Last Thursday, Governor Walz, local elected officials and members of the St. Louis Continuum of Care (CoC) gathered in Duluth to celebrate the milestone of effectively ending Veteran homelessness in St. Louis County. This is an incredible milestone reached through the hard work and dedication of many partners across St. Louis County, and confirmed through a rigorous Federal review of the county’s robust response to housing crises among Veterans. This declaration does not mean that no Veteran will ever become homeless in the future but that St. Louis County has a system in place to prevent homelessness and rapidly support any Veteran who may become homeless.
In making the announcement, Governor Walz shared, “Minnesotans care deeply about our Veterans, and that is especially evident today. This is a big step in the right direction, and we will continue working hard until no Veteran in Minnesota ever experiences homelessness.”
St. Louis County becomes the 85th of 87 Minnesota counties to reach this milestone. Efforts continue in the state’s two most populous counties, Hennepin and Ramsey, toward this outcome and to make Minnesota the fourth state in the nation to effectively end Veteran homelessness.
On June 10, the Minnesota Interagency Council on Homelessness adopted the definition of housing, racial, and health justice for people experiencing homelessness developed over the past several months through the process led by Rainbow Research and their team of consultants with lived experience of homelessness. This definition will serve as the basis for driving the Council’s work on preventing and ending homelessness, and we hope can help guide efforts across the state.
Join the webinar tomorrow, June 22, to hear from Rainbow Research and their consultants as they summarize Phase 1 and kick off the work of Phase 2 focused on strategies to advance justice. You can find meeting details and past meeting materials here: https://mich.mn.gov/justice-strategic-plan#phase-one.
If you have any questions about your registration, please email Elizabeth Dressel.
To respond to future COVID-19 outbreaks across the state over the next 6 months among people facing homelessness and staff who serve them, the Minnesota Shelter Emergency Staffing Pool has been relaunched effective immediately. This initiative provides temporary staff to congregate settings serving people experiencing homelessness or domestic violence to support settings that are experiencing acute COVID-19 related staffing challenges. This free resource is offered through a partnership between ServeMinnesota and Worldwide Travel Staffing. It does not require eligible settings to cover any of the costs of the temporary staff and there are staff ready to deploy.
Both nonprofit and for-profit congregate settings serving people experiencing homelessness and domestic violence and are experiencing staffing impacts from an active COVID-19 outbreak are eligible to apply. This resource is focused specifically on COVID-19 related staff shortages and is not intended to supplement normal shelter operations. Staff will be deployed in consultation with the Minnesota Department of Health Congregate Living Settings Response Team.
Last week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved both the Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccinations for young children six months to five years old and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) approved the use over the weekend. The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) announced that the Pfizer vaccine is available for the youngest Minnesotans at the Mall of America Community Vaccination site. Read the full announcement and find a vaccine appointment here.
Many of the contracts MDH holds with vaccine providers to provide vaccines at settings supporting people experiencing homelessness are set to end on June 30, 2022 with the end of the State’s Fiscal Year. MDH is in the process for extending one or more of these contracts and expects that homeless service providers across the state will continue to be able to schedule vaccine clinics beginning July 1, 2022. MDH-contracted vaccinators are set up to vaccinate young children (six months and older). If you are interested in scheduling a vaccine clinic, please email Krissy Cheruiyot (krissy.cheruiyot.c19@state.mn.us).
Cases among people experiencing homelessness and the staff who support them continue to remain steady. The MDH team continues to monitor cases and our team continues to plan alongside local public health and emergency management on ways to be best prepared to support people experiencing homelessness through any future surges. If you are looking for any information or resources you can find information at https://mich.mn.gov/covid-19 or email Health.R-Congregate@state.mn.us.
Heading Home Corps is currently recruiting host sites and members for the 2022-23 program year, which starts in August 2022. Heading Home Corps places AmeriCorps members, called Housing Resource Navigators, at organizations that are dedicated to improving the well-being of people experiencing homelessness. Housing Resource Navigators provide program participants with resource navigation for direct housing support or housing-adjacent support.
If your setting is interested, you can apply now by completing the site application. Heading Home Corps is currently looking to award about 15 more positions statewide. Sites are awarded on a rolling basis, within two weeks of when sites apply. Sites are encouraged to apply as soon as possible. For additional questions about site partnership, please contact Director of Partnerships, Lizzie Morris Vogt at lizziemorrisvogt@ampact.us.
Apply to be a Heading Home Corps Member
Heading Home Corps is accepting member applications until August 10, 2022. Learn more about the position and how to apply at https://www.ampact.us/heading-home. All members receive robust training and professional development throughout the year, along with a $1,100 living stipend every two weeks, an education award up to $6,495 to pay for school or pay back student loans, and free health insurance and childcare assistance (for those who qualify). For additional questions about service with Heading Home Corps, please contact Recruiter, Avery Hoogenakker, at avery.hoogenakker@ampact.us
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The Frontline Worker Pay application is open from June 8 through July 22, 2022. Applicant support is available to assist applicants in multiple languages. Visit https://frontlinepay.mn.gov/ to apply and view all available information on the program including an application overview document, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), an application fact sheet, and an outreach toolkit. The Frontline Worker Pay law requires that employers in a frontline sector provide notice by June 23, 2022, advising all current workers who may be eligible for Frontline Worker Pay of the assistance potentially available to them and how to apply for benefits. An employer notice that meets this obligation is available now in English, Hmong, Somali and Spanish.
- Minnesota Housing’s Capacity Building Program is accepting applications to will fund activities that build the capacity of organizations and communities to address root causes of housing challenges and create thriving and inclusive communities. Capacity Building Program grant funds can be used for organizational capacity building and intermediary capacity building. Learn more about the RFP on the program page. Applications are due at 12:00 p.m. CT on Thursday, July 7.
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