Join a team of State agency volunteers conducting face-to-face interviews with people experiencing homelessness or near homelessness on American Indian reservations in Minnesota. Most interviews are taking place (depending on Tribe and location) on October 25-27 during the day at community outreach sites located on Leech Lake, Red Lake, Fond Du Lac, and White Earth Tribal reservations.
The reservation study promotes efforts to create more permanent, affordable housing for all Minnesotans, provides an accurate picture of homelessness on American Indian reservations in Minnesota for planners, service providers, policy-makers, and the public to help us end homelessness, and supports funding requests for programs that serve homeless people.
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Online or in-person training is required as well as practicing the interview beforehand
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Each interview takes approximately 35 minutes using an interview form
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Time commitment varies depending on interviewer availability and site needs
If you are interested in volunteering:
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Visit the Minnesota Homeless Study website at http://mnhomeless.org
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Please indicate in the comments section that you are interested in volunteering with the reservation study.
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If you are interested in volunteering for the MN Homeless Study locally, you can also sign up at the same website by October 1, if possible.
The Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) received nearly 100 applications in response to the Request for Proposals to Acquire, Plan and Design, Construct and/or Renovate Emergency Homeless Shelters. To ensure a robust review process, OEO is recruiting additional volunteers who are willing and able to review and score applications received. OEO is seeking volunteers who have knowledge about services for people experiencing homelessness and/or facilities management, general contracting, architecture, or a related field.
If you are interested in being a proposal reviewer, please read the expectations and timelines listed below before completing the short survey. Once you have reviewed the timeline and you are interested in being a reviewer, please complete the Proposal Reviewer Application by the end of day on September 27, 2023. If you have any questions, please email Katelyn.warburton@state.mn.us.
Reviewers will need to:
- Have access to a computer, email, and the ability to participate in a virtual review session.
- Have ability to send completed scoresheets electronically. Scoresheets will be provided in either Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel.
- Not be employed by or associated with any entity applying for funding through the RFP they are reviewing.
Reviewers can expect to:
- Watch a PowerPoint presentation training about reviewing proposals.
- Read, review, and score approximately five proposals (each taking approximately 1 hour to review).
- Attend, participate, and actively engage in a review session (about 2-3 hours in length).
Timeline:
- Applications distributed to reviewers: No later than October 5, 2023
- Read applications: October 5-20, 2023
- Return scoresheets: October 20, 2023
- Attend one virtual review meeting: October 25, 2023 or October 26, 2023
Data Privacy: Identifying information shared through this survey is considered confidential and viewable only by OEO staff. OEO recognizes the survey asks volunteers to disclose information regarding lived experience of homelessness. Information collected from this survey will be used solely for the purposes of selecting volunteer reviewers.
Note: OEO is unable to provide compensation for reviewers and understand this may limit individuals' ability to participate.
Fall is approaching, and with the cooler weather comes increased spread of respiratory illnesses like the common cold, influenza (flu), and COVID-19. Vaccination is one of the most effective ways to minimize the spread of respiratory illnesses in congregate settings. The Centers for Disease Control recommends that everyone 6 months old and older receive their flu vaccine in September or October. The updated COVID-19 vaccines are currently awaiting approval from the Food and Drug Administration but are anticipated to be publicly available soon.
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) will be offering vaccine clinics through contracted vaccine partners for staff and residents or clients at shelters, day centers, supportive housing programs, and other congregate settings. MDH is working with community partners to have gift cards available at vaccine clinics. Eligible organizations can request to have our vaccinators come on-site for a clinic through this request form: COVID-19 Vaccination Event Request Form for Congregate Settings.
Through the form, organizations can request a one-time or ongoing clinics for COVID-19 and flu vaccine. Organizations can also request harm reduction services such as overdose prevention and response training, distribution of opioid overdose reversal kits (i.e., naloxone), distribution of safer use supplies including syringe exchange (distribution of sterile syringes, collection of used syringes), and infectious disease testing and linkage to care.
If you are interested in hosting a vaccine clinic, we encourage you to complete the form as soon as possible. Submitting your request will allow MDH time to estimate demand, coordinate with local and tribal public health departments and execute contracts with organizations that need MDH staff or equipment to support the clinics.
MDH continues to have no cost resources available to support homeless service sites as you respond to COVID-19. Available resources include:
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COVID-19 rapid antigen tests. Homeless service sites can order rapid antigen tests from MDH to test staff and clients for COVID-19. Order tests here: https://redcap.health.state.mn.us/redcap/surveys/?s=WL9N3NLT4L
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Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). MDH has masks, gloves, face shields, and gowns available to homeless service sites. If interested in these items, email Health.R-congregate@state.mn.us with the amount and size (for gloves) of each item you are requesting.
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COVID-19 medications. Staff and clients with symptoms of COVID-19 who have tested positive or been diagnosed by a provider as having COVID-19 are eligible to receive treatment at no-cost. Patients can access treatment using the web, Cue Health App, or by telephone at https://care.cuehealth.com/mn.
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Technical assistance. If you would like additional support managing an outbreak or want to consult with MDH about a specific COVID-19 response challenge in your facility, please reach out to the COVID-19 Highly Impacted Settings Team at Health.R-congregate@state.mn.us. We are here to help!
Join the Monthly Webinar next Wednesday, October 4 from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. to hear updates from the MDH team on available COVID-19 resources and vaccine clinics, information on the Minnesota Reservation Homeless Study, and information from the Lived Experience Advocacy Network (LEAN). If you have any questions about your webinar registration, please email elizabeth.dressel@state.mn.us. If you cannot attend the webinar, all materials and recordings are shared here: https://mich.mn.gov/webinars.
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Join the Center for School Change on October 23 from 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. for a conversation with Minnesota Housing on new changes to the Challenge Grant Program. The presentation will include a conversation with Tal Anderson, Manager of Community Initiatives, Minnesota Housing, along with a teacher and student from GAP School. The Challenge Grant Program now allows high schools to apply for up to $100,000 to create a program in which high school students learn construction skills as they build a home for a low-income family or individual or a family or individual experiencing homelessness. Read more here about a school in St. Paul doing this work. The Request for Proposal (RFP) will be issued early in 2024 for the $45 million in available funding. The goal of the webinar is to:
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Help educators understand the RFP and what they could do this fall to get ready to apply
- Discuss lessons learned from other schools that have done this previously
- Identify things that Minnesota Housing will look for in the application
To register for the zoom meeting, please email to joe@centerforschoolchange.org by October 16. On registration, the zoom connecting information will be sent.
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Help us spread the word about a new newsletter for engagement opportunities for people who have faced or are currently facing homelessness. The Minnesota Interagency Council on Homelessness is building a new newsletter list to share opportunities for people who have faced or are currently facing homelessness to share their input, ideas, and expertise. Interested individuals can sign up for the newsletter by filling out this form. We will share a range of opportunities in this newsletter from state agencies and partner organizations and the newsletter will be sent out as opportunities are available. Please email elizabeth.dressel@state.mn.us if you have any questions.
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