Through nearly $100,000 in City of Denver funding, Focus Points is helping residents access portable air conditioners and air purifiers, along with the practical support needed to use them safely at home.
An air conditioner sitting in a box does not make a home safer. It has to fit the space, be installed correctly and come with clear guidance about safe use, energy costs and maintenance. An air purifier only helps if a household can access the right unit, set it up and know how to care for its filter.
That practical gap between receiving a resource and being able to use it is the role a neighborhood-based family resource center is built to play.
This summer, Focus Points received nearly $100,000 through two grants from the City and County of Denver’s Office of Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency (CASR). The funding is helping the organization bring 81 portable air conditioners and nearly 300 air purifiers to residents of Denver neighborhoods that face some of the city’s greatest heat and air-quality risks.
The equipment matters. So does everything that helps it reach the right home and work once it gets there.
“Listening is the first step. The goal is to build a response that works in the reality of people’s lives,” said Jules Kelty, executive director of Focus Points. “For this program, that meant not just securing equipment, but helping families navigate eligibility, landlord permission, installation, energy use and maintenance so the resource could truly make their homes safer.”
Turning community feedback into practical support
Focus Points has worked alongside families in Globeville and Elyria-Swansea for more than 30 years. Those long-standing relationships help the organization understand not only which resources residents are asking for, but also what can prevent those resources from making a meaningful difference.
As summer temperatures were on the rise, families told Focus Points that they needed reliable cooling. They also shared the barriers that can come with it: uncertainty about whether a unit will work in their home, the need for landlord approval, difficulty transporting or installing heavy equipment, concerns about energy costs and questions about ongoing care.
Focus Points designed its Cool Homes work around those realities. The organization’s bilingual intake process helps identify eligible households and assess whether the equipment is compatible with each home. Staff can assist with landlord permission when needed. A contracted installer provides delivery and safe in-home setup, while participants receive guidance on operation, energy use, filter cleaning and basic maintenance. Focus Points remains available afterward by phone, during walk-in hours and through its other programs.
The team reached residents through channels families already use and trust, including Focus Points newsletters, social media, walk-in appointments and the Huerta Urbana Farmers Market. Focus Points also negotiated discounts with equipment manufacturers, helping the city’s investment reach more households.
“Our Family Support Services team is the bridge between a public investment and a real change in someone’s home,” Jules Kelty said. “They bring language access, trust, practical problem-solving and follow-through to every step. I am deeply proud of the care and persistence they bring to this work.”
A cooler upstairs for one Elyria-Swansea family
All 81 portable air conditioners have been allocated, with distribution and installation continuing as needed. The timing could hardly have been more urgent. On August 21, Denver reached 100 degrees, setting a new daily record and marking the city’s fourth triple-digit day that month.
During that stretch of extreme heat, Denver7 reporter Ethan Carlson visited Focus Points and spoke with Teronica Williams, an Elyria-Swansea resident and single mother of three who received an air conditioner and air purifier.
Williams explained that the upper level of her townhome becomes especially uncomfortable, and her two daughters’ rooms do not have ceiling fans. The new portable air conditioner will cool that floor. She also described the difficult choice families can face when opening a window offers relief from the heat but lets polluted outdoor air into the home.
“When it’s hot, should I raise my window up to allow air to come in? Because we’re breathing in all these toxins…” Williams told Denver7.
Her experience captures why cooling and clean air cannot be treated as separate concerns. Watch or read Denver7’s full story about the program and its impact on Williams’ family.
Making climate investments work at home
Programs like Cool Homes and Clean Air demonstrate what is possible when public investment is paired with trusted, neighborhood-based support. By listening to residents and helping families navigate the practical barriers between receiving equipment and using it successfully, Focus Points is helping turn climate funding into safer, more comfortable homes.
This work is also part of a larger commitment to ensuring that families in Globeville, Elyria-Swansea and across Denver are not left to face extreme heat and poor air quality alone. As climate-related challenges continue, Focus Points will keep listening, connecting residents with resources and advocating for solutions shaped by the realities of their lives.
The air conditioners and air purifiers were made possible through Denver’s Cool Homes and Clean Air mini-grant programs, funded by the voter-approved Climate Protection Fund and administered by the City and County of Denver’s Office of Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency.
