800 assaults last year.
· Median rents for a two-bedroom apartment reached $2,300 in 2024—43% higher than the national average.
For many survivors, the choice is stark: remain with an abusive partner or risk homelessness.
Access to safe, affordable housing can mean the difference between continued violence and a new beginning.
Turning Shelter into Stability
With support from the Colorado Association of Realtors Foundation, SPAN will provide housing stability services to 225 survivors and their children during the grant period.
SPAN operates a 27-bed Emergency Shelter that offers immediate safety, basic needs, trauma-informed counseling, and case management. Through our Shelter-based Housing Hub, survivors receive intensive housing advocacy and direct connections to local housing authorities and landlords. Flexible financial assistance helps families cover rent and move-in costs—an essential resource in today’s challenging housing market.
On average, 83% of survivors who access SPAN’s Housing Program transition directly from Shelter into stable housing. Even more importantly, the vast majority remain safely housed and report feeling safer, less isolated, and more connected to community resources.
Housing support is often the turning point—but it is not the end of the journey. SPAN’s comprehensive approach includes long-term case management, legal advocacy, counseling, and economic mobility programming so families can build lives that are safe, independent, and self-sufficient.
Serving Those Most Impacted
The survivors who rely on SPAN’s services are often navigating multiple barriers, including poverty, housing instability, racism, and anti-immigrant bias. In 2023:
· 60% of SPAN clients identified as people of color
· 40% identified Spanish as their primary language
· 95% reported household incomes at or below 30% of Area Median Income
Services are delivered in both English and Spanish by bilingual, bicultural staff who reflect the diversity of the community. SPAN’s commitment to equity and inclusion is foundational to our work, ensuring that survivors receive culturally responsive, trauma-informed support.
A Shared Commitment to Safe Homes
CARF’s mission to promote safe and attainable housing across Colorado powerfully complements SPAN’s work to ensure that survivors of violence have a pathway to stability and long-term well-being. Together, we are strengthening our community’s coordinated response to domestic violence and helping families move from crisis to security.
To the REALTORS® and supporters who make CARF’s grantmaking possible: thank you for investing in safe homes and safer futures.
Because of your partnership, more families in Boulder and Broomfield counties will sleep safely tonight—and take the next steps toward lives defined not by violence, but by stability, opportunity, and hope.
Learn more about CARF here.
