In this edition:
- February 5 MICH webinar explores recent One Minnesota budgets for housing stability
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Thank you DHS Commissioner Jodi Harpstead for your leadership
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Housing, racial and health justice
- Crossroads to Justice: Implementation Consultants Deanna Monroe and Shelly M. Belgarde on collaborating with Minnesota Housing and Minnesota Management and Budget
Be sure to join the next monthly webinar on Wednesday, February 5 from 1 - 2 p.m. If you have any questions about your webinar registration, please email dan.gregory@state.mn.us
On the February 5 webinar, hear about the impact of state investments made over the last two legislative sessions to address homelessness and housing insecurity.
The beginning 10 minutes of each monthly webinar will be held to hear from the Speakers Bureau. Anyone who has lived experience of homelessness is welcome to sign-up to share through the Speakers Bureau. This is open time each month for lived experience experts to share ideas and feedback with the webinar audience.
The next webinar Speakers Bureau will be on Wednesday, February 5 at 1 p.m. There is a monthly prep session held the Tuesday before the webinar. The prep session will be Tuesday, February 4 from 11-11:30 a.m. Follow this link to join the prep session. This is an ongoing opportunity that happens each month. Sign up is required. Please email dan.gregory@state.mn.us or call/text Dan at 651-983-9985 to sign up to speak or with any questions.
As Commissioner Jodi Harpstead announces her resignation from the Minnesota Department of Human Services, we offer our deepest appreciation for her leadership and best wishes for her next chapter.
Commissioner Harpstead co-chaired the Minnesota Interagency Council on Homelessness since 2019 and always put people facing homelessness and their needs at the center of the conversation. She brought a focused, collaborative, and pragmatic-yet-visionary approach to addressing homelessness and expanding the supports that help people achieve stability and thrive in their housing. Commissioner Harpstead took to heart what we know to be true: shelter saves lives, and housing ends homelessness.
Among a constellation of achievements, we are especially grateful for Commissioner Harpstead’s role in “Crossroads to Justice: Minnesota’s New Pathways to Housing, Racial and Health Justice for People Facing Homelessness.” In direct partnership with her colleagues on the Council and our consultants with lived experience of homelessness to create and implement this strategic plan, Commissioner Harpstead championed the notion that justice must be our North Star as we seek to end homelessness in and with our communities.
Thank you for your service, Commissioner Harpstead. The leadership you provided will have an impact for years to come.
What does justice mean in the context of MICH’s Crossroads to Justice strategic plan? We’ve made handy summary images that you can check out (and share!) on Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn – take a look at them there, then follow the posted link to go more in-depth on the definitions and the entire plan.
Crossroads to Justice is the strategic plan of the Minnesota Interagency Council on Homelessness (MICH), bringing a housing, racial and health justice approach for people facing homelessness in Minnesota to guide the work of state government.
The implementation of this plan is being co-led and co-monitored by 14 paid Implementation Consultants, all people with lived experience of homelessness representing different experiences and different parts of the state. They were onboarded in April, chose agencies to support in May, and their expertise and priorities are shaping the daily work of state agencies.
Meet Deanna Monroe
Deanna is an active advocate for our homeless and our addiction and recovery relatives on the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. Deanna is very passionate about housing our relatives and exploring options to get more affordable housing and transitional housing within our communities. Her lived experiences have taught her that without change, everything remains the same – it is time for change!
Deanna’s reflections on working with Minnesota Housing
In her work with Minnesota Housing, Deanna has been collaborating with workgroups to make Request for Proposals (RFPs) processes and application forms easier to understand and access. Deanna has been utilized for Q&As to assist in setting up a Section 8 Reporting Hotline that would field complaints and/or questions about landlord and tenants’ rights that people have not been able to resolve themselves. Her up-close knowledge through the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe of two of the grants that Minnesota Housing administers, Family Homelessness Prevention and Assistance Program (FHPAP) and Housing Trust Fund (HTF), has made her insight and recommendations on these especially helpful. Deanna believes that Minnesota Housing has helped her community along with others in many ways and is putting in a lot of work to end homelessness in Minnesota.
Deanna Monroe
Shelly’s spirit’s name is Hante Blaska Winyan – Flat Cedar Woman. Shelly is affiliated with multiple tribes in North Dakota: The Hunkpapa Lakota, the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, and The Three Affiliated Tribes: Mandan, Hadatsa, and Arikara. She has a passion for her Native American Spirituality and Traditional Healing ways. She sees culture as a resource for healing and has bridged many gaps in her time at Hennepin County. Her dual role has benefited Hennepin County and her community in many ways over the past 6 years. Shelly continues to show up as a beacon of light and hope in the many hats she wears. Shelly was part of Hennepin’s Community Engagement Leadership Program in the 2022-2023 Cohort. Shelly volunteers on the Indigenous Employee Resource Group as the Special Events Planner and Recruiter, and as Co-chair for the Native American Project Diversity Sub-committee. She’s offered her skills to the DEI face-to-face work. Shelly is very passionate about her work and strives to continue to support and strengthen collaborative efforts happening in her community. No matter the challenge, homelessness, opioid addiction, public safety, or showing up in healing capacities she’s always willing to step up and assist her community with love, compassion, and understanding.
Shelly’s reflections on working with Minnesota Management and Budget
“My experience with the Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB), the central services agency, has empowered me to play a role in integrating "lived experience" into the minimum qualification process for relevant job postings. This initiative is a vital step toward enhancing access to state career opportunities and one I’m proud of.
A highlight of my current MMB work is the Harm Reduction Interagency Workgroup, which includes multiple state agencies dedicated to expanding harm reduction services. Soon, we will launch an overdose prevention hub for individuals experiencing homelessness and establish safe recovery sites that offer health services, recovery programs, and connections to housing resources.
This Interagency workgroup is focused on increasing access to Naloxone supplies and training for staff and guests at shelters and outreach programs. By expanding syringe service programs, we aim to meet the needs of those facing homelessness and connect them with vital support.
I’m truly grateful to be a part of MICH and to continue into this journey into 2025! I love working closely with the amazing people committed to piloting innovative, culturally responsive healthcare models while forming an interagency committee to coordinate health, mental health, substance use disorders, and opioid response needs. Together, we are creating a more inclusive future.”
 Shelly M. Belgarde
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