MICAH's News for November 2019
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Thursday, December 12th
11:30 - 1pm
685 13th Ave
NE Minneapolis, MN 55413
Join MICAH for lunch and discussion as we commemorate 31 years of working to ensure that everyone has safe, decent, affordable, and accessible housing.
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November
Policy Highlights
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Lead dust made headlines for almost a week at the end of October because of Water Gremlin employees tracking lead dust home potentially harming their children.
Patti Whitney-Wise
submitted a letter to the editor
about the threat of lead paint in many people's homes, and asking readers to support our Lead Safe Homes Bill.
It was published in the Pioneer Press on November 3. The St. Paul Chapter also submitted a letter to Mayor Carter, asking him to support our Lead Safe Homes bill.
Sue and Patti are continuing to schedule meetings with key legislators about the Lead Safe Homes bill. Both Homes for All and the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition have added our bill to their legislative agendas for this coming session.
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MICAH has been very active with the Homes for All (H4A) Coalition. Two of MICAH’s board members, Junail Anderson and Rome Darring, have been elected to the leadership team to help present the experience and needs of people experiencing homelessness. Sue and Patti attend the policy team meetings.
The H4A agenda for this year includes a bold ask for $500 million in bonding for affordable housing. Currently the Governor is considering his request for bonding and H4A has been calling his office to ask for the full $500 million. This funding is urgently needed to begin to address our affordable housing crisis.
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Housing NOW 2020 Video released on November 4 as a part of our
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Meet the People Who Make MICAH Happen
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Freddy Toran
Secretary
Freddy joined the MICAH Board in June, 2019, and recently stepped into the role of Secretary.
He is an Envision Leader and represents MICAH on the Second Chance Coalition.
Freddy facilitates Minneapolis Freedom from the Streets on Mondays from 1:30-2:30pm at House of Charity.
Freddy speaks at Conferences about his experience of being homeless and the importance of people who have experienced homelessness being at every decision-making table.
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The Affordable Housing Coalition (AHC)
will meet for the combined Nov/Dec AHC meeting due to the holidays. We will have a special topic and different location for this meeting.
Topic:
Identifying Issues and Solutions to Federal Policies and Programmatic Rules that Most Impact Persons Experiencing Homelessness
Location:
Dakota CDA, 1228 Town Centre Drive, Eagan (Meeting in Board room)
Date:
Dec. 5th at 8:30 – 10:30 am
This topic was developed in response to recent discussions on federal programs utilized for shelter and housing programs, such as the Emergency Solution Grant Program and a timely meeting with a representative from Representative Angie Craig’s office from the 2nd Congressional District.
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Our Affordable Housing Bus Tour was a Wonderful Success!!
As a result of that event, we are scheduling city council members to come to our December 19 meeting to discuss solutions to the housing crisis more in depth and we have invited Envision, a tiny home project, to present as well.
At our November 21 meeting, we identified key fair housing requests and will set up meetings with public officials in the coming weeks. We also planned our legislative breakfast for January.
Mark your calendars!!!!
Our Legislative Breakfast is scheduled for January 30, 2020 at St. Timothy's Lutheran Church, from 7am - 9:15am. There will be a panel discussion about actions on housing in 2020 and time at the tables with your legislators to discuss those pressing needs.
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Awareness & Action to Find Solutions
“We expected 50, got food for 80, and seated 90,”
said John Hodler, one of the Trinity Lutheran Church organizers of the highly successful October 15 Housing Forum.
That evening, an overflow crowd packed the Stillwater Library meeting room to deepen focus and take action on Homelessness and Affordable Housing.
MICAH, in coalition with Ascension Episcopal, St. Peters UCC, Rivertown Inn, St. Paul Lutheran, and the Stillwater Library, brought people to hear the story of someone at risk of homelessness, to hear about the need for all of us to take a step forward, and to make a commitment to make something happen in Stillwater!
The whole process was a clear sign that as people come to understand the issues of housing and homelessness they are willing to stand up and help. Two Stillwater churches have joined MICAH already and more are considering it.
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Elim Church offers shelter, clothing, dignity -
by Alex Schlee, 11/13/19
"Why do we live in Northeast? The area is pretty, we have a lot of neat parks, and the homes are nice; however, not everyone who lives in Northeast has a home here.
Elim’s Hope Avenue program offers ministry and resources to the homeless on Sundays... ...and they offer free clothing, and serve roughly 200 meals a week, continuing their tradition of homeless advocacy dating back to the mid-1980s."
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On Thanksgiving Day,
over 50 people met at Elim Church to share a hearty meal in a warm and welcoming community.
Elim Church, Freedom from the Streets, MICAH, and Integrated Community Solutions
provided for people at risk of or experiencing homelessness and/or housing crisis, along with their friends and family.
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Housing For All
Plymouth approves plan for long-vacant mall site.
This project would offer units for families and seniors, commercial space and a park-and-ride ramp.
Dominium’s proposal includes two four-story apartment buildings with a total of 163 units and a separate independent senior living building with 255 apartments.
Photo: Joel Koyama – Star Tribune
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Freedom From the Streets
We are thrilled to share that the zoning change which enables the Envision project to become a reality has happened!
On November 22, the Minneapolis City Council unanimously approved the zoning code text amendment titled “Intentional Community Cluster Developments” as part of a strategic effort to create innovative housing types and address homelessness in Minneapolis.
We give our thanks to all who've worked so hard to make this zoning change a reality!
Read more
to learn more about this great success!
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There are stark differences between the counts that come from the school system, showing a 195% increase over a ten year period, and HUD showing a 7% decrease over that same timeline.
Why are these so different?
"HUD’s exclusionary definition of homelessness fails to count all families and children experiencing homelessness, such as those that are living doubled up with another person or family due to loss of housing or economic hardship or are paying out of pocket to live in a hotel or motel."
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