MHP to Host Affordable Housing Tax Credit Webinar and Feedback Session

Minnesota Housing's board just approved a MN Affordable Housing Tax Credit program guide on July 27! Following board action, Minnesota Housing will open a two-week comment period. Join MHP in learning more about the proposed guide and provide feedback. Minnesota Housing staff are invited to the meeting and will be there to hear your comments. Additionally, MHP will submit formal written comments and the webinar/feedback session is an opportunity for your feedback to be incorporated into MHP's comments. Join us on Zoom on Tuesday, August 8th from 10am to 11am.

MACV Summer Salute at CHS Field in St. Paul

Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans (MACV) is set to host MACV’s Summer Salute, a one-day event on August 22, dedicated to providing comprehensive support services and resources for homeless or at-risk Veterans. If your organization offers valuable assistance to Veterans, you are invited to be a vendor at the event's resource fair.

Join the Our Future Starts at Home Education Session

Friday, August 11th from 10 - 11 am 

Our Future Starts at Home is driving the movement for an amendment to the Minnesota State Constitution to dedicate sustainable, predictable, and ongoing funding to real solutions to our housing crisis.  We are ready to grow this success in the 2024 legislative session, which means building power together with you!

Please join Jeru Gobeze of Habitat for Humanity of Minnesota and Madeleine Hammerlund of MHP for an education session about the Minnesota constitutional amendment for housing and build support for the Our Future Starts at Home campaign!

Our Future Starts at Home, Campaign Organizer, Madeleine Hammerlund tables at Open Streets - Glenwood

The campaign is building support and momentum throughout Minnesota. Through tabling events, like the Blue Earth County Fair in Garden City, MN, where we connected with campaign endorser SW MN Housing Partnership, and Minneapolis Open Streets – Glenwood we have begun to add more housing stories and voices of Minnesotans.

Want to talk about housing and the constitutional amendment with neighbors? Contact Madeleine at madeleine.hammerlund@mhponline.org to volunteer. Please join us at our upcoming events!

  • Pride in the Park-Fargo-Moorhead: Sat, Aug 12, 11-4, at Bluestem Center for the Arts

ourhomesmn.org

From Left: Leah Hall, Three Rivers Community Action; Salah Mohamed, Muslim Coalition - Southeast Minnesota; Elizabeth Glidden, MHP; JoMarie Morris, Coalition for Rochester Area Housing; Omar Nur, Somali Social Service Association; Linda Soderstrom, St. Charles Resident; Aaron Eberhart, Office of Congressman Brad Finstad; Emily Neville, First Homes; Ryan Parsons, Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce. 

Opportunity Starts at Home Meets with the Office of Rep. Finstad

On July 13th members of the Minnesota Chapter of Opportunity Starts at Home (OSAH-MN) coalition gathered in Rochester to meet Aaron Eberhart, District Director, for the office of Congressman Brad Finstad (R - MN01). The meeting covered the housing needs of southern Minnesota, Rural Service reform in the Farm Bill and an urging to support FY24 Appropriations with housing at the highest level.

Appropriations Process for FY24 Continues to Move Forward 

The Senate Appropriations Committee proposes funding HUD at $70.6 billion in FY24, $1.8 billion (3%) above the House proposal and $9.8 billion (16%) above the FY23 enacted budget. A new blog post from Enterprise Community Partners provides a detailed analysis of the Senate’s FY24 housing and community development.

NLIHC Releases Toolkit for Advocates

Contact your Members of Congress! National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) has just released an updated advocacy toolkit for use during Congress’s upcoming August recess. The Congressional Recess Toolkit tips on meeting with members of Congress and ways to advocate for increased federal funding for affordable homes and homelessness assistance programs.  

Community Development Success Story: Chipola Florida Area Habitat for Humanity

From Left: Jill Henricksen, MHP; Chipola Area Habitat for Humanity staff members; Cynthia Williams, Carmen Smith, and Jennie Ann Dean.

Nothing about us, without us, is for us...

MHP's travels recently included Florida, to reconnect with a beneficiary of our technical assistance work, Chipola Area Habitat (CAH). CAH seeks to develop a 9-acre site known as the “Cook Property” for affordable housing, and we worked with them to select an architectural firm to help create a master plan for the site. Fitzgerald Collaborative out of Tallahassee, a certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBE), was chosen. As the surrounding community of Marianna is predominantly African-American, it is meaningful to a team lead by a Black architect—for a Black architect to have a voice in, as well as the power and access to, physically design the built environment for a Black community.

While in Marianna, we facilitated a community engagement meeting in the City’s historic Black neighborhood, which has historically faced a lack of investment. More than 20 residents attended alongside representatives from Chipola College, City Commissioner and CAH Board member Travis Ephriam, and State Representative Shane Abbott. During the neighborhood planning presentation, MHP introduced the centuries-old, now-social justice saying “Nothing about us, without us, is for us,” to underscore the need for authentic engagement that is community-driven.

MHP’s community technical assistance model is built around self-determination and locally-identified needs, and our experience informs us that the participation and prioritization of communities impacted by racial and economic disparities is critical to successful community development work.

The lively meeting resulted in the start of a neighborhood revitalization plan for the West End, and identifying community members to participate on a steering committee for the master planning at the Cook Property, as there are many connections between these two parts of the city.

With the steering committee organized and the architectural firm selected, MHP will now assist CAH in the next steps of the master planning process, including completing necessary predevelopment studies for the site. The creation of a new advisory committee made up of Habitat homeowners is also in the works. We look forward to our continued work in Marianna, and to see the fruits of the community's efforts in new affordable housing!

Does your region or community need assistance adding housing to your area? 

CONTACT US