Earlier this month, Alliance resident Tyrone Shields testified before the Minnesota Senate’s Housing and Homelessness Prevention Committee in support of SF 203, the Housing Infrastructure Bonds bill. Many of you may already know Tyrone from our last Fundraising Breakfast, where he was featured in a video, or from the groundbreaking of our newest property, Kyle Garden Square, in September where he spoke.

The bill, authored by Senator Lindsey Port who chairs the Housing and Homelessness Prevention Committee, proposes $400 million in Housing Infrastructure Bonds (HIBs), one of the largest and most flexible sources of funding for affordable housing in Minnesota. These funds would support both the development of new affordable housing and the maintenance and preservation of existing properties. Since 2012, HIBs have been used to fund more than 7,000 units of affordable housing in Minnesota.

Many developers, including Alliance, have faced significant financial challenges in both developing new affordable housing as well as maintaining current housing. Our experience with 2011 Pillsbury demonstrated how the cost of upkeep can far exceed available resources. This bill aims to ensure that such challenges do not continue to jeopardize affordable housing across the state as well as promote the development of new housing.

Tyrone testified as a housing advocate on behalf of Alliance, sharing how finding housing with Alliance allowed him to return to school, earn his B.A., secure stable employment, and build his relationship with his children. His testimony highlighted the impact that access to housing can have and the importance of preserving it. In his words, “By passing this bill, we can create more housing for the thousands of families trying to find safe and affordable housing.”

We are incredibly grateful to Tyrone for taking the time to share his lived experience and for lending his voice to such an important cause.

Other testifiers, including representatives from the American Indian Community Development Corporation, Riverton Community Housing, and LiUNA, emphasized how HIBs have supported their organizations in developing new housing, maintaining existing properties amid rising costs, and creating opportunities for homeownership and jobs. If you’d like to watch the full committee hearing, you can view it on the Minnesota Senate website: February 11th Committee on Housing and Homelessness Prevention Meeting