Alliance Housing was honored to receive a number of donations in honor of Karl Cooper in January 2015. The family was attracted to us because of our 2nd chance housing philosophy. Karl spent much of his life working and living among those who needed a 2nd chance.
Alliance’s founding roots were set around the conviction that poor and homeless people can act in their own best interest and need to be part of solving their own problems. Our board leaders have stewarded that conviction for the 20+ years of our history.
A shout out to our many other faithful and loyal donors who make our ongoing work possible.
You may have noticed that we don’t have a slick fundraising operation here at Alliance. We raise $74,000 in individual contributions and $124,500 from foundations to keep rents affordable to low wage workers and for services so that people can remain stably housed and advance their lives. The Executive Director with help from staff and board members organize events,write grants, and solicit donations through e-newsletters and an annual report. Otherwise, we balance our budget with rents and some public support of services. So needless to say, we’re thrilled with that breakfast tally. A gift of any size makes a valued and real contribution to our work. We are grateful to our 200+ individual donors who faithfully and generously keep us in their charitable investments each year.
Alliance Housing Inc. is like an enduring classic novel. Its theme or story line remains unchanged. Give people a second chance. Rent to individuals and families with a history of homelessness, at the bottom end of the wage scale, and those who have often been screened out due to their rental or criminal history by other landlords. Make it work with simple expectations – pay rent mostly on time and behave as a good neighbor and tenant. Keep property management relational and lean. Develop new properties and rehab existing properties with no amortizing debt. Reach out to donors like yourselves to help us keep rents 15-25% below market so that our tenants can remain stably housed, retain jobs and get their kids to school. 2014 was a year of transition for Alliance Housing Inc. The board of directors stewarded the organization through a leadership change. To continue the book metaphor, it appears existing funders, partners and contributors have turned the page to the new chapter with us. The next real estate development chapter also contains some old and new. In the last chapter, some funding was raised for Jordan Apartments and a property to house homeless adults, aged 55+. Both have existing funding commitments from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines. In addition, Jordan has some funding from the City of Minneapolis and the 55+ project has funding from the Sisters of Carondelet and Mount Olive Lutheran Church. Opportunities and need abound. The board of directors used part of its August 2014 planning session to begin to provide focus and priority to future projects.
A classic needs to have enduring qualities AND look good on the shelf to attract readers. We work hard to keep our properties “the best on the block.” In the last few months, we rebuilt a crumbling retaining wall at 2103 2nd Avenue S (pictured) and paved the parking area behind 3631 Penn Avenue N. Our maintenance staff faithfully keeps lawns mowed, landscaping weeded and trim, and snow removed. Occasionally, we get a little help picking up trash – the Longfellow Neighborhood engaged the VOA to clean up litter around the neighborhood and visited Hiawatha Commons this spring.
Alliance Housing Inc. is relatively unique in owning and managing rooms for single adults Alliance has 44 rooms – 25 in a rooming house at 2011 Pillsbury (picture) and the rest scattered among 7 properties in south Minneapolis. The advantages of renting a room are many: The rent can be as low as $330 – unheard of in todayʼs hot rental market. The room comes furnished – great for someone just starting out or starting their rental history again. The room is small – easy to keep clean. It provides safety and independence – providing a secure location for oneʼs belongings and in the company of others that can keep an eye on things. Our tenants who rent rooms are varied – men, women, working, not working, old, young. 38% of them are working. 45% are disabled and receiving some sort of government assistance. 14% are retired and receive a pension. The kinds of jobs the tenants have include parking lot attendant, retail clerk, fast food, janitorial, day care. A few work seasonal landscaping and construction labor jobs. The most unique employment is a job on the carnival circuit. Some jobs pay cash. Most pay no benefits.
Greg Mure has lived at 2011 Pillsbury for 5 years. He said that renting a unit in Pillsbury “let him be a man” in the sense that he could support himself and have a place of his own. Greg spent a bit of time in the shelter before moving to Pillsbury. He disliked living with so many other men and being constantly on the watch for petty theft. Compared to that, his rental at 2011 Pillsbury feels like a palace. Greg feels like he is part of the booming economy in Minneapolis. He loves his neighborhood because it seems prosperous and most of the people moving around are working – like himself. Greg described the rooming house as “really quiet.” He and others have seen it not so quiet and they take pride in their attentiveness and working with their neighbors to keep the building safe and secure. Lastly, he offered that it is wonderful to be able to have a guest over to his place. “You canʼt do that if your address is 1010 Currie,” he offered with a sparkle to his eye.
You may remember Brenda from our 2012 Annual Report. Brenda as well as her husband and their two pre-teens moved into a 3-bedroom Alliance property from a shelter. Today Brenda’s husband is working as a cook and she continues her work at the Mall of America, where she recently received a raise and encouragement to apply for a leadership role during her review. The girls love their own rooms and the whole family appreciates moving off busy Broadway Avenue onto a quieter street.
With recent investments from the Otto Bremer & WCA Foundation and Hennepin County, Alliance Housing will be able to double the size of our Northside Supportive Housing for Families program. We’ll expand from working with 26 families to 50 by the end of the year through agreements with other North Minneapolis rental property owners.
