Free Housing & Economic Development Workshop at UMN Crookston, hosted by MHP's Emerging Developer Initiative (EDI). Open to anyone in NW MN and Tribal Nations interested in housing development, the day will include a great program technical assistance, and speakers:

• Mitch Berg, Veden Center for Rural Development;
• Karie Kirschbaum, Economic Development Dir, City of Crookston;
• Mark Borseth, Community Development Consultant, City of Thief River Falls
• Anna Sheppard, President, White Earth Tribal and Community College (WETCC)

EDI supports the professional development of new housing developers from rural communities and Tribal Nations in NW MN.  Questions? Contact Donald Googleye at [email protected] 

MHP, Habitat for Humanity of Minnesota, and other housing advocates are encouraging candidates for state House and Senate seats to complete a Candidate Questionnaire on Housing Issues. This is an important time to ensure candidates hear from their potential constituents about the importance of housing! We need your help to reach out to candidates in your legislative district. A personal note from a constituent makes a big difference.

You can find the contact info for your candidates here.

Template letter:

Dear ____  

Thank you for your commitment to public issues by running for [State Rep/State Senate].  I live/work at _____, in the district you seek to represent. 

One of the very important issues for our district is housing [---describe issue in your words ----]. I hope you will provide responses to the State Housing Questionnaire sponsored by housing organizations. You can find out more about the questionnaire here, including a link for candidates to directly answer the questionnaire. You have also been sent a copy of the questionnaire directly to your campaign email. 

Thank you! Your response is very important, as housing affects our pocketbooks, our health, and our families.  

[name, city or address if live or work in district] 

###

Other Key links: 

• MHP Candidate Questionnaire webpage short link: https://bit.ly/VoteHomes2022
• MHP’s 2022 Key Facts on Housing: https://bit.ly/KeyFactsOnHousing
• Candidate contact info, as provided with campaign filing: https://bit.ly/CandidateContactInfo
• Find your legislative district and 2022 candidates by looking up your sample ballot: https://myballotmn.sos.state.mn.us/
• View the new legislative districts using the Minnesota Legislature’s Geographic Information Services website here. https://bit.ly/3R8McBz
• Learn more about how to engage candidates for office on housing with these resources from the National Low-Income Housing Coalition’s Our Homes, Our Votes campaign: https://www.ourhomes-ourvotes.org/

The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits has published brand new resources to help support voter engagement activities during the 2022 election! All of their resources are available in four languages: English, Spanish, Somali, and Hmong. 

The new Nonpartisan Election Guide is intended to help organizers achieve their voter engagement goals. Resources include: 

• Information on permissible election activities.

• Ideas to jumpstart your efforts like candidate questionnaires and voter guides

• Important election information including what's on the ballot, how to vote, and voting information for specific communities  

A new research report released by the University of Minnesota's Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA), “Seeking Closure: The Lowry Grove,” documents the closure of  a manufactured home park of 106 units in St. Anthony Village, and the impact on the residents, including death by suicide of two community members.

The report highlights a devastating problem that has been playing out statewide for decades:  the closure of manufactured home parks for redevelopment, the mass displacement of residents, and the impact on a dwindling supply of affordable housing in the state. The report lays out in significant, and in very human detail, how a system of state and local policies enacted over decades that were intended to help residents in exactly the circumstances faced by Lowry Grove residents ended up letting them down.  All Parks Alliance for Change is the statewide organization for Minnesota’s 180,000 manufactured home park residents, and provides a vehicle for them to express their needs and concerns in their parks and in the larger community. 

This new publication from the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (MEEA) explores the past and present energy efficiency funding opportunities for Tribal Nations, presents three on-reservation case studies of nations in the Midwest who have accessed these resources, and provides suggestions for how U.S. government agencies can expand and improve funding mechanisms for all tribal entities. MHP has worked with several Tribes who contributed to this report.

HUD Requests Comment on new Green and Resilient Retrofit Program  

In response to the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is currently designing a new program, the Green and Resilient Retrofit Program (GRRP), and expects to make multiple rounds of funding available to support energy, and water efficiency retrofits and climate resilience of HUD-assisted multifamily properties. A public comment period is now open until Oct. 27. Learn more. 

All of MHP's past newsletters are now available on our website! Check them out here.

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