Principles Guiding Our Advocacy

In November 2003, the Coalition adopted the following position statements to guide our advocacy efforts:

• Human Rights
   
  The Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless believes that housing is a basic human right, that those experiencing homelessness are entitled to exercise all other basic human rights, and that those experiencing homelessness are our greatest resource for planning its end. 

  Therefore, we oppose legislation, ordinances, policies, or practices that diminish that fundamental right to safe, decent and affordable housing. This includes policies and practices that discriminate against a person’s ability to secure safe, decent housing, that criminalize homelessness, or that turn people away from services in times of crisis.

  The Coalition supports measures to promote equal education and voting rights for people experiencing homelessness.

   

• Housing

 

The Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless works with service providers, housing developers, cities and other entities to develop and maintain safe, decent, accessible housing affordable to low and very low income residents of Minnesota. 

We believe in the need for a variety of housing types and the provision of related services that ensure the preservation, stability and affordability of housing for all residents of Minnesota.

Appropriations and tax expenditures used to subsidize housing should be targeted to those with the greatest need.

 

• Income Security

 

The Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless recognizes that homelessness cannot be separated from the issue of poverty. The Coalition believes that government must take an active role in ensuring that everyone has enough income to afford housing and meet basic needs such as food and health care. 

This includes maintaining a livable minimum wage as well as providing a social safety net that is both sufficient to meet basic needs for anyone who, for any reason, cannot obtain or retain employment, and that provides meaningful avenues to build toward self-sufficiency through education, training, and employment support.

 

• Intervention, Prevention, and Outreach

 

The Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless recognizes the broad factors and diversity of homelessness and the multiple resources needed to end it. We actively invite and encourage all with the ability to prevent or mitigate homelessness to do so by participation in systems change initiatives and by making housing an integral part of client discharge planning. 

Outreach is targeted to all agencies serving those at risk of homelessness, including homeless service and housing providers such as street outreach, emergency shelter, and transitional and permanent supportive housing programs, as well as mainstream service providers such as the criminal justice system, chemical dependency and mental health treatment facilities, battered women’s services, public housing authorities, and county human services staff and policy makers.

The Coalition seeks to ensure that such mainstream programs and services will adequately serve those with the greatest needs, and to improve service delivery capacity, quality, and outcomes for all providers.

 

• Health Security

 

The Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless supports access to affordable, quality, comprehensive health care. 

The intersection of poor health and homelessness is irrefutable. Untreated disease and disability contribute to homelessness, are consequent to it, and present barriers to its ultimate end.

The consequences of restricted access to comprehensive health care are reflected in extremely high rates of both chronic and acute health problems among people experiencing homelessness.

 

• Professionalization of Services

 

The Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless strives to understand the complex obstacles to housing and promote and improve service delivery capacity, quality and outcomes in partnership with funders, legislators, service providers and homeless people.