Nelima Sitati: Make sure people of color are at the decision making table in housing discussions

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Nelima Sitati, a community organizer who formerly worked in North Minneapolis, currently lives in Brooklyn Park. Both North Minneapolis and Brooklyn Park are “Racially Concentrated Areas of Poverty” (RCAPs), which have become hot button points of contention between policy makers thinking about where to spend money on subsidized housing.This is one of a series of four stories, looking at the issues of subsidies, affordable housing, and segregation.• Eagan vs. Frogtown: Should housing subsidies increase integration in suburbs or improve housing in low-income neighborhoods?• Nelima Sitati: Make sure people of color are at the decision making table in housing discussions• Is Frogtown going to gentrify?• Changing face of Brooklyn ParkTwo University of Minnesota policy analysts, Myron Orfield and Ed Goetz, differ on whether it’s helpful for more subsidized housing to be placed in areas that have high concentrations of poverty and people of color (RCAPs) or in more prosperous suburban areas.Sitati doesn’t necessarily believe that siting affordable housing is a zero sum game. “Before we get to solutions,” she said, “we have to acknowledge that disparities do exist, and exist along racial lines. But who is crafting the narrative? Continue Reading

Eagan vs. Frogtown: Should housing subsidies increase integration in suburbs or improve housing in low-income neighborhoods?

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Rising rents and low vacancy rates shut out lower-income families in the Twin Cities. Add to that the worst disparity between non-Latino white people and people of color living in poverty in the top 25 metropolitan areas, and a legacy of housing segregation. Now, what’s an equitable policy for distribution of scarce housing subsidies and for building affordable housing? This is one of a series of four stories, looking at the issues of subsidies, affordable housing, and segregation. • Eagan vs. Frogtown: Should housing subsidies increase integration in suburbs or improve housing in low-income neighborhoods?• Nelima Sitati: Make sure people of color are at the decision making table in housing discussions• Is Frogtown going to gentrify?• Changing face of Brooklyn ParkOne way policy makers look at equity is through the lens of Racially Concentrated Areas of Poverty (RCAPs), or areas where at least 50 percent of the population are people of color and at least 40 percent of the people are living in poverty. Continue Reading

Beacon offers hope to low-income renters

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When 27-year-old Simone Brooks’ job as a school cafeteria worker ended last June, her family slid into homelessness. Their apartment rented for $650/month. Leroy, her fiancé and father of her six-year-old son, was just making minimum wage. “It was obvious that we couldn’t pay for such a high rent,” she said. They could afford the apartment when they were bringing in two incomes, but once the summer hit, it was too much. “We had a rough time,” Brooks said. Continue Reading