2025 January Archive - Alliance Housing

Archive for January, 2025

Big News for 2116 Nicollet and 2011 Pillsbury

Posted on: January 30th, 2025

We are thrilled to announce a December 2024 award, from the City of Minneapolis Affordable Housing Trust Fund and 9% tax credit program, toward our 2116 Nicollet project. Currently expected to open in late 2027, 2116 will include 53 homes and be located just a couple blocks from 2011 Pillsbury. The building will include 24-new construction SRO units, along with efficiencies and one-bedrooms. The new building will provide warm, safe spaces for neighbors like those in Pillsbury.

Now turning to Pillsbury itself, it is with incredibly heavy hearts that we announce Alliance recently started the process of closing the Pillsbury building and selling the property.

Since acquiring the building in 2001, Pillsbury played an important role in providing dignified housing to over 1,200 single adults facing housing instability, 27 people at a time.

The model of Pillsbury was a key part of getting Single Room Occupancy (SROs) allowed (again) in City of Minneapolis rental licensing. Many service providers over the years recognized Pillsbury as somewhere their clients could get housed quickly, and without being screened out due to their background.

Unfortunately, the operating environment has changed substantially since 2001 due to issues including COVID-19, inflation, the opioid epidemic, and community safety changes. With increased break-ins, we no longer felt we could provide adequate security to residents.

Additionally, Pillsbury now requires a substantial infusion of capital funding to keep the old mansion operational.

Residents were notified in early January that their leases are ending effective March 31, 2025, and we are currently in the process of reaching out individually to discuss their housing options. Wherever possible we will be moving residents into other Alliance buildings.

While we mourn the loss of 27 deeply affordable housing units at Pillsbury, we celebrate the many years those homes provided a warm, safe space for residents to walk the path of their lives and the forthcoming housing around the corner at 2116 Nicollet.

Meet Craig Freeman, Alliance’s New Director of Development

Posted on: January 14th, 2025

Hello Alliance supporters and donors! I am Alliance’s new (and first!) Director of Development, Craig Freeman, and want to take this opportunity to introduce myself and what I do at Alliance.

I come to Alliance with years of experience fundraising for housing organizations. Most recently I spent 6+ years on the advancement team at Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative, helping raise money to develop and maintain deeply affordable, supportive housing very similar to that developed at Alliance. Prior to Beacon I spent two years fundraising for Avenues for Youth, an organization that provides transitional housing and shelter to youth aged 16-24 who are experiencing homelessness. This history put me on firm footing to hit the ground running at Alliance because I already understand the Twin Cities housing community and the societal pressures currently putting strain on it.

Additionally, before becoming a fundraiser I had a 12-year career as a litigation attorney in the Twin Cities. I left that profession, however, because I couldn’t shake the feeling that even when rulings rightly went in favor of my clients, I was making the world a little worse. I needed a career where even when things go poorly, I know they do so while I’m trying to make the world just a little better. I found that in fundraising. Best of all, I am still able to communicate persuasively. Now, though, my clients are Minnesotans experiencing homelessness and the jury is you!

Outside of work, I’m a Twin Cities native who left the state to attend the University of Iowa for both my BA and JD. This means I’m a proud Hawkeye and very ready to give as well as get when they play the Gophers. I now live in Roseville with my wife and teenage son (we’re currently in the process of registering for his freshman year in high school, please send help), and practice self-care through attending live music, running, and watching sports. As I’m an especially big soccer fan, we have season tickets to Minnesota United. I’m also likely to start leading tours of Civil Rights Movement sites in Alabama and Mississippi in October.

As for my work at Alliance, our Fiscal Year 2025 budget calls for raising a total of $390,000 from individual and institutional donors, but we know those societal pressures I mentioned above are going to drive that number up over the next few years. In order to remain a healthy organization and continue providing foundations for our residents to succeed, we anticipate needing to double that fundraising total by 2028. This is eminently doable but requires growing our donor base to bring in more donations. That is where my work comes in.

I am already out giving presentations sharing the work we do with civic organizations and congregations and am in the early stages of planning tours of some of our properties. What I need from you is introductions. Do you belong to a civic organization that brings in speakers? Does your congregation host people for adult forums/temple talks/etc.? Would your friends and neighbors enjoy being invited to your home for drinks and some education about an organization you believe in? If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, I’d love to chat about opportunities!

Even if you answered ‘no’ to each question, though, please feel free to reach out with any questions, to learn more, or just to chat. The best way for me to learn how to bring more supporters and donors into this work is to get to know those who are already here, and I’m looking forward to getting to know each of you over the coming months and years.