Ebony started working with Alliance Housing in January 2022 as our part-time Housing Operations Assistant. Ebony is a bright light on the Alliance team, growing in her contributions every day. After six months in the role, Ebony moved to full-time, adding administrative responsibility for processing our donations. After another six months, Ebony was promoted to Assistant Property Manager, taking on leasing our units designated for individuals leaving homelessness.

Ebony is a great cheerleader for her teammates and is deeply committed to our mission of providing low-barrier affordable housing. Safe, affordable housing has been critical in Ebony’s life as she navigates single parenting three boys.

Ebony shared with her colleague Eva, “I am happy to serve in a space where the need of the homeless population is our number one priority.”

By Jessie Hendel, Executive Director

The Whittier Alliance (WA) neighborhood organization in Minneapolis and Alliance Housing Inc have established a new partnership to bring low-barrier affordable housing, community meeting and event space, and new office space for both organizations to the vacant site at 2116 Nicollet Ave. The acquisition of the space by Whittier Alliance in the spring of 2021 was inspired by a long-time intention of the organization to purchase and activate property for community benefit, while striving to meet other goals along the way related to housing, community engagement, support for Whittier’s important commercial corridors, and organizational sustainability.

In the fall of 2021 after a competitive application process, WA convened a volunteer steering committee of residents both with deep knowledge of the community and subject matter expertise in development-related fields to define the vision/values/goals for the site, develop a process for community engagement, draft and release a Request for Proposals (RFP), and ultimately, to make a recommendation to the WA Board of Directors for the preferred development partner from the proposals received.

Community engagement work throughout the summer of 2022 further clarified the priorities that residents and other nearby stakeholders wanted to see most in the project, including sustainability features that reduce environmental impact and facilitate sustainable living; creative place-keeping features that create a sense of community identity within the building and reflect the Whittier community; and urban design features that enhance the characteristics of Nicollet Avenue and the Eat Street Commercial Corridor through human-centered design.

Through the RFP process, Whittier Alliance was thrilled to select Alliance Housing Inc as their partner in this important project after clear demonstration of an alignment in values, objectives, and organization mission.

Alliance Housing Inc’s work makes it possible for individuals and families to create homes for themselves, regardless of income and background by developing and managing housing that is:

• inclusive,
• affordable,
• relational, and
• flexible.

In addition, Alliance Housing challenges the environment that limits our residents’ opportunities.

Alliance Housing creates affordable, low-barrier housing that is accessible to all members of the community. The new project at 2116 Nicollet will be a mixed use building housing 54 units of affordable housing and approximately 4,200 square feet of leasable commercial space and a community meeting space, that will be shared by Whittier Alliance and Alliance Housing. Single adults will occupy the mix of single room occupancy (SRO), efficiency, and one bedroom units. The first floor space will welcome neighborhood residents in for a variety of neighborhood focused events and meetings.

Whittier Alliance and Alliance Housing Inc acknowledge that the Whittier neighborhood and this site are on the stolen ancestral lands of the Dakota people and recognize the resiliency of our Indigenous, Black and other marginalized community members amid centuries of ongoing, state-sanctioned violence and oppression. As we move ahead to the design phase of the project, we remain committed to facilitating avenues for robust community participation, as well as to operating within an anti-racist, anti-oppression and equity framework, prioritizing the voices of historically underrepresented people, populations, and communities.

Full project background and a sign up for ongoing, project-specific communications are available at whittieralliance.org.

Kaley Brown, Whittier Alliance Executive Director

Jessie Hendel, Alliance Housing Inc Executive Director

64-unit property includes 24 units for formerly homeless

What: Grand Opening Celebration

When: Thursday, April 20, 4:30 to 6:00 p.m.

Where: 3301 Nicollet Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55408 (parking on Nicollet Ave and side streets)

What: Program at 5:15 p.m.; guided tours before and after program

Questions or interviews: Please contact Alliance Housing Executive Director Jessie Hendel at 612-879-7633 or jhendel@alliancehousinginc.org

Background:

3301 Nicolllet includes 51 studios and 13 1-bedroom units affordable to adults and small families earning 30% to 50% of the Area Median Income (AMI). It also includes a community room, bike storage, rooftop solar panels, and other sustainability features.

The property, which began leasing in December 2022, provides housing for workers earning $15 to $20 an hour and includes 24 units reserved for people transitioning from homelessness. Alliance is working with social service provider Avivo to provide case management and administer rent support for formerly homeless tenants.

Funders of the $16.3 million project included the City of Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines, and US Bank Community Development. Acquisition and pre-development funding was provided by Twin Cities Local Initiatives Support Corporation and Propel.

Alliance Housing is a nonprofit owner and developer of affordable housing based in Minneapolis. It owns nearly 600 units of housing, including four apartment buildings. Founded in 1991, Alliance Housing develops and manages housing that is inclusive, affordable, relational, and flexible, making it possible for individuals and families to create homes for themselves regardless of income.

Alliance Housing has 14 properties in South Minneapolis all of which have received property tax exemptions for the last 9+ years. These tax exemptions are a key component that allows it to keep rents affordable for low-income tenants. In 2019, Alliance’s re-application for property tax exemptions was denied by the City of Minneapolis. With the pro bono assistance of Faegre Drinker Biddle and Reath, this decision was appealed. It is hoped that the court will reinstate the property tax exemptions during the first half of 2023. Thanks to Adam Pabarcus and Natalie Stubbs for their tireless work on this case.

In 1996, Greg suffered a gunshot wound to his spine that left him partially paralyzed and in a wheelchair. Greg’s life had been full of guns, drugs, and criminal activity. Greg came from Atlanta to Minnesota where he ended up in a shelter during COVID-19. While at the shelter, Greg worked hard to find a job, housing, and find long-term stability. However, with his criminal record, no one would give him a chance. Things turned around when he was approved for Supplemental Security Income, and his Case Worker was able to get him a single room at Alliance Housing’s 2011 Pillsbury building.

Greg said that, at age 54, his room at Pillsbury is the first time in his life he has ever had a lease. He feels that staff treats him well and help him when needed. When Greg moved into Pillsbury, the only unit open was the third floor. Greg said, “no problem. I want out of the Shelter—I can do this.” There is not an elevator at the Pillsbury building. With the sheer strength of his upper body, Greg got up the steps to his home. Months later he was able to transfer to the second-floor room and continued to get up those steps. Finally, this Spring, Greg moved into a first-floor unit.

Please join Alliance Housing’s staff in wishing Michael Bobick, our Caretaker and Maintenance technician, a happy 70th Birthday in
December!’

Michael is an example of Alliance’s mission at work. Michael has lived at our 2103 2nd Avenue building for 30 years, since before we even owned the property! He started working for Alliance in 1996 as a part-time Caretaker. Over the years this has grown into a full-time role that includes some maintenance responsibilities.

Michael’s story is like many of our tenants. As a young adult, Michael was working to become independent and support himself. He was struggling with alcoholism, which was pervasive in his childhood. He experienced homelessness as a young adult. Luckily, Michael found housing and soon employment at his 2nd Avenue address.

Michael likes making Alliance sleeping rooms feel like home for our tenants. He takes great care to manage our furniture stock to ensure tenants have what they need, particularly when moving out of homelessness into an Alliance home. Michael is also known for keeping flowers and plants in bloom at his home on 2nd Avenue and values changing the perception of housing for individuals moving out of homelessness. Michael is a key part of Alliance’s commitment to make it possible for individuals and families to create homes for themselves. Alliance is grateful for Michael, his strong work-ethic, and his commitment to our mission. Alliance is so lucky to have Michael on its team!

This spring, Tiffany Simmons, an Alliance Property Manager, helped a tenant move into one of Alliance’s buildings. This tenant knew exactly what he wanted to do first after settling into his room — take a nap. This seemingly simple act, resting, is difficult without a safe place to stay. And difficulty attending to basic needs such as sleeping, preparing food, and hygiene creates profound impacts on a person’s life.

The individuals and families Tiffany works with each have their own stories, but they’ve all experienced challenges finding housing in the Twin Cities. Alliance works to change that by building and maintaining housing that is affordable to the tenants, working with them as they transition into new housing, and advocating for policies that increase access. Alliance believes everyone deserves stable and quality housing.

Tiffany says the new tenant is now working and saving money. “To see where people started from, and where housing has given them stability to further some of the other goals that they have set, really makes me smile,” she says. After the first year, 56 percent of tenants who live in Alliance housing increase their income. Alliance’s focus isn’t just on financial return though, but also on the social and personal impacts stable housing creates in people’s lives.

Alliance is focused on people — not just meeting their individual needs, but also recognizing how they interact with systemic barriers. Rather than focusing on the difficulties tenants may have had in the past as the cause of their housing instability, Alliance looks at the structural barriers that exist in the market, such as large security deposits, denying housing based on criminal histories, and over reliance on rental histories. This gives Alliance a unique framework — moving away from the common concept of “low-income” affordable housing, and toward a “low-barrier” approach that reflects the organization’s responsibility to the community to provide housing that is affordable, accessible, and dignified.

Every other year, Alliance surveys tenants’ experiences living in Alliance housing and the global policies that affect their lives. Data from these surveys have revealed a nexus of needs that go along with access to a stable home, things like childcare, food access, and transportation. Although Alliance can’t provide services that address all of these needs, their relationships put them in a unique position. “Because we’re relatively small, we can really understand tenant stories and tenant experience,” says Jessie Hendel, Alliance Housing Executive Director. “We can then bring forward that direct experience into an advocacy role.”

Alliance’s advocacy work has shifted what low-barrier housing looks like in Minneapolis. One model of housing Alliance provides is single-room occupancy. This kind of housing often works well for people who have been living outside. “For somebody that never had housing, or struggles with housing, or struggles with chemical dependency, sometimes maintaining a whole studio is hard,” Tiffany says. Minneapolis ordinances once made it illegal to rent single occupancy rooms, but Alliance successfully lobbied to change that when they saw the model worked for so many people.

Tiffany has seen the long-term effects housing has for people, feeling secure in their housing and saving money helps residents imagine other possibilities for growth. She recalls the tenant she moved in last January, “You know,” she says, “he’s thinking about going back to school.” That’s just one tenant of many who came to Alliance searching for simple rest — and is now dreaming about the future.

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.

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 to their Facebook page.

For the past couple of legislative
sessions, we’ve also partnered
with Beacon Interfaith Housing
Collaborative and 80 some other
housing developers and service
providers to advocate for rent
assistance for very low-income
households through Bring it Home
MN. Current programs like Section 8
only fund 1 of 4 families that qualify.
With rents increasing over the
last 10 years, families are simply not able
to afford rents with what they are able to earn.
Rent assistance would help keep
more families stable so they could
retain employment and do lots of
other good things in their lives.
Again, look for alerts on Twitter and
other social media.

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 of all
of the past Directors of Alliance
Housing, this will be Jessie’s first
time in the role of Executive
Director. It was obvious from
interviews that she is familiar with
and attached to Alliance’s mission,
and is inspired to do a great job
leading the organization into the
future.

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 shared her story with
our 2017 fundraising breakfast guests. At the breakfast, Gloria thanked

Sue Roedl, program manager, for encouragement and coaching. Gloria added
“access to affordable housing gave me the time to get back on my feet and
prepare to move on with my family’s lives.”

Irena lived in an apartment at 3631 Penn for 8 years. She moved this past
November to a bigger apartment in a better neighborhood with her family.
Alliance allowed her to build a good rental history and manage her budget
over the years so that she could save for this move up.

One of our Pillsbury rooming house residents, Dustin,
was able to move out and move on in 2019 when he
got a Section 8 voucher for an apartment with his
own bathroom and kitchen. Before finding housing
with Alliance, Dustin was homeless for at least three
years. When Dustin first moved into the rooming
house, he had problems with drinking, partying with
drunk friends, and disturbing his neighbors. Property
manager Bob Bono repeatedly redirected bad behavior
back towards lease abiding expectations. Without the
stability of his Alliance home and repeated chances
around expectations, it is doubtful that Dustin would
have been able to achieve this new stage of housing
stability for himself.

There are many more stories like this over the years.
And just in the last few months, two tenants moved
on to better housing opportunities – one created by
Alliance and another who created his own.
Pat has rented from Alliance Housing Inc. since April
2012. His first home was a sleeping room. When the
opportunity arose, Pat moved to 2103 2nd Avenue S,
giving him the additional amenities of his own kitchen
and bathroom. He works twelve-hour days with a
company that picks up junk for a fee, sells and recycles
it. Pat noted and advised that “ I stick to myself. You
can’t make other people’s problems your problems.”
Pat recently provided notice that he was moving. He
bought a tri-plex in South St. Paul. Pat said that
owning his own place, “gives him more control over
his living environment.” He said he had the idea to buy
something for a while. A friend who is a lawyer and
broker gave him some guidance and encouraged him
that he had sufficient money and credit. He eventually
plans to buy a house to live in and use the tri-plex as
income. We have no doubt that he will.

Curtis moved from 143 E. 19th Street in November
2021 to 2103 2nd Ave – a sleeping room to a studio.
Whenever there is an opening in one of Alliance’s
studios – either in our larger properties or in the
scattered-site portfolio – we offer them to tenants in
sleeping rooms who have sufficient income to pay rent
and have demonstrated that they can be lease abiding.
Prior to moving into our 143 E. 19th Street property in
December 2020, he spent some time in jail, sleeping
in his car, at a shelter, and in hotel rooms. Curtis says
that while he appreciated the sleeping room to being
homeless, “I don’t like it that everyone doesn’t have
the same cleaning standards as me.” The first night he
moved in at 2nd Ave., he did something he hadn’t been
able to do before – cook a meal and take a bubble bath.
He loves his new place.

All of Alliance’s units offer permanent housing, not
time-limited temporary housing. Nonetheless, we’re
always gratified when someone moves on to equal or
better housing. They create an opportunity for someone
new, who may need a 2nd chance, to create a home for
themselves.

Alliance Housing’s policy advocacy work had some successes this past year.  In some ways, the pandemic has provided more access to elected officials by video chat and more focus on tenant protections.  Minneapolis Councilmember Cam Gordon saw the value of single room occupancy (SRO or to us sleeping rooms) from a cost perspective and as part of the housing puzzle almost immediately upon learning about them from Alliance Housing.  He was already a fan of shared housing having passed the intentional community legislation to address some challenges of student housing in the University neighborhoods.  Councilmembers Cam Gordon, Jeremy Schroeder and Lisa Goodman convened a study group of industry professionals and City staff and crafted a new ordinance that once again allows new SRO rental licenses in Minneapolis within certain parameters and management.  They had been banned for 15+ years after a lot of trouble with poorly managed properties.

Tandem to the City of Minneapolis efforts, Hennepin County staff also took on advocacy of SRO housing policy as a value added to the area’s housing supply.  Julia Welle Ayers, a Housing Development and Finance Director in Hennepin County’s Housing and Economic Development department, convened a group of nonprofit developers, City and County staff and private sector developers and architects over a 9 month period to craft a policy framework.  The committee was the brain child of former Commissioner Opat.  The SRO policy framework was adopted by the County board in October and offers guidance to cities in the County who wish to open up planning processes for the addition of SRO housing. In addition, Hennepin County purchased four buildings in 2020 to ultimately convert to SRO housing. This included the Stevens Square Residence, which Alliance Housing already operates as SRO housing under a lease from Hennepin.

Alliance believes the new ordinance will increase the number of well managed and affordable sleeping rooms in Minneapolis and Hennepin County above and beyond the flexibility it offers its own efforts.  Both Hennepin and Minneapolis allocated ARP Act funds to develop additional SRO housing.

The more things change, the more they stay the same and build for the future.  We’ve mentioned pending staff transitions over the past year.  Bob Bono, 20+ year property manager, has reduced his time to 3 days per week and will fully retire in the next 6-8 months.  He is focused on preparing Tiffany, Samantha and Gus to carry on the “Alliance way.”  Barb Jeanetta, Director, will retire by June 30, 2022.  The board has a recruitment and hiring process underway.

When Alliance Housing looks for new staff, we look for people that “get” our tenants – either through personal experience, work experience or personal attributes.  The mechanics and law of property management can be taught and learned.  Tiffany Simmons joined Alliance in October 2020.  She had previously worked at Better Futures MN with men coming out of prison.  She took on many roles there, including assisting with lease-up of Great River Landing, a new residence built by Beacon Interfaith Collaborative for Housing for men coming out of prison – including the Better Futures participants.  Alliance hired Tiffany to manage its housing funder compliance reporting and to lease up and manage Stevens Square Residence.  “Tiffany transitioned easily into both roles,” says Barb.  “She sets clear and positive expectations of tenants and has no problem holding them accountable.”

Gus Weah Jr. joined Alliance in July 2021 after several months of unsuccessful recruitment of experienced maintenance workers.  Gus came with private sector maintenance work but the mission focus of Alliance appealed to him.  Bob says, “Gus jumped right in to a list of deferred work orders.  When perplexed by tenant behavior, he looks for advice.”  Gus is comfortable with a work routine that sometimes gets interrupted by more priority tasks and has strong computer skills which will be an asset with Alliance property management and maintenance software.

After Tamuno Imbu left for a promotional opportunity at PPL, Samantha Giarrusso was hired in September 2021.  Samantha arrived with 5+ years of property management experience in the private sector where she managed at least one affordable housing property. “Tiffany and Samantha have good chemistry and work well together,” says Barb.  Tiffany noted, “between Samantha and I, we ask Bob a million questions a week.  We want to learn all we can from him before he retires.”

A million dollar gift from an anonymous donor made Alliance’s dream come true to make more affordable rental housing available by increasing its scattered site housing portfolio.  The donor was introduced by a volunteer/donor/colleague and immediately liked Alliance’s management style and ability to finance its properties in a way that allowed very low income households, many needing a 2^nd chance, to create a home for themselves.

Over the last 1 ½ years, Alliance has purchased two properties with the anonymous donor equity and a small mortgage from Sunrise Banks.  Sunrise Banks helped Alliance finance some of its very first properties in South Minneapolis and made a mortgage loan based on a long time relationship – both in banking and lending.  In the future, Alliance plans take-out the equity and loan dollars with government soft debt and have capital to invest in additional properties.

We’ve previously reported on the purchase of 3416 Park Avenue from Park Avenue United Methodist Church in June 2020.  It is a stately Victorian building that we’ve completed a significant facelift on with new siding, porch repairs and a full paint job.  Alliance has also completed some not quite so visible inside repairs and will soon rehab kitchens up and down.  Part of the anonymous donor’s capital aided the renovations.

The building was already home to 5 resettled African refugee men who each rent a room on the 2^nd and 3^rd floors and a family on the first floor.  We kept rents of both at the same very affordable rate as offered by the church.  The men work low wage jobs nights, pay their rent mostly on time and manage their shared living arrangement.  Due to a voluntary move-out of the family, we were able to do some additional maintenance and repairs on the first floor and just moved in a new family.  Samantha, our newest property manager exclaimed “it’s just beautiful” on her first visit.  All units as they become vacant will offer an opportunity to one of the 750+ households on our interest list of completed applications.

Our newest acquisition, 2924 35^th Avenue, is just a few blocks from Minnehaha Commons in the Longfellow neighborhood.  It is a tidy 6 unit property built in the 1960s.  The building was fully occupied – 5 two bedroom and 1 one bedroom apartments.  As with Park, we’ll leave the rent structure as is.  As units become vacant, it will offer an opportunity to some of the families on our interest list.  In our existing portfolio, family units rarely open – our families know a good deal when they have one.

Two existing tenants offered some information to give you a sense of who has now become an Alliance tenant.  Suzie has lived in the Longfellow neighborhood all but 10 of her 73 years. She has lived at 2924 35^th Avenue for over 20 years and feels like it is part of her extended family.  Suzie said, “So as you can guess I love this neighborhood.”  She noted that there is another tenant in the building whose mother lived there for 30 years.  When she had to move to a nursing home, her son took over the apartment.   Suzie offered, “During the riots this last summer, we took care of ourselves.” The photo is of her much loved pet.  Alliance usually doesn’t allow pets but grandfathered in the pet rule at 2924 35^th Avenue.

Laura and Jimmy and their 5 year old son are the newest tenants at 2924 35^th Avenue.  They were referred to Alliance Housing by another tenant in the building who knew of their saga to regain stable housing.  Laura and Jimmy were early victims of the early COVID shut down economy and lost jobs and their house.  Offers of friends to re-locate to Missouri for work and housing ended up being more promise than reality.  They spent all of the money they had on lodging (mostly camping), food, gas and survival until they got back to Minnesota.  Through persistence they got a little help from the County and were ultimately able to start a business that had long been a dream.  Their son loves the new apartment and his bedroom.  Other tenants have been really warm and welcoming.  The stability and work are slowly helping them put the 4 month saga behind them.

Alliance Housing’s board of directors hosted an evening event and fundraiser on September 30^th 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.

Barbara Jeanetta, Executive Director of Alliance Housing – a nonprofit developer and owner of inclusive, affordable, relational, and flexible housing – announced recently she will retire from her position in the spring of 2022. During her tenure, Jeanetta strengthened and deepened the housing and advocacy mission of the organization. She will work closely with the Alliance Board to identify and support a new leader who is inspired and motivated to create physical and political environments where individuals and families can create homes for themselves, regardless of income and background.

Jeanetta was hired as Alliance Housing’s Executive Director in December of 2013, taking the reins from Alliance’s former Director, Herb Frey, who held the position for over fourteen years. “Alliance Housing was born out of the vision of St. Stephens’ Catholic Church emergency shelter volunteers and residents,” Jeanetta recalled. “I remember Herb saying that they saw a need for more safe, affordable, long-term housing options for the adults that utilized the shelter’s services and created Alliance to meet that need. That is still the central mission for Alliance today: building and operating housing that works for very low-income individuals and households that are really left out of market opportunities. Honestly, I never wanted to be an ED, but I knew, if there was ever an organization that I’d want to lead, it would be Alliance. I always admired Alliance’s relational, no barriers-style with tenants, and that they were trying to provide quality housing, not ‘fix’ people.”

Although transitioning from a nearly founding leader to a first successor can be a challenging time for an organization, Jeanetta saw the transition as an opportunity to apply her own unique leadership style to dig deeper into Alliance’s mission. “Barb is ‘straight, no chaser,’” laughs GMHF Senior Loan Officer and Alliance Board Member Miranda Walker. “That’s what I like most about working with her.  Getting work done is efficient because she delivers information and insights with full honesty and transparency.” Indeed, during her tenure, Jeanetta led the organization in acquiring 120 new units of deeply affordable housing and a contract to manage a 31 unit rooming house for Hennepin County, providing her successor with a robust pipeline of properties to develop and manage.

“I am really excited about Alliance’s future. Our latest tax credit property, 3301 Nicollet, will house Minneapolis households who fall below 50% of the area median income, with units specially set aside for tenants with a history of long-term homelessness and persons with disabilities (mental illness and co-occurring addition). We expect these units to be leasable after construction completes in about 24 months. We are also pursuing a number of naturally occurring affordable housing (“NOAH”) options to acquire so the city doesn’t lose any affordable units.” These developments offer Alliance Housing’s next Executive Director with a lot of exciting, mission-critical work to see through to the finish line, and an opportunity to apply their own unique leadership style to meet the ever evolving housing and environmental barriers very low-income Minneapolis residents face when seeking safe, dignified and affordable places to call home.

Despite the active development pipeline, Jeanetta would be the first to point out that the job of the ED goes far beyond just focusing on “bricks and sticks.” The primary commitment Alliance Housing has made to its tenants is that it will work with them to challenge the social and political environments that limit their opportunities. “I think one of my most impactful accomplishments as ED has been developing Alliance’s policy advocacy role to address system changes,” Jeanetta notes. Under Jeanetta’s leadership, Alliance Housing became an outspoken critic of common rental screening practices, at both local market-rate and affordable projects, that screen out residents with criminal and eviction histories and has proven through its own management practices that low-barrier housing can provide safe, long-term housing for those who need it most. Under Jeanetta, Alliance Housing was also one of the leading advocacy voices fighting to pass Minneapolis’ new SRO ordinance, which will allow non-profits to build and manage more “rooming house”-style projects, with common kitchens and bathrooms, that make it possible to offer units for rent at levels affordable to the very lowest income Minneapolis residents.

When surveying Jeanetta’s time at Alliance, Board Chair Ben Olk notes, “Barb has taken Alliance Housing to a whole new level. Her ability to build on what had existed and create relationships with all the stakeholders – tenants, funders, employees – has created a solid foundation on which we can continue to build. While she will be a difficult act to follow, she has created the structures and presence that will allow her successor to continue to create and develop housing so that the most vulnerable can create a home for themselves.”

The Alliance Housing Board plans to celebrate Jeanetta at their upcoming 30^th Anniversary Reception, to be held Thursday, September 30^th  at the St. Paul Town and Country Club.

Alliance Housing is celebrating its 30th anniversary year.  Please join us the evening of September 30, 2021 to help celebrate.

We’re planning an “in person” our 30^th anniversary reception on Sept. 30th from 5-7pm.  We’ll host an evening reception in lieu of our traditional early morning breakfast at the Town and Country Club.  Besides food and drink, we’ll honor past board members, staff and invite some of our longer tenured tenants talk about their stories.

RSVP by emailing info@alliancehousinginc.org or https://www.eventbrite.com/e/alliance-housing-inc-30th-anniversary-fundraising-event-tickets-166315382787

Questions?  Call Barb at 612-879-7633 or email her at bjeanetta@alliancehousinginc.org

Please save the evening of Thursday, September 30^th on your calendars.  Assuming we’re past pandemic restrictions, we’d like you to help us celebrate “in person” our 30^th anniversary.  We’ll host an evening reception in lieu of our traditional early morning breakfast at the Town and Country Club.  Besides food and drink, we’ll honor past board members, staff and invite some of our longer tenured tenants talk about their stories.

In honor of its anniversary, Alliance Housing would like to raise $1 million dollars to sustain its work long-term.  The dollars will be used over the next 30 years to make capital repairs to sustain 21 scattered site properties as “best on the block”

While many of Alliance’s scattered site properties are nearly 100 years old.  We pride ourselves in having the “best house on the block.”  We respond to tenant calls about maintenance and have developed a plan to keep the properties in good shape long term by completing larger improvements like roofs and major kitchen or bathroom remodeling.

Alliance Housing has $308,000 saved for long term capital improvements as of December 2020.  We add about $40,000 to the fund each year.  A recent assessment of all capital improvements needed over the next 30 years indicates we’ll need another $1,000,000 to maintain the quality of our properties on behalf of the tenants and neighbors and our own asset.  We did a soft start to the fundraising campaign in 2020 and added $10,000 to capital reserves.  Please let us know if you can make a one- time gift or a multi-year pledge to this effort.

Here at Alliance Housing, we’ve been advocating and agitating for many years for our belief that rooming houses and sleeping rooms can be part of the solution to the problem of homelessness.  In this past year our efforts have begun to bear fruit. We were able to expand our portfolio with the addition of a 31 unit rooming house in the Stevens Square neighborhood. At the same time, we’ve seen a resurgence of interest in this idea among policy-makers. To me it feels like luck, but Board member Fran Neir reminds me that we’ve put in a lot of time laying the groundwork.

Let me tell you about our newest property.  Because we believe in rooming houses as a viable and valuable option for people with precious little money to spend on rent, Alliance has been actively seeking another rooming house property for several years. Last summer we looked at a property at 143 E. 19th Street that was owned by Volunteers of America.  They were consolidating some programs and wanted to sell this property.

Alliance could not afford to buy it and operate it at the asking price, but we knew that Hennepin County was looking for properties to purchase with federal CARES Act dollars, for permanent housing for the men and women staying in the shelter hotels during the pandemic.  We shared the sale information with them.  To make a long story short, Hennepin County purchased the property, and Alliance was selected to manage it along the lines of our existing model.

After rehabilitation by Hennepin County, the doors opened in December and the first tenants moved in December 30, 2020.  We call it Stevens Square Residence.

Among the first to move in was R. Torkelson – a 53 year man from the shelter. He had been homeless for the past 4 years, in and out of the shelters and was grateful to move into a place he could settle in and call his own. Mr. Torkelson expressed how his health has been an issue and he hasn’t been able to address it being homeless. Stevens Square gives him a 2^nd chance to take care of himself, again.

Joining Torkelson and the others is David Sobata. He had previously lived at another Alliance Housing property and was excited to know Stevens Square is managed by us, as well. David enjoyed being at one of Hennepin County’s “shelter hotels” over the last year and was worried about the transition to his own unit. Yet, he know no shelter was permanent and needed some assurance of stability in his life.  After a few months David says, “having my own room and being independent is wonderful.” He has made his unit his own and has been an advocate at Steven Square to keep things clean and running well.

At the same time, we’ve noticed that our advocacy efforts around the issue are paying off, as well.  New rooming houses have been forbidden in the City of Minneapolis for decades.  The only way to provide additional units was purchase of a rooming house with an existing license.  I’ve looked at several existing properties, and there aren’t many worth purchasing, or living in.  Most are the kind of properties that give rooming houses a bad name: poorly managed and poorly maintained for decades.

But this year, attitudes toward the rooming house model of affordable housing began to shift.  Two initiatives have invigorated the conversation. First, the City and County have each formed a task force to increase the number of rooming houses in Minneapolis and Hennepin County. As a representative of an organization with experience operating rooming houses, I was asked to join both task forces.  Minneapolis Councilmembers Gordon, Schroeder and Goodman are leading the City study process, with the goal of crafting a resolution allowing new sleeping room licenses in Minneapolis.  The legislation is expected to be in front of the City Council in Spring 2021.

Concurrently, Hennepin County Commissioner Opat urged the County to do what it could to encourage quality rooming house properties as part of the broader County affordable housing strategy.  He started a study committee to learn what was needed and what barriers existed to build or renovate them in various communities across the County.  The committee continues to meet even with the exit of Commissioner Opat from his seat, and is expected to present its recommendations this summer.

At Alliance Housing, we’ve always kept an ‘interest list’ of completed applications.  We can’t call it a ‘waiting list’ because vacancies are few and far between, and most people looking for housing can’t wait. With the incredibly low vacancy rate in the Twin Cities, especially for those at the low end of the income scale, that list has grown to 500 for single adults and 250 for families.  When we started, the list was intended to create a pool of applicants, ready to move in when we have a vacancy in our sleeping rooms or 2-3 bedroom apartments.  Since we only have a handful of vacancies each year, being number 213 on our list doesn’t give much hope.

We keep adding to the list, though, and it serves as a bit of an olive branch for the 5-10 people who call us each week looking for a home.  We have nowhere else to refer them, so we offer them a free application and a slight chance that we might be able to help them somewhere down the line. Our list also serves as a bellwether for the demand for deeply affordable rental units that will give applicants a 2^nd chance to access rental housing even if they’ve had an eviction, have criminal convictions, or do not meet standard rent-to-income ratios.

Whenever I mention the 500 person list for sleeping rooms, I observe a lot of incredulous listeners.  Yes, we tell our callers, “For single adults we rent sleeping rooms.  You will have a lease in your name, you will have the room to yourself but you’ll share a bathroom and kitchen with other unrelated adults for around $360 month.”  Now we’ve had to add, “The last person to come off the list waited over two years.”  And still, people complete an application to get their name added to the list.  Some dutifully call regularly to find out where they are on the list or to update their contact information.

Recently, we had a studio apartment open up in one of our contract-managed buildings.  As I called people on the list to see if I could pass their name along, I thought about how I could describe who is out there waiting for our singles housing. Analyzing the applications, I found:

• About 30% had no income, or had $200 in General Assistance payments from the County. They simply can’t afford to rent from us (remember, they have to come up with $360/month!), unless they begin to earn some income or can secure rental assistance. That rental assistance is scarce; only 1 in 4 eligible persons actually ends up getting it.
• About 40% had Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) of about $800 per month. These folks can pay the rent for one of our sleeping rooms and still have some money for other life expenses.  While waiting for a vacancy at Alliance Housing, there is little else they can afford in the current housing market.  Some private market sleeping rooms rent for as high as $700 per month.  Studios are hard to find under $800.   And so, the list grows.
• The balance (30%) had some other sort of retirement income or employment. I don’t have to tell you how many people today have inadequate pensions, savings, or other income for retirement; the statistics are dismal. On our waiting list, retirement income amounts are around $1000-$1200 per month.  Workers reported ??? per month.

I felt a bit sad about the state of affairs in our ‘market-based’ housing market.  The market simply isn’t up to the challenge of providing housing for everyone, and there are insufficient public resources to house everyone.  Our City parks were populated by homeless encampments this summer, and it’s no wonder. Hennepin County reports around 1000 adults in shelters and shelter hotels.  Homeless single adult numbers continue to rise. (Reported homelessness among families and youth has actually decreased.)  I suspect that those 1000 adults mirror our interest list population.

As I called down the list to fill our recent vacancy, I focused on those earning $1000 or more per month since the studio apartment was $459/month.  Yes, you read that correctly; if you’re the lucky one, you can rent a studio apartment for $459/month. Alliance Housing built Hiawatha Commons, Gateway Lofts, and Minnehaha Commons with a strategy that included primarily non-amortizing debt and other public support.  This allows rents sized for adults and families earning 30% of area median income, which is about $21,700 for a single adult and $34,000 for a family of 4.  It’s real estate development the hard way.  Most of what gets built these days, even by nonprofit mission-oriented developers is focused on people earning 50%-60% of area median income so the property can support debt. It makes funding easier to secure, but it prices out those most in need of support.  Alliance focuses all of its real estate development effort on those adults and families who many nonprofit and for-profit developers sidestep.

To my relief, a good number of folks on our list who had income of $1,000 or more had managed to find other housing.  That’s a good thing.

So what do we need to do?  Alliance Housing’s Board of Directors has set an objective to increase our housing portfolio by 35% over the next 3-5 years.  We’ll do our part for those at the bottom end of the income scale and those that traditionally get screened out by other landlords.  We know from multiple studies, from common-sense, and from our experience that people who are housed are able to care for themselves and their families.  Stable housing is a springboard for just about anything positive to happen in one’s life.  The unhoused are more of a drain on public services – hospital emergency rooms, crisis services and public safety.  Hennepin County has made similar conclusions and increased the amount of resources it will dedicate to its high priority clients over the next 10 years.  State Housing Agency plans indicate similar interest.

We simply need all affordable housing capital funders to align and focus resources with the need.  The market will take care of those with more income and options.

Thank you to those who joined us virtually on September 24, 2020 for the Alliance Housing Fundraising Breakfast.  We raised just under $90,000.

Mark your calendars now for Alliance Housing’s 2021 30th anniversary fundraising event – September 30th.

There is still time to check out the videos and make a donation.  Here is the website link:

www.alliancehousinginc.org/fundraiser2020/

Questions?  Call Barb at 612-879-7633 or email her at bjeanetta@alliancehousinginc.org

As more details of the pandemic have evolved, our Board of Directors has determined that it is highly unlikely a gathering of 250 people in September is realistic.  Because the Breakfast is a key fundraising tool for Alliance, we’ve decided to adapt and host a virtual event.

We plan to email a link to videos with messages from our tenants, board, funder, and myself that will launch on September 24th.  It will be accessible for about a week, allowing more flexibility than a breakfast event to our virtual guests.  We’ll ask for their support through an online donation or other means.  We plan to gather again in 2021 to celebrate our 30^th anniversary.

“Home” is the theme of an anthology in development by a Twin Cities author and publisher, William Burleson, with all proceeds of the book earmarked for Alliance Housing. “When planning this new project, supporting Alliance was simply a no-brainer,” says Burleson. “I think Alliance’s approach to empowering people and building communities is exactly what excites me, and everyone involved in Flexible Press.”

Burleson is still on the lookout for short fiction, poetry, and essays connected to Minnesota and exploring what home means to each of us. “We want to help emerging authors have their voices heard, especially those who too often have not had a voice,” adds Burleson. Flexible Press continues to take submissions until May 15, 2019. More information can be found at www.flexiblepub.com.

The mission of Flexible Press “is to support authors, communities, and mission-driven non-profits through story.” Home is planned be the fourth book and second anthology from Flexible Press. In the fall of 2018, Lake Street Stories was released with 12 stories focused on the iconic South Minneapolis thoroughfare, with all profits going to CLUES.