Community and Home: The Story of Prairie Pointe
Prairie Pointe exists because a community chose to show up over many years for families experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity in Scott and Carver County. Join us for the Grand Opening in May. RSVP here.
From the earliest conversations about community need for affordable housing to the first families unlocking the doors to their new homes in November 2025, Prairie Pointe is the result of years of collective action: neighbors speaking up, faith communities organizing, public and private partners investing, service providers stepping in, and supporters doing the quiet, essential work of welcoming people home.
Those efforts came into focus late last year as Prairie Pointe began welcoming families, many of whom had recently experienced homelessness, into 42 apartment homes in Shakopee.
Standing Up for Supportive Housing That Works
In the early 2020s, when Prairie Pointe was still an idea on paper, community members and local leaders stepped forward to make the case for supportive housing. A former Beacon program, Families Moving Forward (FMF), was serving south metro families experiencing homelessness by providing short term access to a place to sleep at local congregations coupled with support services. Over time, it became clear the need was growing. Community members shared stories and data, bearing witness to what research and lived experience already showed: affordable housing paired with supportive services works. They helped shape public understanding and laid the groundwork for Prairie Pointe to move forward.
Faith communities were especially central to this effort. Congregations including Shepherd of the Lake Lutheran, Resonate Community Church, Waconia Moravian Church, Hope Lutheran Church, and others made foundational financial gifts or raised their voices in advocacy, demonstrating what it looks like to live out values of dignity, welcome, and care.
Being a Good Neighbor
Resonate Community Church is located right next to Prairie Pointe, and its members embraced the project. Janet White, co-leader of the church’s Prairie Pointe Care Team, describes walking the property during construction, praying for the families who would one day live there.
“Secure housing is a jumping board for their lives,” Janet says.
Her co-leader, Sue Voegele, recalls how the congregation responded as they learned more about the project. “People asked, ‘What can we do?’” she says. “There’s nothing like Prairie Pointe south of the river. It’s about time. I’m thrilled that children and families finally have a place they can call home here in Shakopee.”
Braiding the Resources to Make It Real
Like all supportive housing, Prairie Pointe required collaboration across systems and sectors. Beacon worked alongside partners to braid together funding from multiple sources including Scott and Carver Counties, the Corporation for Supportive Housing, the federal government, and the State of Minnesota.
Minnesota Housing funding as well as the successful Bring It Home, Minnesota legislation played a key role. Thirteen Bring It Home housing vouchers are now supporting families at Prairie Pointe. Critical financial support from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) helped anchor capital and round out public funding, underscoring the importance of private investment alongside public dollars.
Equally essential to the ongoing success of the project and the stability of the people who live there is the partnership with Volunteers of America (VOA), which provides on-site supportive services tailored to each family—helping parents build income, children succeed in school, and households improve long-term health and stability.
Anna Rasmussen, Family Coordinator with VOA, explains it simply: “It’s really hard to make progress on a job or education if you don’t have a place to sleep at night.”
She adds, “It makes me want to cry with happiness that a child has a place to lay their head. Handing a family their keys and saying, ‘This is your house’—it’s an honor.”
Turning Apartments into Homes
As opening day approached, the community showed up once more. This time they came with diapers, cleaning supplies, linens, and everyday essentials. Faith communities, individuals, and organizations filled two overflowing closets to help families settle in with dignity.
These gestures matter. They say: you belong here.
A Shared Achievement
Today, Prairie Pointe is open. Families are home. And behind every set of keys is a network of people who spoke up, invested, organized, prayed, advocated, and gave.
