Equity is more than just a buzzword

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Invoking the word “equity” is a lot like talking about Heaven. Everyone likes to describe it, but nobody seems to do what it takes to get there. Or worse yet, the word gets tossed around with no meaning whatsoever. It’s become the trendy thing people have to say they want. And yet I struggle to find any meaningful incorporation of its principles into actual policy. When it does make its way into political decisions, equity seems to be applied only to giant, broad initiatives like raising the minimum wage or anti-bullying legislation. When the word is bandied about at community meetings, it doesn’t seem attached to any specific actions at all. Continue Reading

Preserving rental affordability in the infill era

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Despite seeing some healthy growth over the last few years, 2014 is turning out to be a rough development year for the Wedge’s renters. While renters currently comprise ~77% of the neighborhood, their voices are being drowned out. The neighborhood’s last few proposed rental projects have seen heavy opposition or have been blocked entirely. The winnings are clear: Historical preservation (however minute), private views and local traffic are taking priority over expanding housing supply in one of the city’s most in-demand neighborhoods. Continue Reading

Homeless youth services are scarce as problem remains

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Jeremiah Carter was 19 years old when he became homeless, he told the House Health and Human Services Finance Committee Thursday. He wanted to live independently, but didn’t know how to do that responsibly. Carter said his life was headed down the wrong path until he connected with a homeless youth program when he was 20. Through the program he met other youth seeking to change their lives, obtained his GED and began attending college.The organization Carter found and others like it could benefit from the $4 million requested in HF2203, sponsored by Rep. Laurie Halverson (DFL-Eagan). It would go toward the Homeless Youth Act, which creates a grant program for emergency shelters, drop-in services and other youth homeless services across the state.The committee laid the bill over for possible inclusion in its omnibus bill. Continue Reading

COMMUNITY VOICES | Homelessness an ever growing epidemic in Minnesota

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Your article, “Homelessness in Minnesota: Women and children first,” helps bring awareness to many of the ever growing epidemic of homelessness that continues to be an issue here in Minnesota. In particular I believe that not enough attention is paid to the single men and women who are dealing with homelessness due to mental health and criminal backgrounds. These barriers make it very hard to move someone into permanent housing. “Almost half (47%) of the homeless adults, 2,931 people, interviewed for Wilder’s 2012 homeless study reported that they had served time in one or more correctional facilities at some point in their lives”( Wilder Research, 2014).

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Dayton’s Bluff prepares for 2014 Minneapolis and St. Paul Home Tour

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The annual Minneapolis and St. Paul Home Tour will be held on Saturday, April 26, from 10:00 am-5:00 pm and Sunday, April 27, 1:00-5:00 pm. During the home tour, residents in Minneapolis and St. Paul open their homes to the public to showcase city living. This year we have an apartment in the old Mound Park School building on the tour; many people have wondered what it looks like inside. Some Dayton’s Bluff people attended school there years ago.

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Women and poverty

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We are sometimes asked why people are homeless. The simple answer is that people are homeless because they don’t have homes – and they often don’t have homes because they can’t pay for them. Homelessness, or at least housing insecurity, and poverty are intertwined. Continue Reading

Property taxes drop for first time since 2002

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Statewide property taxes will drop from 2013 to 2014, according to new information from non-partisan Minnesota House staff, heralding the first year-to-year property tax decline in over a decade. Credit for this goes squarely to progressive state policymakers who enacted major property tax relief legislation in 2013, including a new homestead credit refund and significant increases in school aid and other state aid to local governments.

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Higher Ground helps homeless residents move up and out in Minneapolis

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It was late morning at Higher Ground, Catholic Charities’ shelter for homeless men. The lobby was deserted, except for the woman running the front desk and my tour guide, client advocate Dan Lauer-Schumacher. The emergency shelter closes just after breakfast at 9:00 am and opens again at 4:00 pm in time for dinner. Other parts of the shelter are open throughout the day.

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