|
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
I hope this newsletter finds you well as we head into Election Day 2022 and end-of-year priorities. Tuesday, November 8, is Election Day. If you haven't yet voted, you can check your voter registration, where to vote, and make a vote plan here.
As the weather turns to the colder months, Hennepin County continues to emphasize housing for all. To-date, the county has housed more than 300 people over the course of the year and we'll continue to prioritize safe shelter and housing for county clients. If you didn't get a chance to read my Housing in Hennepin County: 2022 Update you can check it out here.
You'll find additional news on housing initiatives in this newsletter as well as:
- More voting information
- Lead awareness and water conservation for your home information, and
- Fix-It Clinics updates
My best,
Over less than a year, Hennepin County’s Housing to Homelessness team has helped 300 people transition from homelessness into permanent housing.
This new approach, implemented last winter, provides tailored, housing-focused case management to people experiencing sheltered and unsheltered homelessness, taking into account each person’s individual barriers and preferences to finding housing, including physical and behavioral health issues.
“The reason this model is different and works is because our staff have access to resources, flexible funding and detailed how-to guides for any situation they may encounter,” said Danielle Werder, area manager of the Office to End Homelessness. “Our staff don’t need to know everything about housing. They need to know what their client needs and wants, and then they can tap into those resources to help them meet their housing goals.”
Case workers serve people in shelter and unsheltered settings.
A COVID-Emergency Model
Hennepin County’s Housing Stability service area launched Housing to Homelessness after its Hotels to Housing program successfully connected nearly all of the of elderly and chronically ill residents sheltered in isolation hotels during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The hope was that the model of intensive 1-to-1, data-driven support would also work to house other people experiencing homelessness. It has. Over the year, 97% of the people connected to housing are still housed.
“Housing is foundational to well-being,” said County Board Chair Marion Greene. “We have learned that making the process personal, offering resources and matching people to individualized housing options helps residents achieve the dignity of stable housing, and makes that housing sustainable.”
Look for more news on the Hennepin County website at hennepin.us/news.
CNN Covers Hennepin County Affordable Housing Efforts
How one Minnesota county has been rapidly housing the homeless since the pandemic
Over the past two years, the county has opened three new emergency shelters, including Homeward Bound, and upgraded several others. It has purchased five properties that are being converted into affordable housing and is helping finance 16 other new projects driven by private developers. Twenty-six new social workers were hired to help those experiencing homelessness move into their own housing.
Read more CNN coverage here.
|
In early October, I was invited to speak at the grand opening of the Lydia Place Apartments expansion. Affordable housing is one of our most urgent priorities in Hennepin County, and housing like Lydia Apartments help to fill a critical gap in our housing infrastructure.
With this new construction, Lydia apartments will provide 40 new units of affordable housing, in addition to renovating the existing 40 units built in 2003. All 80 units in Lydia are restricted to households with incomes less than 30% AMI and are supported by rental assistance to deepen affordability. Lydia Apartments will reserve 40 of these units for people exiting homelessness. These are the types of investments we need to keep moving the needle on affordable housing.
Because Lydia Apartments meets so many of Hennepin County’s housing priorities, we’ve been able to support the project in several ways:
- Back in 2003, we provided a $400,000 loan from the Affordable Housing Incentive Fund to create the initial 40 units.
- Then in 2019, we provided $650,000 from the Affordable Housing Incentive Fund to renovate those 40 units and construct the additional 40.
Thank you to Beacon and all the other community partners who collaborated on this project. By working together, we are changing what’s possible for some of our most vulnerable friends, family members, and neighbors.
|
Hennepin County Election’s Office open on skyway of Hennepin County Government Center. Hours and more information here.
November 8: Election Day!
- Polls are open 7:00am-8:00pm.
- Find your polling place
- Remember polling places may have changed since the last general election due to redistricting
More voting resources are available on our website.
Each year, hundreds of children in Hennepin County are found to have blood lead levels high enough to damage their health. No level of lead exposure is safe, and lead poisoning is 100% preventable.
The county’s Lead Hazard Reduction Program was launched in 2004 to combat preventable lead exposures. Since then, the team has made 5,198 homes lead-safe through improvements such as window replacement and paint stabilization. The county has also added new programs, like the free product testing program that utilizes an X-Ray Fluorescence Analyzer to scan people's items (like spices, toys, pots, and pans) for lead.
If your home was built before 1978, you may be eligible for free home lead tests and up to $12,000 to fix lead paint hazards. Learn about funding assistance.
|
A confluence of motivations inspired Jodi Taitt to install a 465 square foot rain garden in her front yard this year. She’s been a longtime advocate for Meadow Lake in New Hope, promoting actions people can take to protect water quality. She wanted to capture stormwater at home to keep it out of Meadow Lake using a rain garden that would have curb appeal and interest neighbors. Plus, installing a garden that takes up much of her front yard means she’d have less turfgrass to mow, a task she hates.
Although it’s been dry this year, Taitt will be ready when the rain comes again. She took her project to the next level with help from a 2020 Hennepin County Good Steward Grant, the City of New Hope, Fortin Consulting, Metro Blooms, and other partners.
A curb cut and filter box in the design allows street runoff to be redirected into Taitt’s rain garden, capturing and filtering an estimated 3,800 gallons of water during a typical 1-inch rainfall.
But perhaps the biggest benefit to Taitt has been talking about the rain garden’s benefits with neighbors. “We have walkers routinely come through here, and I’ve had more opportunities to talk about stormwater runoff, impervious surfaces, and what can we do just by planting these plants than I have as secretary of the lake association,” Taitt said.
Applications for Good Steward grants due November 15
Hennepin County Good Steward grants are open for applications through Tuesday, November 15.
Grants are ideal for smaller, community-based or single applicant projects, and grant funding may be used for environmental or engineering consulting fees, materials, supplies, labor and inspection fees. Typical projects include constructing rain gardens, stabilizing stream banks, restoring native vegetation, installing vegetated filter strips or implementing other best management projects.
Access application materials and submit applications through the Hennepin County Supplier Portal. Watch an online workshop (YouTube) for more information on the grant program, eligibility, and how to submit a grant application.
At a recent Fix-It Clinic, Jim and Beatrice Voss watched as Fix-It Clinic volunteer Dave Blackburn unscrewed their rattling fan and peered into its insides. With a few hundred hours of Fix-It Clinic volunteer work under his belt, Blackburn was up to the challenge of repairing it.
“It's about taking apart things, daring to fix them, and staring until you see something wrong," he said.
The free Fix-It Clinics are held monthly on Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m. Everyone is welcome to attend to get help with their broken stuff and learn valuable repair skills. Upcoming Fix-It Clinics are scheduled for:
- Saturday, November 12 at the Saint Louis Park Recreation Center
- Saturday, December 10 at the Eden Prairie Community Center
- Saturday, January 14 at Southdale Library in Edina
|
Contact us
Marion Greene
Commissioner, 3rd District
612-348-7883
Elie Farhat
Principal Aide
612-348-7125
Laura Hoffman
District Aide
612-348-0863
|
