Joseph Rios - Brothers Redevelopment

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on June 24 that it is extending its federal eviction moratorium until July 31.

The extension further prevents the eviction of tenants who are unable to make rental payments. The Associated Press reported that the CDC will not extend the moratorium again after July 31. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey estimates that as of June 7, around 3.2 million people in the country said they faced eviction in the next two months.

In light of the eviction moratorium being extended, Colorado Housing Connects (1-844-926-6632) Manager Patrick Noonan offered tips for tenants who are currently behind on their rental payments.

Here are Noonan’s tips:

Contact Colorado Housing Connects

There are a number of things a tenant can do to catch up on rent and protect themselves against eviction. This information changes regularly so one of the best things you can do is speak to an eviction prevention expert at Colorado Housing Connects. You can submit an inquiry through our website or call 1-844-926-6632 for more information.

Apply for Rental Assistance

If you need help catching up on rent due to a financial hardship related to the COVID-19 pandemic, you can apply for rental assistance through the Emergency Rental Assistance Program. Denver residents can apply for the city’s Temporary Rental and Utility Assistance Program and email the application to BRITRUA@brothersredevelopment.org.

Pay as much as you can toward the rent

One requirement for renters seeking legal protections from eviction is to pay as much as they can toward the rent. Every little bit helps and can make it easier to catch up on the rent down the road.

Provide your landlord with a CDC eviction moratorium declaration form

If you had a financial hardship related to the COVID-19 pandemic, you may be eligible for some eviction protections under the CDC Eviction Moratorium. If you are eligible, you have to take action to protect yourself by providing your landlord with a copy of the declaration paperwork.

Proactively communicate with your landlord

Many landlords are willing to work with tenants who are behind on rent due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is important that you let your landlord know you are applying for rental assistance and doing everything that you can to pay the rent.

Seek other assistance to help you stay afloat

There is help available for food, medical needs, utility assistance, employment assistance, and more. Seeking help with life’s other needs can give you more breathing room when it comes to your budget. To learn what resources might help, contact Colorado Housing Connects to learn more.

Around seven years ago, the Schierling family woke up to a shocking and horrifying situation when Elvira Schierling — the wife of Brothers Redevelopment founder Don Schierling — suddenly forgot how to walk.

“She had dementia. She literally woke up one morning and was doing this side shuffle,” said Sonja Schierling, Don and Elvira’s daughter. “I was like okay, what’s going on?”

The Schierling house is two stories tall, and Elvira wouldn’t have had a way to enter the home until the family purchased a wheelchair lift that her and Don used until their last days. When Don passed in February, the lift sat unused at the house. But just like the Schierling’s have done for decades, they thought of others in need and Brothers Redevelopment while the lift was unused.

The Schierling family donated the lift to Brothers Redevelopment’s Home Modification and Repair Program who will give the item to a client in need and install it for them at no charge. The program serves seniors across the Front Range by providing free, high quality home safety related repairs and mobility/accessibility modifications.

On June 15, employees from the program went to the Schierling house to pick up the lift that will be stored until it can be placed and installed.

“We are humbled and honored to have been approached by the Schierling family as the recipient of such a generous and impactful donation. This Vertical Platform Lift that allowed our late founder Don Schierling and his late wife to access their home with safety and independence will now go to another household in need,” said Home Modification and Repair Program Manager Jason McCullough.

“This will allow someone who is at this moment wrestling with limited or declining mobility the freedom of access to and from their home with ease and comfort. We will use this donation to further the mission of Brothers Redevelopment and continue the good work Don was so passionate about throughout his lifetime of service,” he added.

Earlier this year, the Schierling family also donated a vehicle that is being used by Brothers Redevelopment’s Paint-A-Thon Program — a longstanding free service that sees volunteers paint the outside of homes for senior and disabled homeowners.

“These donations would’ve made (Don) so happy and proud. This is what dad wanted — anything to help Brothers,” said Sonja.

Life hasn’t necessarily been easy for 72-year-old Linda Marquez the past four years.

The Lakewood resident lost her son Marcus in 2017 after he passed away due to a long battle with a brain tumor — leaving behind his now three-year-old son Atticus. Atticus’s mother wanted him to stay with Marquez because of complicated issues, and when she was faced with the challenge to raise her grandson, Marquez stood up.

For the past four years, Marquez has raised Atticus alone and plans to continue doing so until she is no longer physically able to. She said he is a friendly, smart boy who recently finished his first year of preschool.

“My Atticus is my life saver, because if I didn’t have him, I would be alone. He keeps me moving,” said Marquez. “I decided when my son died, I wouldn’t let anybody take him away from me. I can’t do my yard work or paint my beautiful house now — but I can take care of him day by day.”

Thanks to Brothers Redevelopment’s Paint-A-Thon Program — a free service where volunteers paint the outside of homes for low-income and disabled seniors — Marquez doesn’t have to worry about painting her house anymore.

Paint-A-Thon volunteers from Pinkard Construction, a construction company based in Lakewood, were at Marquez’s house on June 11 to update it with a new paint job that she has long dreamed for.

“It looks beautiful,” said Marquez, who noted that she never liked the color of her house before until it was recently painted. “It looks lighter, cleaner, and I don’t have all those chips and spots anymore. I’m grateful because I don’t know how I would’ve ever done this.”

2021 marks the second year Pinkard Construction has volunteered for the Paint-A-Thon. Christine Fuentes, a Pinkard Construction employee who volunteered to paint Marquez’s house, said the company gives its employees three paid days to volunteer for different causes.

“What’s nice about working with Brothers is they make it easy for the company because they provide all the information, they communicate with you, they help you decide what project would be good for the number of volunteers you have, they provide the material — everything that needs to be done to do a project like this. It makes it easy for us to promote it to our employees and to get the job done,” said Fuentes. “It’s kind of a turn the key thing.

Brothers Redevelopment’s Carlo Nicastro fell in love with the medical field when he was working as a paramedic for the Sierra Madre Fire Department in California from 2010 to 2015.

With dreams of being a doctor on his mind, Nicastro moved back to Mexico — the place where he was born — to go study medicine at the Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara School of Medicine. The school has an international program, and Nicastro said he had classmates from all over the world, including from the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and other countries.

Nicastro’s plan was to finish school and return to the United States. But he met his wife and the two decided to stay in Mexico where he worked as an emergency room physician at a private hospital in Playa del Carmen — a costal resort town in Mexico.

While at the hospital, Nicastro practiced life saving skills on patients and worked as an assistant surgeon during a variety of procedures like C-sections, gastric surgeries, orthopedic surgeries and more.

“Everything about medicine just fascinates me. Obviously, I like to help people out,” said Nicastro. “But I’m an adrenaline junky. I work well under pressure so working in the ER was something that spoke to me.”

After having two children, Nicastro and his wife packed their bags and moved to California where they stayed at for eight years before settling down in Colorado Springs last December. In Colorado Springs, Castro traded in his surgical scrubs for a new career as a senior service navigator for Brothers Redevelopment’s Aging in Place Initiative — a free program that works to help seniors age comfortably by connecting them to resources and services like Medicaid, Social Security, food assistance, rental/mortgage assistance and more.

Nicastro said his time as a doctor has helped him transition into his new role, because his past career helped him be emphatic.

“A lot of people that reach out to Brothers and need our help are in desperate situations. Being able to listen to them and be emphatic is an advantage,” said Nicastro. “There are a lot of elderly people that have a lot of medical conditions. We can talk about what that looks like and what the options are as far as getting help.”

Outside of serving Colorado Springs seniors through the Aging in Place program, Nicastro and his wife operate a food truck in the city called “Dr. Taco.” They originally started Dr. Taco in Playa del Carmen in 2003 before bringing the food service to Colorado Springs.

Seniors interested in the Aging in Place program can access it by calling Brothers Redevelopment’s housing helpline — Colorado Housing Connects (1-844-926-6632).

“The most rewarding part of my job is getting that call back to thank us for our work and being able to solve some of these issues for these elderly people that don’t have anywhere else to look for help,” said Nicastro.

Struggling with rent? Here is what you need to know

Schierling family donates wheelchair lift to Brothers

Paint-A-Thon leaves its mark in Lakewood

Former doctor hangs up scrubs for role with Brothers