Affordable Housing and Homelessness // Approximately 21,000 Minnesotans are homeless or precariously housed each night. About 50 percent are children or unaccompanied youth. Each night, over 1,000 individuals are turned away from shelters due to lack of space. The number of homeless families in MN grew 325 percent from 1991 to 2000. Homelessness disproportionately impacts communities of color—57 percent of homeless adults are of color and 65 of homeless youth are of color. In the general population, only 9 percent of adults and 15 percent of youth are of color.
Minnesota needs increased development of affordable housing. Housing is considered affordable when the occupant is paying no more than 30 percent of his or her income for gross housing costs, including utilities. Families who pay more than 30 percent of their income for housing may have difficulty affording necessities such as food, clothing, transportation and medical care.
Support the Housing Solutions Act // The Housing Solutions Act dedicates new and significant funding for a wide range of housing needs throughout the state. The funds will come from a small increase in the existing deed tax, up 0.17% to make the new total deed tax one-half of one percent. These new funds will be used for rental assistance for families with incomes of $23,000 and below, the construction and rehabilitation of affordable housing units and a new matching funding incentive program for local governments to invest in affordable housing in their community. Write and call your legislators and ask them to support the Housing Solutions Act. (Visit www.leg.state.mn.us to see who represents you.) Write a letter to the editor of your local paper and inform your community about the need for more affordable housing in MN.
Information from Wilder Foundation, “Overview of Homelessness in Minnesota 2006.”
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Housing Solutions Act Author Senator Dick Cohen meets with students during the February 28, 2008 Affordable Housing Lobby Day. |
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MPIRG Staff Organizer Jamison Tessneer asks people to send postcards to legislators in support of the Housing Solutions Act.
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Links and Resources
- The Wilder Foundation: They provide excellent information and services.
- Heading Home Hennepin: The plan to end homelessness by 2016 in Hennepin County.
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