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Webinar on Building for Extreme Weather
January 28, 2026 | 12 – 1 pm CST
On January 28, MHP shared key insights from our national Building for Extreme Weather toolkit—a practical resource designed to help communities prepare for heat, flooding, high winds, and wildfires. The session highlighted simple, adaptable strategies drawn from across the country to strengthen housing, reduce long-term costs, and better protect residents.
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Housing Preservation Success: Blueprints and Stories
November 5 | 3:00 – 4:30 pm | California
MHP’s very own Leah Hall will be presenting at HAC’s Build Rural Conference. The workshop, Housing Preservation Success: Blueprints and Stories, will cover strategies for rural affordable rental housing preservation.
What does it take for an organization to become a force in affordable housing preservation? Four organizations that have successfully included rural affordable rental housing preservation as a priority will share their stories. Presenters will share what motivated their organization to take on preservation work, describe example preservation deals, and describe how preservation fits into their broader organizational strategy moving forward. If you are considering making housing preservation part of your affordable housing toolkit, this session will provide insight from organizations who are actively prioritizing preservation of affordable housing.
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MHP’s 2025 Impact
In FY2025, MHP partnered with organizations, housing professionals, local governments, and advocates to advance policies, investments, and projects across Minnesota and beyond. These efforts build on years of collaboration, authentic partnerships, and earned trust across the housing continuum. Our research remains a core reference for housing advocates and media statewide.
This year brought dramatic changes at the federal level, particularly in housing policy and funding. While the full impact on Minnesota programs and MHP’s federal contracts is still unfolding, our ability to respond quickly and provide timely information has been another example of MHP’s leadership in the housing ecosystem.
MHP once again received a clean audit, demonstrating strong stewardship, and is on track to finish FY2025 with an operating surplus, ensuring a strong start to FY2026. Our small but mighty staff—dedicated, skilled, and passionate—remain the driving force behind our success.
Our community development work continues to thrive, as shown by growing requests for our expertise and partnership on federal funding applications. And our commitment to racial equity, grounded in research and strengthened by ongoing learning, continues to guide our collaborations and accountability as we work toward becoming a truly anti-racist organization.
Highlights from FY2025
Secured over $23M in new federal funding, including the largest grant in MHP’s history — broadening the tools available to communities and Tribes to address housing needs.
Released seven major research reports that shaped housing policy debates and gave advocates and communities the tools to advance equitable housing solutions.
Grew the Our Future Starts at Home coalition to 80+ organizations and built bipartisan momentum for Yes to Homes zoning reform — broadening the base of support for lasting housing solutions.
Secured increased rental assistance funding through the Family Homeless Prevention Assistance Program — the largest housing budget item in 2025 — through MHP’s leadership of the ERASE campaign.
Preserved or placed 300 homes into the pipeline nationwide, including Tribal and rural partnerships that restored housing for elders and launched neighborhood revitalization.
Submitted three LIHTC applications with nonprofit partners, positioning nearly 90 homes for creation or preservation.
Helped launch 15 new homes with Leech Lake Financial Services, celebrated as a model of Tribal and rural partnership.
Increased year-over-year Investor Circle contributions, exceeding $350,000 budget target, and secured new foundation partnerships.
Once again MHP received clean annual and federal audits for the prior fiscal year, reinforcing strong financial stewardship we aim to continue for this coming year. MHP also ended FY2025 with more than $1M in funds.
MHP’s work featured in 140 media stories, amplifying our impact and reinforcing our role as a leading housing voice.
Demand for MHP’s online resources grew sharply in FY25 — the website had 85,000 views (up nearly 20%) and 31,000 active users (up nearly 30%).
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Housing Institute for SW MN: Workshop 2
When: August 12 · 4:30pm – August 13 · 3:15pm CDT
Where: Prairie’s Edge Casino Resort
Who: Participant organizations for Housing Institute 10 for Southwest Minnesota, 2025-2026
What: Established in 2010, the Housing Institute brings together housing leaders and stakeholders to share their experiences, learn best practices, and develop creative solutions for bringing quality affordable housing to their communities.
Learn more about the Housing Institute here.
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MHP Presenting at Enterprise’s 2025 Rural Housing Preservation Academy
Enterprise Community Partners is hosting two days of conversation August 6-7 about Affordable housing development and preservation in Knoxville, Tennessee. This in-person convening is an extension of the Rural Rental Preservation Academy and will focus on policies, funding, and innovative strategies to address rural affordability at the federal, state, and local level. MHP Community Development staff Leah Hall and Jen Oscarson will be presenting on Day One.
Day One’s presentations will be on successful approaches to preserving affordable housing in rural communities across the country, with a particular focus on the preservation of the USDA 515 portfolio. There will be a focus on layering new financing into preservation projects and national policy efforts to support the preservation of the USDA housing portfolio. Day Two will focus on policy, research and programs in the Appalachian region that support affordable housing development and preservation in rural communities. Register by Aug 4, 2025
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PRESS RELEASE: MHP Secures Over $22 Million in HUD Grants to Strengthen Housing Solutions Nationwide
Funding to Empower Rural, Native, and Manufactured Home Communities
MHP has received two transformative grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), totaling more than $22 million. These funds will amplify MHP’s capacity-building work with rural, Native, and manufactured home communities, addressing critical housing and community development challenges.
One, a $20.3 million Preservation and Reinvestment Initiative for Community Enhancement (PRICE) grant, secured in collaboration with Northcountry Cooperative Foundation (NCF), will focus on preserving and revitalizing manufactured housing communities in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Dakotas. The other, a $2.3 million award through HUD’s Rural Capacity-Building for Community Development and Affordable Housing Grant program, will fund MHP’s ongoing technical assistance to rural and Native leaders nationwide.
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MHP’s Housing Opportunity Workshop: NE MN
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
When: October 22, 2024, 9am-4pm / Where: Black Woods Event Center, 195 Highway 2, Proctor, MN
At the workshop you will:
- 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.
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MHP’s Ninth Housing Institute
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.
Support generously provided by:
