Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Tomorrow at 10:00am I will be hosting my monthly 'Coffee with Chris' virtual conversation. I invite you to join me here for a cup of coffee and an informal conversation.
A few more updates you’ll find in this week’s newsletter:
📲 Small Business Relief Fund Dashboard: The Small Business Relief Fund impacts page displays an interactive dashboard for users to explore the impacts of all five rounds of small business relief grant funding.
🏢 Financial, marketing, and other consulting available at no cost to Hennepin County businesses: Connect with one of our specialized consultants by registering at elevatebusinesshc.com or connect with a community-based nonprofit business advisor.
🏠 Hennepin County and the Just Deeds Program: Hennepin County government is providing navigation support at no charge to help county residential property owners create the legal documentation to disavow discriminatory covenants that may exist on their properties.
🏠 COVID response for homelessness reaches new phase: Using hotels for isolation and quarantine was part of Hennepin County's strategy to deal with underserved populations during the pandemic, and we've now reached the next phase.
As always, please reach out to my office with any questions, concerns, or thoughts you have using the contact information at the bottom of this newsletter.
In service,
Chris
As of March 15, 2021, Hennepin County has provided more than 6,400 small business relief grants through the Small Business Relief Fund, totaling $69.4 million.
The Small Business Relief Fund impacts page displays an interactive dashboard for users to explore the impacts of all five rounds of small business relief grant funding. Each round of funding targeted different groups of small businesses impacted by economic hardship due to COVID-19. Click here to explore.
COVID-19 has created many challenges for small businesses in Hennepin County. Hennepin County businesses impacted by COVID-19 are eligible to receive one-on-one business consulting and technical assistance from a variety of professional service providers at no cost.
Jessie Baker, owner of Munkabeans Coffeehouse located in downtown Hopkins, participated in Elevate Business and said she would highly recommend the program to other local business owners, specifically the peer to peer roundtables that allow business owners to learn from each other by sharing their challenges and successes.
"There's comfort in knowing there are other businesses going through the same exact thing you are," she said. "I would highly recommend that if you've got half an hour once a week, jump on a roundtable zoom call. What have you got to lose?"
Some of the services and business consulting expertise offered include:
- Starting and growing a business
- Business planning
- Financial counseling
- Access to capital consultation
- Upgrading technology
- Website optimization
- Social media training
- Insurance policy review
- Lease review and negotiation of terms
Connect with one of our specialized consultants by registering at elevatebusinesshc.com or connect with a community-based nonprofit business advisor.
Hennepin County government is providing navigation support at no charge to help county residential property owners create the legal documentation to disavow discriminatory covenants that may exist on their properties.
In addition, we have granted complimentary access to our real property search service to Just Deeds affiliated cities upon request. The City of Minnetonka is an affiliate city and Hopkins will be soon.
If you are interested in learning more about discharging racial covenants on your home, you can find a list of participating cities here.
Vaccines, along with infrastructure and service changes, have allowed the county to start rolling back its response to COVID and homelessness. Using hotels for isolation and quarantine was part of Hennepin County's strategy to deal with underserved populations during the pandemic, and we've now reached the next phase.
The county is no longer placing people in hotels, which was our emergency stopgap to prevent COVID-19 from uncontrolled spread in shelters. A case management team has been put in place to help move people from these sites into permanent housing, and has so far helped more than 170 people do so. As people vacate the hotel rooms, the space is being turned back over to the hotel businesses.
The following factors made this next phase possible:
Vaccines
People experiencing homelessness, and staff and volunteers who work with them, have been prioritized to receive the COVID vaccine. As of March 16, Public Health's Health Care for the Homeless, in partnership with Hennepin Healthcare, had provided 1,943 first doses of the vaccine and 200 second doses to people experiencing homelessness and homeless service providers.
Shelter changes
All shelters have now transitioned to providing space 24/7 instead of just at night. (Federal funding allowing for round-the-clock shelter is secured through September 2022.) The shelter facilities have been reconfigured to operate in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations – such as social distancing, cleaning protocols, masks and touchless hand washing.
Additional shelters open
Three new shelters have recently made more space and person-centered services available. The Salvation Army has added a 30-bed shelter for women in south Minneapolis. The American Indian Community Development Corporation opened Homeward Bound, a 50-bed shelter providing culturally specific services for the Native American community. And Avivo Village, an indoor community of 100 private dwellings, opened March 8. All are operating 24/7 and have infection control protocols in place.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, only an estimated 377 people experiencing homelessness have tested positive for COVID-19 in Hennepin County – out of more than 100,000 total cases in the county.
By Boyd Huppert, KARE 11
The city partnered with West Hennepin Affordable Housing Land Trust in setting up the program. Under it, Edina would make funds available to buy a limited number of houses for their appraised values to assure those homes remain intact and with families needing more affordable options.
Access the full story, here.
Photo by Brian Peterson, Star Tribune
By Rick Nelson, Star Tribune
A mural's message just inside the door at MinnyRow Market says it all: "Keep your friends close and your farmers closer."
For owners Dana and Peter Smith, that locavore's mantra informs most of their decisions, from selecting regionally produced products to forging less-visible partnerships with nearby bankers, graphic designers and even paper suppliers.
"Our mission to work local not only has to do with food but is true across all aspects of our business," says Dana Smith.
Access the full story, here.
By Kent Erdahl, KARE 11
After the state of Minnesota made it possible for homeowners to discharge racial covenants in 2019, Cisneros worked with other city attorneys in Hennepin County to help homeowners navigate the process of finding covenants and discharging/disavowing them. Last year, several local realtor groups also volunteered to help.
Access the full story, here.
Join me this Saturday, April 6th for an informal virtual conversation over coffee. Starting at 10:00am you can click here to join the virtual meeting.
The Hennepin County Board of Commissioners consists of one commissioner from each of seven districts. I am proud to represent Deephaven, north Eden Prairie, Edina, Excelsior, Greenwood, Hopkins, Long Lake, Minnetonka, Minnetonka Beach, northern Mound, Orono, Shorewood, Spring Park, Tonka Bay, Wayzata and Woodland.
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Chris LaTondresse Commissioner 6th District 612-348-7886
Jessica Oaxaca District Director 612-348-6885
Kyle Olson Policy Director 612-348-3168
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