What will it take?
What will it take to fully fund all our urgent work as Beacon grows solutions that meet the scale of the affordable housing crisis?
by Lauren Daumueller, Associate Director of Advancement
When Beacon announced our strategic framework for 2017 – 2022, we shared some BOLD goals: double the pace of our housing production to create 100 new affordable and supportive homes each year, sustain all our existing housing and shelter programs, and grow our ability to lead policy and systems change to advance equitable housing. We knew it would not be easy, but we are committed to doing what it takes to ensure that all people have a home.
With these goals in mind, Beacon’s advancement team had the opportunity to ask a big question: what will it take to fully fund all this urgent work as Beacon grows solutions that meet the scale of the affordable housing crisis? We affirm that our society has the resources for all of us to have a home. Can we bring more of these resources together in support of the work we know is needed?
The answer to these questions has been our first-ever multi-year comprehensive fundraising campaign: Connected by Home. When we launched this campaign in 2020, we set out to raise $12 million over three years, aiming to increase private investments by 40 percent. We determined that this is what it will take to live into our strategic framework and go all in to create a world where all people have a home.
On July 1, 2021, we will begin our 2022 fiscal year – the final year of our Connected by Home campaign. We are thrilled to share that, indeed, you have come forward to join us in affirming that there are truly enough resources for all people to have a home. In the first two years of our campaign, Beacon donors have given $8.4 million through record-setting investments that we are putting to work leveraging many more millions in public investment in supportive and affordable housing.
Together, we have:
- Doubled the pace of our housing production with 8 initiatives currently in progress;
- Sustained the stability of residents in our buildings and guests in our shelter program through the pandemic;
- Set our eyes on the prize to win our statewide rent subsidy policy campaign, Bring It Home, Minnesota.
We are not about to slow down now!
To continue with a pace of work that meets the urgency of the need for Minnesotans struggling with homelessness and housing instability, to meet our Connected by Home fundraising goal, it will take $3.6 million in private investments over the next 12 months. It will take investments that put our faith in action, that match our values, that join all our other bold actions to ensure all people have a home. It will take all of us.
To all who have contributed to the Connected by Home campaign in the first two years, we extend our gratitude, and we share our inspiration from such truly powerful giving. To learn more or make a contribution, visit our Make a Gift page or contact Clara Lind.
