Be Informed

Peoples Church in Bemidji Hoping for Proposed State Funding to Support Repairs – Lakeland PBS News

Minnesota business leaders back proposed $220-plus million homelessness proposalOpinion Editorial in the MinnPost, authored by: Jay Debertin is the president and CEO of CHS Inc., Christophe Beck is chairman and CEO of Ecolab, James Hereford is president and CEO of Fairview Health Services, Jim Pohlad is the chairman of the Minnesota Twins, Craig Leipold is the owner of the Minnesota Wild and Chris Hilger is chairman, president and CEO of Securian Financial.

Minnesota nonprofits urge legislators to boost funding for homeless services” in the StarTribune, Kelly Smith & Jessie Van Berkel

Letter of Support for Homeless Funding – Signed by 80 organizations.

Important Information regarding funding for shelter capital and the Emergency Services Program for the 2023 Legislative Session

We need the Legislature to prioritize the following in the final budget negotiations. The House proposal includes both of these items at the full funding amounts:

  • $150M in one-time funding for shelter capital to create new shelter spaces and preserve the shelters we already have. The MN Coalition for the Homeless did an assessment that showed a need of $200M but we would be thrilled with $150M. This is a statewide issue, of the 86 projects needing funding, 55% are in Greater MN and 45% are in the 7 County Metro. These projects would create or preserve over 3400 shelter spaces. There is minimal public funding from the federal or local level for capital improvements for shelter, and none at the state level. To adequately respond to Minnesota’s homelessness crisis, we need a one time significant investment to have a true statewide shelter system.
  • $40 million in 2024/25 and $70 million in 2026/27 in ongoing funding for the Emergency Services Program (ESP). This is needed to ensure a person’s experience of homelessness is safe, rare, brief, and nonrecurring.  In the consolidated Request for Proposals (RFP) which closed 3 weeks ago, the Office of Economic Opportunity (which manages the ESP funds) received over $221 million in eligible requests for ESP. This shows how much the need has risen in contrast with the current budget for ESP of just over $13 million. In total there were 350 projects from 174 applicants, with 47 of them being NEW applicants.

EMERGENCY SERVICES FUNDING REQUESTS LARGEST IN HISTORY: 

Over the past two months, the Department of Human Services received over $221 million in requests eligible for Emergency Services Program funding for $13.68M in currently available funds (grant period July 1, 2023-June 30, 2025.) Awards will be determined based on the funding passed this legislative session.

Leaders with Lived Experience of Homelessness share what this means. Below are a couple and you can see more by clicking here:

“It is in our commonality we bear our humanity. Investing in ending homelessness reflects our commonality. “ -Dawn Bjoraker, Minnesota Tribal Collaborative Coordinator

“For lawmakers to invest into ending homelessness means that they are thinking about the most marginalized and oppressed communities and working towards ending one big barrier to folks getting their life on track. Housing is the first step to stability and a lot of other things. “ -Lateesha Coleman from Whittier, Powderhorn, South Minneapolis, MN

At the Connections drop in center (in Mankato), we have some feedback boards with pictures of common spaces, bed design, bathrooms etc for the proposed new shelter in the main gathering space.  A young gentleman experiencing homelessness stopped in this week to get some food and bottled water.  While we were heating up the food, he was looking at the boards. He asked what they were for and we said we were designing a new 24 hour a day, year round shelter and were seeking feedback from people with lived experience. He brightened up and began giving his input on the potential design. As we ended the conversation he said, “I wish this new place was ready today!  It gives me some hope to think something so nice would be built just for people like me.”  Shelter is often the first step toward stable housing and access to sustainable, affordable housing. Investing in shelter spaces that are safe and welcoming builds confidence and dignity! – Erica Koser w/Connections Shelter in Mankato and an Anonymous Guest.

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ARCHIVED RESOURCES
03/2021 – MCH Key Data Points for Investing in Emergency Shelter
  • Investing into Minnesota’s Emergency Shelters – click here for key facts that support the need for expanding and preserving Minnesota’s emergency shelter beds. This data is the absolute minimum in regards to the number of people experiencing homelessness because of undercounting, and some data exclusively reflecting individuals or families who have physically entered Minnesota’s shelter system. 
2021 MCH Legislative Session Updates
  • MCH’s Director of Public Policy provides a video update for advocates. Check out the video updates here as we continue to advocate for the importance of investments in the Emergency Services Program, and expanding and preserving shelter beds across the state.
  • 2021 Homeless Day on the Hill press conference focused on homelessness, positive community outcomes in response to COVID-19, and partnerships in communities across the state; connection to ongoing investments to programs/resources like the Emergency Services Program, Housing Support Program and Shelter Capital; all connected to our 2021 MCH Legislative Agenda
  • 2021 Homeless Day on the Hill Program highlighting our collective victories and partnerships around investments in housing and homelessness services. You can also find the PDF of the slides from the program here
2021 Virtual Hearings – Ongoing Recorded Testimonies
  • This blog highlights our past testimonies for our bills in 2021. Check back often as it will be updated as hearings happen.
Ongoing – MCH’s YouTube Channel
  • Our YouTube Channel includes videos of workshops, presentations, events, legislative updates, regional interviews and other helpful resources
Ongoing – Regional Expert Network
  • The Regional Expert Network (REN) is a partnership between the MN Coalition for the Homeless (MCH), the Heading Home MN Funders Collaborative (HHMFC), the Pohlad Foundation and the eight REN organizations. Each of the REN organizations include, at minimum, someone with lived experience of homelessness and a dedicated staff member to participate and to support one another. You can click here for more information
2019/2020 – Special Report, Key Data Findings from ICA
  • We know: Shelter saves lives. Housing ends homelessness. This document summarizes the findings from the Institute for Community Alliance’s exploratory analysis of emergency shelter data across the state in Federal Fiscal Year 2020 (October 1, 2019 – September 30, 2020). The analysis set out to answer the following questions:
    •  What are the characteristics of persons in shelter? 
    • What are the characteristics of persons exiting shelter? 
    • What is the average length of stay in shelter? 
    • What is the relationship between length of stay and exit destination?
01/19/2021 – MCH Legislative Kickoff Video
  • We know: Shelter saves lives. Housing ends homelessness. In 2021, our priorities include expanding emergency shelter beds to ensure no one has to sleep outside, investing in programs that cultivate long-term stability, and guaranteeing everyone in our community has a permanent place to call home. With our 2021 priorities (here on our website), we wanted to recognize the data from Minnesota’s Homeless Management Information System, prepared by Institute for Community Alliances, and show the need in communities across the state by highlighting Christina from Willmar from our Regional Interview Project. #MCHInterviews
    Click here to watch our 2021 Legislative Priorities
Ongoing – 2021 MCH Regional Interview Project
  • MCH staff conducted a variety of interviews with individuals across the state who are advocating to end homelessness. Click here for the page of interviews. We know: Shelter saves lives. Housing ends homelessness. The stories and conversations in the videos highlight the need for investments in the Emergency Services Program, Housing Support Program, the preservation/expansion of homeless shelters, and other resources across the state.
01/08/2021 – Homes for All Virtual Kickoff
  • We hosted our Homes for All Kickoff, “The Road Home: Legislation, Inspiration, Education”  on Zoom. We had over 90 advocates join us from across the state. Individuals shared their personal stories about homelessness and housing insecurity, and what investments to the programs on the 2021 Homes for All agenda (found here) would do for people across the state. We also heard from the three H4A teams (Policy, Communications, and Community Engagement) and recognized champion lawmakers with awards from the 2020 legislative session. Here are a few resources from the webinar:
  • Click here for the recording of the webinar
  • Click here for the PDF of the slides from the webinar
  • Click here for information to join the different teams in the future
  • Click here for the 2020 H4A Advocate Awards
12/17/2020 – Video Remembrances for the Virtual Homeless Memorial Service w/ Simpson Housing Services
  • #MCHMember Simpson Housing Services worked with filmmaker Maribeth Romslo to create a virtual Homeless Memorial Service for 2o20. Find the recorded version here.
11/16/2020 – MCH Webinars from the Virtual Learning Series 
  • Find 10 recorded webinars on our YouTube channel hereExplore a variety of shelter, housing, and research topics with presentations and workshops from the Department of Human Services, Institute for Community Alliances, Minnesota Housing, Minnesota Tribal Collaborative, and Wilder Research.
05/08/2020 — Homes for All Virtual Rally
  • Find the H4A Rally Video Playlist here. Advocates join together virtually for a bonding bill. Included: Individuals with lived experience, Governor Walz, Lt. Governor Flanagan, Rep. Alice Hausman, Rep. Dean Urdahl, Mayor Carter (St. Paul), Mayor Norton (Rochester), Mayor Frey (MPLS) and Mayor Larson (Duluth). Press release here.
03/29/2020 — MCH/Catholic Charities Virtual Press Conference 
  • Find the recording of the virtual press conference here. Leaders from organizations across Minnesota providing emergency shelter and services to people experiencing homelessness will give an update on the extraordinary public health and safety challenges presented by the COVID-19 crisis. Press release here.
03/12/2020 – MCH Homeless Day on the Hill
  • Find the morning program here and find the press conference hereExplore our recordings of the big events from 2020 Homeless Day on the Hill. Over 850 advocates came together to talk with lawmakers. Our collective priorities included: expand emergency shelter beds to ensure no one has to sleep outside, invest in programs that cultivate long-term stability, and guarantee everyone in our community has a permanent place to call home. Press release here.