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 Housing Campaign Organizer Madeline Hammerlund, and Capitol Pathways Intern Micah Coatie.

Madeleine Hammerlund

Q2. What attracted you to working with MHP?

MHP is driven by research-supported work and creating a more equitable system through housing policy which aligns with my values. The organization provides an opportunity to improve the lives of all Minnesotans through strategic organizing, building relationships and partnerships while growing as a community worker, and conducting ethnographic research.

Q3. What’s a challenge in the field of housing right now?

Right now, I feel challenged by the individuals who don’t YET recognize housing to be a human right. It is also clear that our housing system needs more sustainable and continuous funding, and I am enthusiastic about ensuring more affordable and accessible housing through the passing of Our Future Starts at Home amendment.

Q4. Is there a book by your bed, and what is it?

There are three books by my bedside: Hero of a Thousand Faces by James Campbell; Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer; and The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Q5. Who is your superhero? 

My superhero is the person who actively aligns their words with their actions, someone who can remain kind in challenging times, and those that gently welcome the full spectrum of emotion. Those who have helped shape my perspective include John Fire Lame Deer, Clarissa Pinkola Estés, and my Moms.

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Micah Coatie

Micah joins MHP as our 2023 Capitol Pathways intern, he has already been busy assisting our policy team during the legislative session. The Capitol Pathways program places college students who identify as Black, Indigenous, or people of color in paid internships with government offices, nonprofits, corporations, and law firms where they gain policymaking experience and built relationships in and around the Capitol.

Q2. What attracted you to working with MHP?

Over the last two years I have worked at the non-profit Avivo Village. While working there, I support residents directly with day-to-day issues and struggles. Over the last two years I have questioned multiple times why residents who have everything in place to move and live in their own space have been held back from moving. I was attracted to MHP because it gave me the opportunity to see the behind the scenes of how the advocacy work we do today affects the residents I work with tomorrow!

Q3. What’s a challenge in the field of housing right now?

I would have to say not having enough social workers in the field to help with are homeless population today is a major challenge in the field of housing right now. Even if we house this population without the proper long-term support eventually the cycle will continue, and this population will be back on the streets in the matter of months.

Q4. Is there a book by your bed, and what is it?

I currently am going through a phase of reading autobiographies and currently the book by my bed side is Viola Davis’s autobiography Finding Me.

Q5. Who is your superhero? 

William Lund

Look out for more Take 5 profiles coming soon!

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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 new Community Development Director Devon Pohlman and Erika Brown as MHP’s newest Community Development Manager!

Devon Pohlman

Q2. What attracted you to working with MHP?

I’m excited to support front-line work with communities to advance housing and community economic development initiatives. MHP’s organizational reach – not just within Minnesota but nationally – creates a dynamic opportunity to leverage what has worked here in Minnesota and in other communities around the country. I’m also looking forward to working with a team of smart, committed and caring colleagues and partners grounded in this work.

Q3. What’s a challenge in the field of housing right now?

The affordable housing supply is entirely inadequate, our funding sources are uneven and insufficient to meet the need, and families and individuals are stretched by these and other household expenses that can threaten family and community stability. We can do better.

Q4. Is there a book by your bed, and what is it?

The book on my nightstand is Anne’s House of Dreams – I’ve been reading the Anne of Green Gables series with my daughter off and on over the past couple of years (and we loved the Netflix series Anne with an E), but we’ve slowed down now that she’s started middle school and isn’t as interested in reading with mom 🙂. I’m also excited to get to The Midnight Library in my audiobook queue!

Q5. Who is your superhero? 

Without a doubt, my mom, who passed away all too soon a few years ago but who I hold close in my heart and head every single day.

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Erika Brown

Q2. What attracted you to working with MHP?

The diversity in who we work with and where our beneficiaries are located, and how we are able to meet communities where they are at to address their challenges – together. The focus on serving and supporting communities who have chronically had the least amount of support amplifies my passion for this work.

Q3. What’s a challenge in the field of housing right now?

Communicating the need for housing affordability, safety, and security in a way that prompts immediate, impactful action by ALL sides. As our country and communities have become more polarized over the years politically, how can we lift up housing as a non-partisan, necessary tool as a way to improve health outcomes, address climate and sustainability challenges, address wealth disparities, and so much more. I’d love to use this challenge as an opportunity to bridge divides and improve lives.

Q4. Is there a book by your bed, and what is it?

There are several, actually! All About Love (bell hooks), The Midnight Library (Matt Haigs), and The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma (Bessel van der Kolk).

Q5. Who is your superhero? 

Oh, I’ve got quite a few. I’ll name one to keep with the theme of Bell hooks. Her writings have helped me analyze my own understandings of love, gender, feminism, and race. I am drawn to her ability to use love – specifically our capacity for giving and receiving love, to improve communication, commitment, and respect with ourselves and our communities.  

Look out for more Take 5 profiles coming soon!

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Welcome to the new MHP series Take Five, in which we ask the same five questions of a variety of people intersecting with MHP, from staff to housing advocacy luminaries! First up are our two summer interns, Alex Griffin and Shuping Wang.

Winning the alphabetical lottery is Alex Griffin, currently getting a Master of Public Policy from the University of Minnesota (expected graduation Spring 2023). Their most recent work experience was as a Waiver Case Manager in Ramsey County, where she supported a caseload of ~30 elderly waiver recipients, and as a Trans Provider Passages Consultant with RECLAIM. She is currently a board member of the Central Area Neighborhood Development Organization (CANDO). This summer, Alex will be supporting the development of a new area of research MHP is about to embark on: examining property conditions of homes and the implications of those property quality for households statewide. At MHP, Alex is also supporting the development of a statewide public education campaign on housing in rural areas of the state.

Shuping Wang‘s educational background includes getting a Master of Public Policy (graduating May 2023) from the University of Minnesota, a stint at Utrecht University in the Netherlands the summer of 2018, and a Bachelor of History with a Minor of Economics at Xiamen University in Fujian China. This past February, she participated in the RENTERS project to find the gap between renters’ experiences and current rental policy in Minneapolis, leading interviews with advocacy organizations, city official and renters.

Shuping will be conducting an analysis of the various Emergency Rental Assistance programs and the dissemination of ERA in Minnesota over the past year. She will be conducting interviews with legal service providers, local jurisdictions, program operators and field partners to better understand the successes and barriers of the rental assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Take 5 with Alex Griffin

Q: What is your name? Alex Griffin

Q. What attracted you to working with MHP?

Alex: My background is in social work, and access to safe, secure, and affordable housing was always the biggest barrier to stability that the clients I worked with faced. MHP immediately attracted me as an opportunity to be a part of the solution to some of these larger issues.

Q. What’s a challenge in the field of housing right now?

Alex: Funding! Congress capped the number of public housing units at current levels back in the 90’s, but since then many units have been demolished without funding to replace them. According to HUD, the U.S. could add as many as 220,000 new units if only there were financing for Public Housing Authorities to construct them. 

Q. Is there a book (or other media) by your bed, and what is it?

Alex: I’m reading the second book in the Three Body Problem trilogy by Liu Cixin. Without giving too much away, it’s a science fiction series that contemplates astrophysics and the philosophical questions related to academic skepticism. Highly recommend it!

Q. Who is your superhero?

Alex: Emma Goldman

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Take 5 with Shuping Wang

We asked Shuping the same five questions, and she gave us a narrative response:

Shuping: My name is Shuping Wang. I am major in Public Policy at Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota. Through my last research project in Humphrey School, I interviewed several renters in Minneapolis and I realized they are a vulnerable group of people. The housing inequality has been exacerbated by the pandemic in US. We are hoping through this research project we can investigate various rental assistance programs provided by the governments.

I am an international student from China. This is my second year in America and I like my life in Minnesota. I have made several friends and they are really nice people. I am impressed by the natural landscapes here. Recently I have been reading A River Runs Through It, recommended by a friend of mine. With the book I am trying to picture the people who have lived on this land and their old lifestyle. It would be a fun journey!

Look out for more Take 5 profiles coming soon!