The Beginnings and Mission of the Disaster Relief Program

Colorado is a wonderful state to live in. Between experiencing all four seasons, to the mountains and the forests, we are surrounded by beauty here. But no matter how great our state is, natural disasters don’t play favorites in deciding where they occur. Fortunately, REALTORS® have a program that is ready to step in when disaster strikes.

When the Colorado Association of REALTORS® Housing Opportunity Fund (CARHOF) changed over to the Colorado REALTOR® Foundation (CRF) back in May of 2015, a Disaster Relief Program was created. This pro-gram is designed to service Colorado and other states if needed – when destruction is caused by floods, fires, tornadoes, and other natural disasters. The Mission Statement for CRF reads: To aid individuals by funding Colorado Nonprofits to ensure safe and affordable housing, to educate on home ownership, and support disaster relief. This mission is being fulfilled through CRF.

In October 2016, a fire hit the town of Beulah, just outside of Pueblo, Colorado. Although no Pueblo REALTORS® were hurt or lost their homes, nine properties were destroyed. CRF was able to partner with the Pueblo Association of REALTORS® and use a portion of the CRF Disaster Relief Fund to provide aid to those affected by the Beulah Hill Fire. Funds were gifted to the Pueblo County United Way, who was able to combine CRF funds with those from other charitable organizations to create a meaningful impact.

Photo of the Beulah Hill Fire taken by Charla Cook of the Pueblo Association of REALTORS®.

“Monies went into a fund working with several community organizations that had hands on dealings with the fire,” says Andrea Aragon, President/CEO of the Pueblo County United Way. Organizations included the State of Colorado, American Red Cross, Salvation Army, and more.

“The money was used for providing families with vouchers for clothing, emergency hotel reservations, rent money, grocery cards and food, and utility assistance,” added Aragon. “For example, a family who lost all of their belongings had a primary need for tools since the head of the household made his living as a handyman. We were able to provide them with tools so he could continue to go to work.” The funding provided by CRF and other organizations has been making a significant impact on the lives of those affected by the fire.

“We are working with Beulah residents who are managing another pot of funds making sure that funds are not duplicated,” says Bianca Hicks, Administrative Manager of the Beulah Hill Fire. Some funds that are still left will possibly go towards working with the Beulah Fire Department to mitigate some of the possible flood dangers during the spring and summer that would create additional issues for the town. “We are keeping open lines of communication to meet the most needs,” says Hicks. CRF Disaster Relief is ready to help if the need arises.

How You Can Get Involved

• Let us know about needs in your area
• Host an Event

• Amazon Smile: You can also support CRF through your Amazon purchases at no cost to you. In your web browser, you can simply type, “smile.amazon.com” and choose the Colorado REALTOR® Foundation as the charity you would like to support. Amazon will then automatically take a percentage of your order and send it to

Additional donations can be made at http://www.COREALTORFoundation.org/donations.

To learn more about CRF’s impact in Colorado through funding nonprofits, grants, disaster relief, and more, please visit http://www.corealtorfoundation.org/.

Wildfire Efforts in Colorado

Colorado Project Wildfire’s mission is to reduce and prevent destruction of land, property, and lives by raising awareness. For more information on resources, programs, news, and how to get involved, visit our website at https://coloradorealtors.com/projectwildfire/.