DENVER Denver evictions have reached a record high.New data from Denver County Courts shows more than 14,000 evictions have been filed so far this year, with only a few weeks left in 2024. There were 12,910 evictions filed in 2023. "We expect that to be 16,000 by the end of the year," said Kelly Reeves with the Community Economic Defense Project. Reeves, who helps those facing eviction, said there are several factors contributing to the increase. "Wages are not keeping up with consumer products. Rents are sky-high, and they keep getting higher, and people just can't keep up with it. People are being asked to do more with less, and it's not working," Reeves said. Reeves believes renters need a better safety net. "It's lawmakers. It's people who have funding and access to resources. It's community organizations. It's everyone needing to work together to prevent the crisis that we're seeing right now," she said. In an effort to address the crisis, the East Colfax Community Collective (EC3) is buying apartment units with plans to cap rent prices and protect low-income residents. The nonprofit bought its first property on the East Colfax Corridor in September. Currently, around 50 people live there. The 23-unit apartment building is the state's first mixed-income neighborhood trust (MINT) but the fifth in the U.S."Nothing is more durable and nothing is more powerful than community ownership, than actually stepping in and owning the building," said Carson Bryant, EC3's MINT director.Bryant is calling on lawmakers to put a stop to the record number of filings. "It's critical that community organizations step in and that policymakers respond too, frankly," he said. There could be help on the way. A new bipartisan caucus in the Congress, chaired by Colorado Representative Brittany Pettersen, is expected to target high housing costs at the national level.