Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods, a registered neighborhood organization, is investing in its financial future with an endowment totaling $1 million to be managed by The Denver Foundation.

“Our organization is committed to shaping the future of Denver through a number of strategies ranging from smart urban planning to championing economic opportunity for all Denverites,” said CHUN’s president and executive director Travis Leiker in a news release. “The endowment model we co-created with The Denver Foundation will allow CHUN to promote continued community enhancements through citizen collaboration and civic engagement.”

The Denver Foundation is a community foundation that serves Colorado from its Capitol Hill headquarters at 1009 Grant St.

The CHUN endowments were established with proceeds from the sale of the Tears-McFarlane Mansion, 1290 N. Williams St., which is located along Cheesman Park in Denver. CHUN has owned the historic property since 2005, and maintains a 50% equity stake through a joint venture partnership with City Street Investors. The partnership with City Street Investors includes a revitalization project of the mansion expected to be complete in 2023. Plans call for a café, enhanced community meeting space and other amenities to serve the surrounding neighborhood and provide new sources of revenue for CHUN and its partners, states the news release.

The news release states that CHUN’s endowments’ investment returns will provide a dependable source of revenue to support CHUN’s annual budget and allow CHUN flexibility for how dollars are used in the future. CHUN will continue to invest in community through its various initiatives, including CHUN’s SEED Awards, which are micro grants awarded to local organizations to help meet immediate funding needs for smaller projects that encourage civic entrepreneurship and/or promote neighborhood engagement.

“For many nonprofits, creating an endowment is a path to building long-term sustainability,” said Javier Alberto Soto, president and CEO of The Denver Foundation, in the news release. “We are thrilled that CHUN has decided to partner with us by opening an endowment. It will allow them to focus on serving the Capitol Hill community, knowing that their assets are being put to the highest use through mission-aligned investments with The Denver Foundation.”

To learn more about CHUN, visit chundenver.org. To learn more about The Denver Foundation, visit www.denverfoundation.org.