Alliance Housing’s board of directors hosted an evening event and fundraiser on September 30th to celebrate the organization’s 30 years of mission focused work. Friends, family and colleagues seemed pleased to celebrate the legacy of Alliance and its promising future as well as enjoy each other’s company. Most had had limited social engagements over the last 1 ½ year due to the pandemic.
President Ben Olk III welcomed the crowd and put Alliance’s housing portfolio in the context of the City’s affordable housing shortage and cost crisis. He did a brief tribute to Executive Director, Barb Jeanetta, who had announced her retirement as of June 30, 2022. Jeanetta summarized Alliance’s housing portfolio, recent acquisitions. Some of the year’s policy wins included the City of Minneapolis ordinance that allows new single room occupancy licenses, an issue Alliance had advocated for, for many years.
As usual, the highlight of the event was testimony of Alliance tenants – this year provided in video format. Yolanda Drew was able to move to a studio apartment at Hiawatha Commons after enduring the behavior of a drug addicted roommate and her friends. Yolanda’s enthusiasm is infectious and her gratitude to Property Manager, Bob Bono, well deserved. Keisha Buskey is a hard working head of household. She works at a care center and was one of the essential workers who reported for work throughout the pandemic. A Florida transplant, Keisha and her kids consider Minnesota home. (Click each tenant’s name to see their video)
Vice President Miranda Walker brought the program to a close while encouraging guests to make a donation towards future work.
Many thanks to all of our donors and sponsors who helped us exceed our fundraising goal for the year’s event – nearing $80,000.
