ULC and The Denver Foundation’s Black Resilience in Colorado (BRIC) Fund announced a partnership in early 2021 to create the Black Resilience in Colorado (BRIC) Loan Fund. The fund was created in recognition of the historic barriers of systemic racism Black nonprofits and the Black communities they serve have faced in accessing low-interest financing. This loan fund offers low-interest loans to support capital projects and/or other improvements for Black-led and serving nonprofits across the seven-county Metro Denver region.

We are thrilled to announce that Athletics & Beyond (A&B) is the first BRIC loan recipient. A&B is a resident-led nonprofit organization based in the Montbello neighborhood that is intrinsically designed to increase and expand the educational trajectories of Denver students at risk of high school and college incompletion. They employ the “Athletics & Beyond (A&B) Student-Athlete Program” as the foundation to produce marketable and successful citizens.

A&B’s mission is to create opportunities through exposure. By using athletics to capture the attention of student-athletes, A&B incorporates robust services that also provide participants with the opportunity to develop life skills, explore alternative careers, and have access to preparatory rigorous academic support. Such services have enabled A&B to engage students academically and dramatically increase the likelihood that marginalized students graduate high school, attend and are prepared for higher education, and obtain the discipline and fortitude to graduate with a post-secondary degree or apprentice program. They are a sports-based youth development & college readiness program that consists of four components: 1) Educational Success, 2) Life Skills Building, 3) Career Options, and 4) Athletic Development.

Are you a Black-led and Black-serving 501(3)c looking for access to low-interest loans? The BRIC Fund is still accepting applications! Please click here for more information and to access the application.