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Building on Alliance’s success at
Minnehaha Commons – housing
older adults who had been
homeless – we knew we had to do
more to reduce the homeless adult
population. We began talking with
Touchstone Mental Health two
years ago to conceptualize a similar
project for younger adults. At the
same time, we were approached by
a building owner near HCMC who
had heard of our good works. They
wanted to repurpose their 4 story
1920s era downtown property from
office space to affordable housing.
We jumped in and began applying
for public capital dollars.
Within one full year of funding
cycles we were awarded all of the funds
necessary to renovate the building into
55 apartments. Many thanks
to the Federal Home Loan
Bank of Des Moines, Hennepin
County, the City of Minneapolis,
the Metropolitan Council and
Minnesota Housing.
In addition to the capital funding,
we have commitments from
Hennepin County and the
Minneapolis Public Housing
Authority for rent assistance for
all tenants.
Touchstone has the
contracts and expertise to bring
along money to pay for their
services to tenants. In the coming
year, we hope to add funding to
pay for a front desk through the
Housing Urban Development
Continuum of Care programs. Over
the next year, we’ll work through
the financial closing due diligence
process and begin renovation in
early 2023.... Read More ›
The affordable housing crisis
has been atop many legislative
and policy efforts over the last
few years. The data is clear: the
the gap between rents and income
continues to widen and more
families find themselves with
unstable housing, or unhoused,
or stressed by paying too much of
their income towards rent.
Alliance Housing is small but
mighty in our coalition-based
housing advocacy. During the
current Minnesota legislative
session, we’re focused on two
efforts. In past years, our advocacy
work with Homes for All MN
has garnered $100 million in
housing infrastructure bond (HIB)
authorization by the MN Legislature.
These resources are essential to
fund the type of housing Alliance
owns and managers for very low
income and low-wage earners.
Given the State’s 2022 surplus and
the size of the housing problem,
this year the group is asking for
$2 billion in resources to create
and preserve homes and to create
more access to affordable housing
with rent and homeownership
assistance. Minnesotans of color
are disproportionately affected by
the housing crisis. The investment
will reduce disparities and expand
choice.
Right now, please take
the opportunity to talk with your own elected officials about how
people you know are affected by
the affordable housing crisis and
ask them to support $2 billion for
housing. If you’d like to get involved
in future policy alerts and efforts
look for Homes for All MN tweets or
posts... Read More ›
Jessie Hendel’s first day as the
Executive Director for Alliance
Housing Inc. was March 8. Our
board of directors began this search
process last summer after Barb
Jeanetta announced her retirement
plans. With plenty of time to plan,
the board cast a wide net. For
nearly a year, board members have
been talking to a varied group of
people about what we were looking
for and who might be interested.
The early work paid off and Alliance
received nearly 20 high-quality
candidate resumes. Between
October 2021 and January 2022, the
the board did a series of interviews to
arrive at their offer to Jessie.
As a trained social worker, Jessie
Hendel has spent the majority of
her professional career working
to provide safe, affordable, and
sustainable housing for youth,
families, and individuals. Her
commitment to these values directly
aligns with Alliance’s relationship-based property management focus.
Her passion, warmth, and expertise
will serve our residents, staff and
stakeholders well as we look to
the future. Jessie looks forward
to connecting with all of Alliance’s
donors, investors, and allies in the
coming months to learn more about
their connections to the work of
Alliance Housing.
Jessie worked at CommonBond
Communities, a highly respected
affordable housing developer,
owner and manager in various
management, program and
operational roles for 17 years.
Most recently, she directed a
variety of programs at the YWCA
of Minneapolis. As was true... Read More ›
Every now and then, we take a look at why people move out of our
apartments. Recently, in analyzing vacancies in our scattered-site
apartments, we discovered that more than ½ of our tenants moved because
they found “equal or better” housing elsewhere. At Alliance, we count it as
a success if our tenants find better housing. Not only do they move up and
move on, but it means another household will be able to move into one of
our very affordable quality units. To give you a sense of what better housing
means, we reflected on some past moves that we’ve reported on before,
and some more recent ones.
In the 2021 Annual Report, we covered the story of Cindy Arnold, who
moved through our rooming house (several times), then on to a studio
apartment, and bought a house a year ago. Cindy is a testament to our belief
that a person can change and should not be judged by their worst day.
Two more success stories come from families that were original participants
in our North Side Supportive Housing for Families program between 2012-
2015.
Gloria lived in an Alliance duplex for nearly four years before pulling
together the resources to buy her own home. She... Read More ›