Housing & Homelessness

Research shows that lack of stable shelter causes and compounds the severity of a host of mental and physical illnesses, increases barriers to public benefits and programs, and makes it more difficult to obtain stable employment. In the United States, the systems we have in place often require an individual to fix a multitude of other problems in their lives (obtaining employment, addressing addiction, etc.) before we provide housing. This is backwards and must be remedied within our state.

This system has led to a hodgepodge of programs on municipal, state and federal levels – all of which are challenging to administer and suffer from a number of gaps that leave folks behind. From my research, public housing programs support three main types of housing: long–term affordable housing, transitional housing, and supportive housing, which can be disaggregated further to supportive housing for physical disabilities, behavioral disabilities and severe mental illnesses.

Admittedly, advocacy beyond raising awareness and pressuring lawmakers is difficult in this arena. That said, there are things we can do as a community to help improve the lives of our siblings experiencing housing insecurity and homelessness:

How We Can Help Folks Who Are Experiencing Homelessness or Housing Insecurity

• Volunteer at or donate to your local food shelf! Second Harvest Heartland is just one of many food banks/shelves in our area.

• Volunteer at or Donate to Bridging MN, a nonprofit organization that provides donated furniture and household goods to folks transitioning out of homelessness and poverty.

• Advocate for affordable, supportive, and transitional housing with your friends, neighbors, and in your local government to combat NIMBYism (the tendency for folks to conceptually support an idea, but say “not in my back yard”)!

The most impactful actions we can take to support our siblings who are experiencing housing insecurity or homelessness must be done within government and in the legislature.

How I Can Help Folks Who Are Experiencing Homelessness or Housing Insecurity

• Addressing Housing Insecurity

  • Provide $200 million in funding to the Family Homeless Prevention and Assistance Program (FHPAP)

  • Remedy the income formula for income protections to include General Assistance and individuals residing in board and lodge settings

• Addressing Homelessness

  • Provide $50 million capital investment to enhance current shelters and generate new shelters, including site-based transitional housing

  • Increase funding for Safe Harbor emergency shelter and housing for survivors of sex trafficking and abuse.

• Addressing Affordable and Supportive Housing

  • Eliminate DHS Background Studies requirement for Housing Support staff, which disproportionately affects potential hires who previously experienced homelessness – often these are the best qualified people for these jobs.

  • Simplify State Supportive Housing Resources to accelerate the transition of individuals from homelessness to being housed for the long-term.

  • Support increasing the stock of supportive housing for people with severe mental illnesses so that they have the option of a supported community living experience.

• Addressing Long-Term Housing Affordability

  • Pave the way for municipal zoning reform to allow for more mixed-use lots and construction of mixed-income housing

  • Work in collaboration with counties and municipal governments to develop Social Housing programs.

  • Support high-quality housing developments built by union labor.

It is evident that the housing crisis is deeply complex. Interventions must be multifaceted and must address a variety of different issues, all of which contribute to housing instability on myriad fronts.