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Tag: Housing Help

  • Planned federal housing grant cuts will spike homelessness, dozens of Minnesota organizations warn

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    Dozens of Minnesota nonprofits and advocates warn that planned federal housing grant changes could mean thousands of Minnesotans overcoming homelessness will return to the streets.

    The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced plans to cap the amount of money communities can use for permanent supportive housing in the next round of grants for the Continuum of Care program, which is the largest source of funding for homelessness prevention. 

    Chris LaTondresse, president and CEO of Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative, called it the “backbone” of the nation’s response to homelessness and said 82% of the $48 million Minnesota received last year focused on supportive housing. Under the proposed HUD changes, he said Minnesota could lose half of these dollars, leaving many people displaced. 

    “At a time when we need to be having conversations about how to put taxpayer dollars to their highest and best use, to walk away from the most proven and cost-effective solution we have on homelessness is just a real head scratcher,” LaTondresse said.

    LaTondresse, a former Hennepin County commissioner, said this approach helped the state’s most populous county slash homelessness by 30% in five years. He also said it costs half as much as emergency room visits and shelters, which are the default for people who don’t have supportive housing options. 

    The agency did not respond to WCCO’s request for comment on Monday afternoon. But a spokesperson told The New York Times that “HUD will continue to serve the American people through means-tested measures to encourage self-sufficiency.”

    Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative joined 180 other advocacy groups and nonprofits in signing a letter to the Congressional delegation warning that the cuts to housing support could impact 3,600 Minnesotans and 170,000 Americans nationwide. 

    “We use Continuum of Care funding for critical rental subsidies and supportive services for 103 Minnesotans moving from homelessness to stability,” Jessie Hendel, executive director for Alliance Housing in Minneapolis, said in a news release. “Without these funds, rents will become unaffordable, and formerly homeless individuals will be back on the street.”

    Hendel’s organization manages 370 affordable housing units for people with very low incomes.  

    There is bipartisan concern about the changes to how the grants are awarded. GOP Congressman Pete Stauber of Minnesota’s 8th District joined two dozen other House Republicans late last month in a letter to HUD Secretary Scott Turner, urging the agency to press pause on the changes for now.

    “We recognize that HUD’s efforts to modernize the CoC program and strengthen performance metrics are rooted in data-driven policymaking and a results-oriented approach. We fully support these goals,” the letter said. “However, substantial changes to the [notice of funding opportunity] process or funding priorities should be implemented carefully to avoid destabilizing programs that serve individuals with severe disabilities related to mental illness, chronic health conditions, or substance use disorders, as well as seniors with disabilities.”

    Minnesota Democratic Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith are also asking the Trump administration to halt the planned cuts. 

    More than 9,000 Minnesotans experienced homelessness during a single night count last year, according to a report submitted by HUD to Congress last December. And the state had the second-highest rate of unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness at that time compared to elsewhere in the country.

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    Caroline Cummings

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  • Could a homeless encampment response from 2018 work now?

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    In the coldest month of 2018, a massive encampment with children in tents shocked the system. 

    Hundreds of people including young children called the Franklin-Hiawatha homeless encampment home. It was called the Wall of Forgotten Natives.

    Officials quickly built a temporary navigation center to bring people inside. That was seven years ago. 

    Today, tents continue to pop up. Just this week, two separate mass shootings sent many to the hospital. 

    Steve Horsfield with Simpson Housing Services operated the center and says over 100 people eventually found housing in a seven-month span in 2018. 

    “We were able to see positive outcomes in terms of housing placements,” Horsfield said.

    The estimated cost: nearly $3 million with the city helping fund majority of the funds.  

    Many partners say the center yielded positive outcomes, but it was costly and came with challenges. 

    In a statement a Minneapolis spokesperson said, “The 2018 navigation center presented numerous challenges, was costly, and yielded mixed results for the individuals served. Since then, both the City and service providers have agreed there is a better way. Utilizing lessons learned, we’ve worked together to implement long-term, culturally specific solutions to better address the issue of unsheltered homelessness in Minneapolis.”

    Horsfield says it’s not a model to repeat, but one they learned valuable lessons from.

    “Service rich environment is really the best tool we’ve got to facilitate that journey for someone experiencing homelessness,” he said. 

    Hennepin County Senior Department Administer in Housing Stability Danielle Werder says the navigation center at the time was in response to a crisis. A time when there wasn’t enough outreach teams or dedicated housing focused case management.

    She says since then, the county took those lessons they learned and applied them to different services provided within the county. 

    “At this point in time, systems built out more robust diverse shelters people willing to come into,” Werder says. 

    She believes the navigation center was a model that worked then, but now says the focus is on long term housing solutions. 

    Red Lake Nation Tribal Leader Sam Strong was a leader during this time. He says the system as a whole has come a long way but the recent violence at encampments could mean a temporary navigation center could be the safest option to save lives. 

    “We have discussed this with the city and we would be very interested in continuing conversations, finding a place to provide navigation for these homeless people to find safe place to live,” Strong said. 

    County officials say unsheltered homelessness has decreased by more than 30% since 2020.

    Werder says they understand more needs to be done. That is why additional shelter beds will come online in November and street outreach will continue. 

    Ubah Ali

    Ubah Ali joined WCCO-TV in September 2023. She makes history in Minnesota as the first Somali-American TV reporter in the Twin Cities.

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    Ubah Ali

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  • Matinecock Court affordable housing opening in East Northport | Long Island Business News

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    The wait is finally over. 

    After more than 46 years in the making, the affordable housing development in East Northport will welcome its first residents in just a couple of weeks. 

    LIBN has learned that developers expect to receive certificates of occupancy for about half of the buildings at the limited-equity cooperative complex and other necessary final approvals by the end of the month. 

    A kitchen in one of Matinecock Court’s 146 homes. / Photo by David Winzelberg

    The $97 million development, located on 14.5 acres on the northwest corner of Elwood Road and Pulaski Road, brings 146 residences in 17 two-story residential buildings consisting of 18 one-bedroom units, 89 two-bedroom units, 38 three-bedroom units and a two-bedroom unit for the superintendent. Eight of the units are reserved for individuals with developmental disabilities and five are set aside for veterans. The project includes a 2,500-square-foot community building with a fitness center, administrative offices and meeting areas for residents. It also has its own sewage treatment plant.  

    Monthly maintenance fees at Matinecock Court range from $1,300 to $2,100, depending on the size of the unit. Prospective residents have to meet income requirements that restrict ownership in the gated community to households earning between $47,000 and $95,000 a year.  

    “We held a lottery a couple of months ago and received over 1,000 applications for 146 units,” Peter Florey, a principal of Levittown-based Group, which partnered with Greenlawn-based on the East Northport project, told LIBN.  

    First residents are expected to move into Matinecock Court early next month. / Photo by David Winzelberg

    Florey added that he expects the first move-ins at Matinecock Court in the first week of September, and once final approvals are granted for the rest of the buildings, all residents should be in by November. 

    “We’re confident that we have enough people for full occupancy, with a substantial waiting list,” he said. “It will likely be a 45-day process to get everyone in.” 

    First pitched in 1978, the East Northport development has survived multiple court challenges, one of which went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, as the Town of and local residents tried in vain to derail it. The project, advanced by Housing Help, was stalled under other developers until D&F was tapped in Jan. 2021 to see it through.  

    “Matinecock Court represents more than just new housing, it’s the result of decades of persistence, advocacy, and community partnership to ensure that affordable housing is a reality on Long Island,” said Pilar Moya-Mancera, executive director of Housing Help. “We are grateful to D&F Development for helping bring this vision to life. When the lottery for its 146 apartments opened this summer, we received 1,000 applications—85.7% from Long Island and 32.1% from the Town of Huntington—proving the need is overwhelmingly local. Matinecock Court is not the finish line. It must be a blueprint for future projects, so we don’t wait another 45 years to meet our community’s housing needs.” 

    Housing advocates have hailed the opening of the project. 

    “We commend Housing Help and D&F Development for their perseverance in bringing Matinecock Court to the finish line,” Roger Weaving, president of the Huntington Township Housing Coalition, said in a written statement. “This attractive development stands as an excellent illustration of contemporary affordable housing.” 

    Weaving added that affordable housing opportunities like Matinecock Court can help stem the exodus of people leaving Long Island, and much more is needed. 

    “The few units of housing being created on Long Island today are overwhelmingly single-family homes, but this doesn’t meet the needs of smaller households,” he said. “When people can’t afford housing, they leave town and look for opportunities elsewhere.” 

    Matinecock Court is not the first limited-equity cooperative complex that D&F, headed by Florey and Leonard D’Amico, has developed. In 2017, D&F completed Long Island’s first limited-equity housing co-op called Highland Green in Melville. The $34 million project created a two-story, income-restricted, 117-townhouse community on an 8-acre site once occupied by a commercial nursery on Ruland Road. Purchasers bought into the co-ops for low down payments – from $1,880 to $2,600 – and part of their $940 to $1,300 monthly maintenance charges builds equity in the complex while helping to pay down a tax-exempt bond used to finance its construction. 


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    David Winzelberg

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  • Difficult economy and loneliness forces some retirees to move in with family

    Difficult economy and loneliness forces some retirees to move in with family

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    Yucaipa, California — Expensive upkeep, coupled with isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, led retiree Jennie Olsen to move in with her daughter, son-in-law and their five children.

    Olsen loves being close to her family, and her daughter gets some much-needed help.

    “I get to see the grandkids grow up,” Olsen said. “I’m with them all the time.”

    An estimated 60 million Americans live in households with two or more adult generations, according to numbers from the Pew Research Center.

    Dr. Rodney Harrell with AARP said home shortages and high prices are forcing families to combine resources.

    “Honestly, the economist side of me loves the fact that it’s just more efficient, that we’ve got people that can have a family caregiver nearby,” Harrell said.

    Lennar, a construction company, has a line of Next Gen homes that come with a separate wing. Those Next Gen homes account for nearly 30% of the company’s sales in Phoenix, Arizona, alone.

    “To be able to have that privacy and the pride of ownership of their own separate space, connection to rest of house, but at the same time, it’s connected to the rest of the home,” said Jeremy Parness, regional vice president for Lennar.

    Another option is accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, which have become popular in cities like Los Angeles, thanks in part to California laws designed to tackle the state’s housing crisis by easing the permitting process. Olsen said an ADU sounds like a great idea, and she is putting a modular home in her daughter’s backyard.

    She said her family will be close, but “far enough away that I’ll have my solitude still.”

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