MICAH's News from March 2020
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A March not soon forgotten...
March Policy work began with intensity, with the bonding, shelter, and tenant rights bill hearings in the house. Sue and Patti teamed up again with former health commissioner Ed Ehlinger and Executive Director Anne Krisnik with JRLC for another round of meetings on the Lead Safe Homes bill with Senators Weber, Draheim, Dziedzic, Kent, and Housley. We were making progress.
And then the coronavirus hit home in Minnesota and things started to shut down. The legislature went home, while working remotely on emergency measures. The Homes for All coalition started having phone meetings twice or three times a week, as we all tried to digest the health and economic impacts of COVID-19. We stayed busy urging our legislators and the Governor to quickly pass legislation to help with the healthcare costs and housing costs for so many people in our state who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
We have issued numerous legislative alerts (as I'm sure you have noticed!) for both local and national action--the landscape is changing daily.
Thank you,
all of you
, who have been responding to the legislative alerts. It is so important to let our public officials know how concerned we are for people on the edge: homeless, near homeless, those facing job loss and not having enough money to pay rents and mortgages.
Please don't let up!!!! Your voices are being heard and need to continue to be heard. We are blessed to be in this work together with you and thank God every day for your compassion and action.
Sue and Patti
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Thank you! Thank you Everyone!
For your tremendous advocacy! It worked!
Overall, the the $2.2 Trillion Stimulus bill provides more than $12 billion in funding for HUD programs, including:
- $4 billion for Emergency Solutions Grants for homelessness assistance,
- $5 billion in Community Development Block Grants,
- $1.25 billion for the Housing Choice Voucher program,
- $1 billion for project based rental assistance,
- $685 million for public housing,
- $300 million for tribal nations, and more.
The bill also institutes a much-needed temporary moratorium on evictions and foreclosures for homeowners and renters in federally subsidized apartments and homes with federally backed mortgages. For more details on what’s in the bill for housing and homelessness, see NLIHC’s
full analysis
and
chart
.
Minnesota Legislature
Passes $330 Million COVID-19 Aid Bill including:
- $26.5M for Emergency Services Grants,
- $5.5M for Housing Supports,
- $6.2M for Military Veterans,
- $9M for Food Shelf Programs,
- $11M for Tribal Nations Grant.
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Join us by contacting the Governor and your legislators, and thanking them for making their public health commitment.
Thanks for everyone's support and advocacy on passing the assistance in COVID-19 pandemic. - Thanks for also responding to our mass of emails the last 3 weeks too!
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Meet the People Who Make MICAH Happen
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Hector Garcia
MICAH Board Member
He studied business administration at ITAM in Mexico City. He took courses in psychology and philosophy at the University of Minnesota, in project management at the University of St. Thomas, and he studied the French language at schools in Canada, France, and Mexico.
Hector received recognition for his contributions, including: the Governor’s Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Award in 2014, the Minneapolis Award in 1994, the Mpls/St. Paul Magazine Twin Citian Volunteer Hall of Fame in 1994, and the United Way Unsung Hero Award in 1992.
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MICAH's Board Members discuss the importance of making sure that the people impacted by homelessness and housing crisis are the key decision makers in finding and creating solutions to ensure that everyone has a safe, decent, accessible, and affordable home.
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MICAH - We all belong
The pandemic is a tough time. It's tough for us, for our families, for our neighbors. In a time of physical isolation, we have to keep connected.
Minnesota was already in an affordable housing and homelessness crisis before the COVID-19 epidemic hit home. On behalf of all those seeking stable housing, thank you for your help during this important time!
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MICAH South Chapter News
- Matrix Hotel Sheltering Project
A temporary program was setup to address the needs of people sheltering in place while experiencing homelessness. It helps single adults experiencing homelessness in Dakota County to have access to hotel rooms during the onset and climb of the coronavirus in our community.
Matrix Housing Services transitioned their clients into shelter in this program on March 27, 2020. They intend to design a way for other community partners to make referrals so more people may access this program as well.
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St. Paul Chapter Update -
During crisis, work continues on critical renter rights legislation at St. Paul City Hall.
The long overdue public hearing on the new St. Paul ordinances, called the S.A.F.E. (Stable, Accessible, Fair, and Equitable) Housing Tenant Protections, was laid over as the city shut down in the wake of the coronavirus, and is now scheduled for May 20th. It is likely that this public hearing will be virtual.
Renters need these protections, now more than ever. The coronavirus outbreak has shown clearly that our for-profit housing market is broken. Housing is a public health issue. People are losing income and cannot afford rents that were too high to begin with.
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Housing For All -
Brooklyn Park City Council voted to approve $30,000 for emergency assistance for direct support services for Brooklyn Park residents.
This grant from the city of Brooklyn Park is a direct response to the increased need for basic services as a result of sudden job losses and business closures during the coronavirus pandemic.
These funds will address immediate needs by supporting nonprofit organizations that are seeing a much greater demand for services during this crisis. The goal of this grant is to quickly provide needed emergency services to Brooklyn Park residents. Up to $10,000 may be awarded per applicant and the total available pool is $30,000 .
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Freedom From the Streets
- Impacting State and Local Policy Decisions
With community sites closing, like libraries, parks, restaurants, public bathrooms, it has been increasingly difficult to find places for people experiencing homelessness to be when they leave an overnight shelter; where to get food, take care of their personal needs, and just sit down and rest.
Through a facilitated discussion by Freedom From the Streets Leaders
Junail Freeman Anderson
,
Rome Darring
( MICAH Board Members) and John Bradley, along with Sue Watlov Phillips, Executive Director of MICAH, we listen to the impacts of COVID-19 on their lives and issues they are facing as people in the community are told to stay home. Many of Freedom From the Streets members do not have a home.
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Minneapolis Chapter
-
Elim Church and Strong Tower Parish Shelters Featured
3/30/20, Monica Nilsson, Minnesota Reformer
It’s taken a pandemic, but many Minnesotans are now realizing that though we may think we are independent, or bound only to our network of family and friends, in fact we are all interconnected...
In this article you will find some of the stories of people experiencing homelessness on a recent night.
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NorthEast Chapter
- Shelter Closing and Families Moving to Local Hotel
After careful consideration, the
Hope for the Journey Home
, which serves Washington and suburban Ramsey counties, is suspending operations at their Oakdale site. These families, along with those from the St. Andrew's Family Shelter in Hugo, are being moved to a local hotel. A grant for $3000 was awarded to help pay for the new housing situation.
If you need assistance or would like to contact them, please call
Trish Brokman at 651-503-3380
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Shout Out from Councilmember Mitra Jalali -
excerpt and photo from the March 2020 issue of the City of St. Paul Daily Digest Bulletin
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Pushing for State Housing Funding
I was honored to have the chance to speak at the second annual MICAH housing summit to kick off the legislative session earlier this winter. Our housing crisis is rooted in a severe lack of funding and short-sighted decisions at every level of government.
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We’re working relentlessly at the city level to protect renters, build paths to homeownership, supplement families monthly rental costs to prevent homelessness, subsidize construction of new and deeply affordable housing, and much more. But to truly produce the amount of housing we need at all levels of affordability, we need leaders at the state and federal levels to invest significant funding.
I support the Homes For All coalition’s work to advance a robust bonding proposal for everyone to have a home in our state. Thanks as always to MICAH for your tireless advocacy on this issue.
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