What We’ve Done Together This Year
Since Beacon’s fiscal year ended on June 30, look back with us on some of the ways the collaborative and our allies have sought to live out our shared vision that all people have a home…
This year was difficult for everyone in our community, but the challenges faced by Black, Indigenous, and people of color were especially daunting. COVID-19 and the resulting economic fallout hit people of color the hardest. Due to historic and systemic racism, renters of color found themselves up to four-times more likely than white renters to be behind on rent or unable to pay for the next month. Residents, leaders, staff, and clergy alike felt compelled to respond to the uprising that followed the murder of George Floyd and the ongoing oppression of racism. Through it all, the safety and stability of residents in Beacon homes and guests in our shelter program remained our top priority.
The importance of home and an equitable housing system has never been clearer.
Thanks to our shared efforts, this past year was a big one for new homes! We broke ground at Cranberry Ridge and an expansion at Lydia, and launched Emerson Village (pictured left). And we celebrated funding for an expansion at Kimball Court and the creation of Vista 44. Each of these buildings will be supportive housing to help residents maintain stability and move toward their goals.
Developing the homes people need takes time, persistence, and sustained giving. It also means confronting and dismantling systems at every level of government that disadvantage Black, Indigenous, and people of color. This year, the collaborative fought for changes that would create more homes through funding mechanisms in Minneapolis and the process of allocating rent subsidy vouchers through the Met Council – both of which we’ll need to continue building power to win. We successfully changed how Minnesota Housing prioritizes funding homes for people with the lowest incomes. We helped win $100 million in Housing Infrastructure Bonds in the Minnesota budget – which still fell far short of funding Minnesota’s housing needs. Families hoping to call Emerson Village and Prairie Pointe home will have to wait even longer for a stable place to live because of a lack of investment from the state.
One of the biggest roadblocks to a Minnesota that works for all of us is the lack of rent subsidy available to eligible people. The pandemic laid bare the fact that hundreds of thousands of us are one paycheck away from housing catastrophe. Our faith and values won’t let us rest while people live on the brink of homelessness. More than 700 of us took action in support of Beacon’s transformational commitment, Bring It Home, MN rent subsidy legislation, this year!
This year brings exciting plans to add staff who will engage residents and support expanding partnerships with on-site service providers, grow our organizing and policy work so public investments in home reflect society’s abundance, increase the racial diversity of the collaborative and our staff, and ensure we can double the number of homes in development each year.
There’s a role for every member of our community in this work. Would you consider growing your gift to help provide the $4 million in private funds it will take to do the work this year? Would you take action to change systems that keep people homeless and unstably housed? Would you introduce someone to Beacon so they can live out their values and help us create a Minnesota where all people have a home? Let’s talk about the difference you can make!
As we step into the year ahead and all it will bring, I pray for our shared courage, learning, generosity, and hope. We are better as we walk and act together toward the vision that all people have a home!
