MHP Community Development staff recently visited the Yankton Sioux Housing Authority, as part of their on-going work with the Yankton Sioux Tribal Nation. MHP staff and the project team conducted team building sessions and process mapping to support the Housing Authority as they explore opportunities enhance program operations. Together, the project team toured several vacant properties that they plan to rehabilitate utilizing a recent award of $1M from their Tribal Council for this work. Once rehabilitated, these properties will be home to several local families in need of affordable housing!
Location: 451 Lexington Parkway, North Saint Paul, MN 55104 (Wilder Foundation)
Register for the 2024 edition of MHP’s post-election breakfast! Join us for a dynamic, bipartisan panel discussion as experts from both sides of the aisle break down the election results and their impact on the future of housing! Coffee and light breakfast to be provided.
Abou B. Amara, Jr. is legal and political analyst and attorney at Gustafson Gluek PLLC. Prior to entering legal practice, Mr. Amara worked for nearly a decade in a variety of public affairs capacities, including in Congress, the Minnesota State Legislature, and in Minneapolis City Hall.
Amy Koch has been a commentator and political strategist at Hylden Advocacy & Law since 2016. Prior to this career, Ms. Koch served in the Minnesota Senate from 2005 to 2013. She was Minnesota’s first female Senate Majority Leader.
Attend Virtually
MHP is offering a virtual attendance option for individuals not based in the Twin Cities metro area.
The Our Future Starts at Home campaign welcomes you to attend our 2024 Duluth Area Candidate Forum to hear from 2024 House Candidates about their platforms and vision to make MN a better place to call home, and their stance on long-term housing solutions.
The event will be moderated by Tatianna Kirk of Divine Konnections, with invitiations to 2024 House Candidates of Districts 8A, 8B, and 3B.
Join us for a workshop bringing together local officials, community leaders, experienced and emerging developers, funders, lenders, housing industry professionals, and other stakeholders to address the challenges and opportunities the Northeast region of Minnesota faces
Gain insights from presentations and guest speakers on innovative solutions and successful housing projects
Network with housing professionals and organizations in the field
Access valuable information on housing funding opportunities, resources, and tools
Learn about emerging trends and policies shaping the future of housing and community development
Collaborate and build partnerships to advance community development efforts
This event will also serve as the capstone to MHP’s 2024 Emerging Developer Initiative (EDI). The EDI cohort has received training, networking, and peer to peer learning over the summer on such topics as project feasibility and design, site assembly and acquisition, development management, and funding. This is an opportunity to meet the current and next generation of community development leaders, learn about their project ideas, and explore potential collaboration opportunities!
For more information contact Donald Googleye, Community Development Manager donald.goggleye[at]mhponline.org.
The Our Future Starts at Home campaign welcomes you to join our Home is a MN Value – Mankato Area Event to listen to the housing experiences of our neighbors, build momentum for housing solutions statewide, and advocate for safe and healthy homes we can afford!
The event will include storytelling, and advocacy activities with light refreshments. Hear from Community Speakers, and Featured Speakers.
Take Five is MHP’s series that asks the same five questions of a variety of people intersecting with MHP, from staff to housing advocates! We are excited to welcome Community Development Intern Olivia Hurley.
Olivia joins MHP as the first Community Development intern. Recently graduated from University of California, Davis with a degree in Design and Community Development, Olivia brings hands-on experience with outreach, management, creative ideation. She is excited to grow the CD team’s clientele in USDA 515’s and Rural Capacity Building. New to Saint Paul from NYC, Olivia is eager to explore the city, food, culture, and nature.
1. What attracted you to working with MHP? This past April I decided that I was going to move to Minnesota after graduating from UCDavis. I thought to myself, “Wow, a city where I have no network and everything is fresh.” I immediately started looking into affordable housing agencies and came across MHP. I was overjoyed to see how much MHP aligned with my personal goals and interests. I did not know that this amazing work existed!
On a whim, I emailed Leah, the Community Development Director, asking if we could have an informational interview. At the time we were both busy so I reached out a few months later to Erika Brown who gladly accepted to meet with me. Jill Henricksen, my supervisor, offered her time, as well! Then, Leah and I were able to arrange a time, too. Even from some quick emails, I could already see how sweet everyone was.
Then, I met with Erika and Leah who offered great insights into their time at MHP and previous experience. Our conversations on community development, work with underserved communities, sustainability, work environments, technical assistance, and so on immediately showed me that this is a place I would love to work. With what started as calls to learn about the housing industry in Minnesota, turned into me learning about ways that I could potentially fit into MHP.
I was so excited. I knew that MHP’s mission and work values heavily aligned with mine and that this would be the perfect job for a recent grad. After that day, I then checked my email every single day in hope that I would have the opportunity to work with MHP.
Now, after a week into my internship, I’ve already learned so much and found everyone to be friendly, kind, introspective, open to growth, and always willing to sit down with me when I need it (because, wow, the housing development world is nuanced!). I am incredibly thankful for this position and am excited to keep learning.
2. What’s do you see as a challenge in the field of housing right now?
One of the biggest challenges in housing right now is managing the housing crisis during a worsening refugee crisis. The country does not have enough infrastructure, funding, and welcoming communities to support these issues.
3. What does “home” mean to you?
‘Home’ to me is being surrounded by those I love, whether that is friends, family, and even sweet strangers. For college, I moved from Staten Island, NY to Davis, CA. Oftentimes, my peers would ask me how I managed such a big move. My response would always be that I have found my family here. My roommates and friends became my lifelines, my support systems, and the people I can rely on for a laugh, a cry, and everything in between. I am grateful for the home that guides me through life.
4. Is there a book by your bed, and what is it? (feel free to answer movie, Tik Tok video, or any other media)
Currently, I am reading Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi.
Also, my favorite shows are Masters of None, Fresh off the Boat, and Grace and Frankie— such kind lessons from them all.
5. Who is your superhero?
I cannot say I have one superhero. There are too many impactful heroes who work tirelessly to improve the lives of others. But, I will say that my professors at UCDavis inspired me to dream big, and once I figure out that dream to dream bigger. They are all such incredible people. Many juggled teaching multiple classes, running a research lab, working/consulting in their field, supervising PhD, graduate, and undergraduate students, and making time for their students all while raising their own children and with a big smile on their face. I will never understand how they managed it all, but I am forever thankful to have them to look up to.
MHP’s Housing Institute has been bringing communities and housing partners together since 2010. This, the ninth round, is MHP’s broadest Institute to-date, supporting 14 communities in Northeast Minnesota. Local elected and government representatives, small businesspeople, faith-based leaders, nonprofits, regional housing organizations, and more come together at MHP’s peer-to-peer workshops to drive creative housing solutions across the Iron Range and in neighboring communities. The curriculum represents the housing landscape in the Northeast and encourages a data-driven and equitable, inclusive approach.
Over the course of 18-months, teams put together housing initiatives and, with MHP’s support, create action steps to achieve their housing and community development goals. The teams’ projects are now taking shape! In Grand Rapids in July, MHP facilitated a deep dive into the housing development process. Teams explored applicable development strategies and how to identify and overcome barriers in the pre-development phase; including being proactive in land use and zoning and identifying environmental and surveying requirements. Skilled builders and developers provided valuable feedback in real time on the projects.
The workshops identify the true cost of construction, call out the need for subsidy, and showcase successful strategies that have yielded real results within the region. Teams are now teed up to explore the financial components of their projects in October – crucial to a project’s feasibility and maximizing competitiveness for future funding rounds at the state and regional levels.
MHP would like to thank Bob Barth of WSB Engineering, Breanne Rothstein at Thrive LLC, Ben Olsen and the Lagom Modular Team, Dave Bergland at Northland Cooperative Foundation, Brian Wessels and everyone at Intent Built, and Brooke Tapp at One Roof Community Housing for their generous contributions of time and effort that made this workshop so successful.
Building Public Support for Housing Solutions in Minnesota
The stories we tell about housing shape what people believe is possible — and what solutions they’re willing to support. Through the Minnesota Housing Narrative Change Project, MHP partnered with Housing Narrative Lab to better understand how Minnesotans across rural, suburban, and urban communities think and talk about housing.
This research, conducted by Lake Research Partners, included focus groups and a statewide survey of 850 Minnesotans. The findings showed that when housing is framed around shared values, stability, fairness, and opportunity, people across political and geographic lines are far more open to solutions.
This work laid the foundation for a broader, ongoing effort to change how Minnesotans talk about housing — not as a niche issue, but as something that affects everyone and strengthens communities. This work continues to shape how MHP and partners approach housing communications, organizing, and community-led development efforts across the state.
The Next Chapter: Home Stories
Home Stories is a statewide storytelling platform that lifts up real voices and builds shared understanding about housing in Minnesota. It grew out of the Narrative Change Project and is led by the Heading Home Minnesota Funders Collaborative, with MHP as a partner.
Many of the tools and resources from this project now live on the Home Stories site, with more continuing to move there over time.
Whether we’re lending our neighbor a bike pump or sharing a meal, Minnesota is a place where we look out for each other. But today, many of us know all too well the struggle to find a place to live, make rent, or cover our mortgage. Stable housing should not be something you have to think about—families should be able to count on it every day.
Join us as leaders from MHP, local housing organizations, and Team Slow Roll lead you on a (bicycle) journey of the challenges, opportunities, and innovations emerging in the housing sphere. We’ll explore a variety of solutions to the problem and what we should know to join the movement to ensure that all Minnesotans have safe, stable housing they can afford.
Bring your bike, lived experience, and curiosity to this extraordinary social justice immersion on a roll. Slow Roll Baby!
Need a bike? We got you! Please register for a bike (if needed) and the event soon; both bikes and riding spots are limited.
Location: Minneapolis Institute of Arts – 2400 3rd Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55404
Agenda:
5:00 PM – 6:00 PM Pre Slow Roll Fix Up, Pump and Bike Pick up
6:00 PM – 6:15 PM Slow Roll Announcements and Theme Introduction
