The art of letting go

Welcome to the Workbench — a monthly peek behind the curtain at Gary. The way we work involves tinkering, making mistakes, changing, growing, and learning from all of it. We’re often in draft mode: testing ideas, iterating on what’s working, and letting go of what isn’t. This newsletter is our way of sharing that journey with you — not the polished final product, but the messy, exciting work-in-progress itself. Because if we’re serious about making Colorado the best place to raise kids, we want to build it with you.

The art of letting go

What if renters could build wealth?

That was the question. It started in a Gary conference room a few years back. We kept circling it. Renters make payments every month that help their landlords build equity. What if they could build some of their own? What would a Colorado look like where renting isn’t just a cost for the renter, but a chance to participate in the economic upside they’re creating for landlords?

It was a good question. Good enough that it left that conference room.

Earlier this month, Colorado became the first state in the country to launch a publicly funded renter wealth initiative. The Colorado Renter Rewards program is now real. Stake built the technology. CHAI and Enterprise ran the pilots. State leaders backed something genuinely new. Advocates and community organizations created the conditions for success over years. The ecosystem turned a question into state policy.

I think a lot about what Gary’s role actually is in tackling a system as vast as housing. We’re a tiny sliver of the resources needed to ensure the system works for every Colorado family. We know that. But our resources give us the privilege to keep imagining and building what’s possible. To instigate. To orchestrate. And then to let go. The best solutions we help start are the ones that outgrow us and hopefully, outlast us as an impermanent organization.

It’s surreal, honestly. Watching a possibility become real. It doesn’t happen often in systems change. When it does, you remember that the hard, patient, sometimes invisible work actually lands somewhere.

This month’s workbench has more updates on our work in housing, and as always a lot more on everything else we are building alongside many of you!

On The Workbench

• The Colorado Renter Rewards program was made possible by Prop 123. Check out this new platform that showcases the impact of Prop 123. And, here is a phenomenal case study from TransCap Initiative about Gary’s housing work. I’ll talk more about this work in a webinar on March 9th.
• On the theme of housing, the HOME Act has passed the CO House and is on to the Senate. Read more about how it will help mission-driven organizations build more housing.    
• Two compelling articles about the state of child care today. One on solutions from New Mexico and another on affordability issues impacting parents and providers in Colorado. These articles are some of the first pieces to come out of our narrative and storytelling cohort. Connect with our Director of Communications and Storytelling Will Holden for more about this strategy.
• We’re working with EPIC and the Colorado Chamber of Commerce to bring more businesses into the conversation about local child care challenges. If you’re curious, contact Gary’s Director of School Readiness Steff Clothier.
• The Denver Post ran a moving story on Colorado’s Family Affordability Tax Credit, illustrating the economic burdens that working families are facing and how the tax credit acts as a critical safety net.

~ Santhosh