Some 500 people of faith, at least 20 clergy members and several Denver-area politicians are expected to participate in a public meeting for jobs on Monday, Dec. 16 at Shorter Community African Methodist Episcopal Church, 3100 Richard Allen Court. The meeting is sponsored by Shorter and Together Colorado.

In Colorado, African Americans are 4% of the population yet comprise 14% of the unemployment rate, Shorter said in a press release about the event. In response to this “disproportionality and heeding the cries of the people in our pews,” Shorter Community AME Church in Denver and Together Colorado, a non-partisan interfaith community organization, are hosting an “Evening of Prayers, Testimonies and Action.”

The meeting is scheduled for 6:30–8 at the church located just off Colorado Boulevard and Martin Luther King Drive in Denver.

Attendees will be able to ask direct questions of Tony Pickett with Urban Land Conservancy concerning job creation in the organization’s 40th & Colorado Blvd. development project. Picket is the non-profit’s vice president for master site development. The Park Hill development project sits in the heart of the African-American community in Park Hill.

Those expected to attend include: Rep. Rhonda Fields, Rep. Jovan Melton, Senator Jessie Ulibarri; and representatives from the following offices: Mayor Michael Hancock, Senator Mike Johnston, Councilman Albus Brooks, Councilman Chris Herndon, Councilwoman Debbie Ortega and Councilwoman Robin Kniech.