Celebrating $19 million in recent funding!
Beacon has made a commitment to tackle cutting-edge supportive housing developments to meet needs others aren’t addressing and confront unjust structural barriers that keep people from home. Together, we provide options for high-quality, affordable homes in the communities people love, from the city center to the suburbs.
In the last two weeks, six of Beacon’s developments have received funding from Minnesota Housing, Hennepin County, Metropolitan Council, and Federal Home Loan Bank! Together, these investments total nearly $19 or $18,917,458 million supporting 267 homes (182 new and 85 existing) across six developments.
This includes significant new funding for Prairie Pointe, which would be the first supportive housing in Scott County! With homelessness and housing insecurity increasing in the Twin Cities suburbs, including Scott and Carver counties, this long-sought development in Shakopee for families cannot come soon enough. What a great, important step forward! We now look to the Metropolitan Council to ensure the necessary rent support is in place to keep these homes affordable for families earning lower incomes.
Recent Funding Decisions
Funders demonstrated their support for our focus on deeply affordable* and supportive housing** by awarding funding to every single one of our proposed developments:
Aster Commons – creation of deeply affordable supportive housing focused on neurodivergent young adults who have experienced homelessness, proposed in Richfield.
- Received $950,000 from Hennepin County Supportive Housing.
- This first money investment will position Aster Commons for funding from Minnesota Housing (tax credits, Housing Infrastructure Bonds, or a combination of the two) in 2023.
Emerson Village – creation of deeply affordable supportive housing for families who have experienced homelessness, to be built in North Minneapolis.
- Received $750,000 from the Metropolitan Council Livable Communities Demonstration Account.
- Emerson Village received Housing Infrastructure Bonds from Minnesota Housing in January 2022. We had hoped to break ground in the Spring of 2023. Unfortunately, as construction costs have increased, we are continuing to seek to cover a funding gap which has delayed progress.
Gladstone Crossing – creation of deeply affordable supportive housing focused on young families who have experienced homelessness, proposed in Maplewood.
- Received $1 million from the Metropolitan Council Livable Communities Demonstration Account and Transit Oriented Design.
- This initial investment will be added to the Ramsey County and Maplewood commitments to position Gladstone Crossing for funding from Minnesota Housing (tax credits, Housing Infrastructure Bonds, or a combination of the two) in 2023.
Kimball Court – expansion and renovation of deeply affordable supportive housing for individuals who have experienced homelessness and have high barriers to remaining housed, located in Saint Paul.
- Received a total of $1.5 million from the Metropolitan Council Livable Communities Demonstration Account and Transit Oriented Design.
- Kimball Court (which received Housing Infrastructure Bonds previously from Minnesota Housing) is almost fully funded pending a decision by the City of St Paul in January. We hope to break ground in summer 2023.
North Haven – affordable housing for refugee families arriving in Minnesota, located in Minneapolis.
- Received $300,000 from Hennepin County Accelerator resources to address much needed improvements.
Prairie Pointe – creation of deeply affordable supportive housing focused on families who have experienced homelessness, to be built in Shakopee.
- Minnesota Housing awarded Prairie Pointe $11.7 million in Low Income Housing Tax Credits and $1.6 million in Economic Development and Housing Challenge funds which will propel it forward.
- Recieved $350,000 in Met Council Local Housing Incentive Account resources.
- Received $750,000 from the Federal Home Loan Bank.
- Prairie Pointe will be the first major supportive housing development in Scott County.
Community Impact
85% of the homes that received recent funding commitments are deeply affordable with supportive services for those coming out of homelessness or with other barriers to stable housing. 42% are located in suburban communities in Scott, Hennepin and Ramsey counties. 122 of these homes are part of Beacon’s family supportive housing initiative which will create a total of 182 homes for families coming out of homelessness, with a disability, or engaged in child welfare in five locations across the Twin Cities. When the homes above come to fruition, they’ll join a robust Beacon portfolio dedicated to supporting families, including 45 recently completed homes at Cranberry Ridge in Plymouth, and fifty homes at Vista 44, which will begin construction in early 2023.
Thank you to our public funders, private donors, and engaged leaders who are helping to make these homes a reality!
Next steps to deliver these homes
Creating deeply affordable supportive housing is a complex process. Here’s what’s still needed to make the homes listed above a reality:
- Rent subsidy is needed for suburban developments at Prairie Pointe, Gladstone Crossing, and Aster Commons. Beacon is engaging the Metropolitan Council in a policy discussion around making project-based rent subsidy more readily available to support deeply affordable housing in the suburbs. We have launched our ‘Unlock the Metro’ campaign to advance these essential changes. Contact your congregational organizer to get more involved!
- Housing Infrastructure Bonds are a key resource from the State of Minnesota that supports deeply affordable and supportive housing. There was no bonding passed in 2022 at the state legislature. Beacon joins with the Homes for All coalition calling for $500 million for Housing Infrastructure Bonds this year.
- Supportive services funding is key to ensuring that those coming out of homelessness have the support that they need to thrive in their new homes. Beacon is leading the effort to pass the Family Supportive Housing bill this year to provide flexible and wrap-around services.
While these funding awards represent an extraordinary public investment back into our communities, we know there is more yet to do. 6,000 people in every corner of Minnesota are unhoused tonight and on any given night throughout the year. 550,000 Minnesotans – parents, children, grandparents, friends – are paying more than they can afford toward rent every month, hurting our health, education, economic stability, and community strength. Minnesota Housing typically has to deny funding to 65% of worthy developments who apply each year because our state elected officials vastly underfund the mechanisms that create affordable housing.
To get involved in the solutions that will ensure all people have a home, contact Craig Freeman at cfreeman@beaconinterfaith.org, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and register to attend an event.
*Deeply affordable means a household making 30% or less of the Area Median Income (about $31,000 a year for a family of four in the Twin Cities metro) would be able to afford the rent without it taking up a disproportionate amount of their budget.
**Supportive housing means there are professional support staff officed onsite at the building to help residents connect with resources (in areas such as health, education, financial stability, employment, counseling, etc) so they can thrive.
