Land of 10,000 homeless

According to a 2003 Wilder Foundation study, a conservative estimate of the number of Minnesotans who were homeless or "precariously housed" and in imminent danger of homelessness on October 23, 2003 exceeded 20,000. According to the report, more than 50,000 Minnesotans were homeless at some time during the year. About half of these people are male and half female. The number of homeless children and families has steadily increased since 1991. Emergency shelters, battered women's shelters, transitional housing, public housing and low-cost housing are all pieces of the solution to homelessness, but long-term services and support are also needed.

Sarah Taylor-Nanista, director of Streetworks Collaborative, advocates for the Minnesota Runaway and Homeless Youth Act. The legislation, sponsored in the House by Representative Karen Clark, would appropriate $8 million for services for runaway and homeless youth across the state, including street outreach workers, drop-in centers, emergency shelter beds, transitional living spaces and support services. The Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless supports the Housing Solution Act, which would raise the deed transfer tax to provide dedicated funding for affordable housing.

"The Land of 10,000 Homeless" is co-sponsored by the University of Minnesota Human Rights Center, Plymouth Congregational Church Outreach and the Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children at the University of Minnesota. Featured artists include poets/musicians Desdamona and Julia Dinsmore; photographers Tobechi Tobechukwu and Matt Dahl; cellist Matt Knippel and accordionist Daniel Turpening.

Admission to the event is on a sliding scale from $0 to $10 based on what people can afford. Proceeds will go to the X-Committee for its bus pass program. The X-Committee, an advocacy group made up of homeless and formerly homeless individuals, provides bus passes and mentoring to people who are looking for jobs, and also provides sobriety mentoring and referrals for help in finding affordable housing. In 2005, when the X-Committee was formed, one of its members explained, “We call ourselves the X-Committee because we are outside of society and treated like outcasts, like the X-Men and X-Files – and like them, we will overcome.” The X-Committee, located at 275 East 4th Street in St. Paul welcomes both volunteers and donations. For information, call 651-224-9292.

Mary Turck

Mary Turck (editor@tcdailyplanet.net) is the editor of the TC Daily Planet.