MHP Connect

Community First: Key lessons for housing development and revitalization

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Created: Tuesday, 17 July 2018 09:40

Written by Laura Proescholdt

From focus groups to surveys, to internet analytics and trend research, companies worldwide spend billions on engaging with customers to understand exactly what they want. They don't want to design a product that their target market wouldn't – or couldn't – buy. Neither should designers of homebuyer and homeowner programs.  

Too often, though, programs zero in on housing development goals without explicitly integrating the needs of the community. Failing to connect with the community these programs seek to serve – the customers – can result in completed projects sitting empty for longer than anticipated or a failure to use resources impactfully. 

Community First, a HUD-sponsored guidebook created by Minnesota Housing Partnership with funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, helps you avoid those pitfalls by outlining key considerations in homebuyer / homeowner program design including: 

• understanding your homebuyer market (your customers); 
• identifying and addressing existing barriers to homeownership within your target market; and 
• establishing appropriate programmatic approaches to attract and support buyers to invest in properties in targeted neighborhoods. 

To create this resource, Minnesota Housing Partnership and Econometrica reviewed more than 300 homebuyer / homeowner programs across the United States. In addition to outlining general principles and best practices, the guidebook includes standout program examples that showcase innovative ideas organizations can apply as they look for creative approaches to put community first. 

Read more: Community First: Key lessons for housing development and revitalization

Out of Reach MN 2018: The growing crisis in workforce housing

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Created: Tuesday, 10 July 2018 12:58

Written by Carolyn Szczepanski

A productive workforce requires safe, stable housing. Yet, too many Minnesotans laboring in the most in-demand jobs must pay too much for housing, forcing them to forgo groceries, medicine and other critical daily needs to make ends meet.

While workforce housing often focuses on modest-income households, Out of Reach Minnesota 2018 reveals that the crisis in housing hits hardest for the workforce that is still the backbone of our communities; jobs like retail sales, food preparation and housekeeping. It also foreshadows challenges ahead, as jobs with the most projected growth, like home health aides, don't make enough to pay the rent, either.

Building on the annual report produced by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, this report tracks the growing gap between wages and rent, not just in urban areas, like the Twin Cities, but across Greater Minnesota. 

Read the full report here.

MHP welcomes Kelly Zelenka as new Community Development Director

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Created: Tuesday, 03 July 2018 08:46

Written by Carolyn Szczepanski

MHP is excited to announce Kelly Zelenka as its new Director of Community Development. Working with MHP’s team of nationally recognized experts, Zelenka will shape, manage and lead MHP’s work in rural and Native communities in Minnesota and across the United States.

After building an impressive career in Seattle, Zelenka is returning to her deep roots in rural Minnesota, where she was born and raised. Having worked in both urban and rural communities, Zelenka brings more than 25 years of experience in the housing and services sector, with a demonstrated track record of increasing the amount and availability of housing and service resources by:

• conducting and managing technical assistance, training and capacity building initiatives with organizations and communities,
• and leading systems-change efforts and grantmaking initiatives that test emerging best practices

Most recently, Zelenka managed the operations, budget and 65 staff in the Seattle Housing Authority's Housing Choice Voucher program, which serves more than 10,000 households annually. Before that she directed several programs at Building Changes — a previously HUD-funded technical assistance provider working to bring together government, philanthropic and nonprofits to address family and youth homelessness in Washington state.

Read more: MHP welcomes Kelly Zelenka as new Community Development Director

Mapping Neighborhood History: Reclaiming and Reframing Fair Housing

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Created: Friday, 29 June 2018 08:33

Written by Carolyn Szczepanski

For Greg McMoore, 4th Avenue in South Minneapolis is more than a line on a map; it’s a thread in his family’s history.

Last week, McMoore was among nearly 200 participants who launched the “Racism, Rent and Real Estate: Fair Housing Reframed” series with a unique event focused on adding a tapestry of personal memories to a unique mapping project that connects past racist policies to current challenges around housing equity.  

Co-hosted by Sabathani Community Center and Mapping Prejudice, “Mapping Neighborhood History: Reclaiming & Reframing Fair Housing” acknowledged that the way our neighborhoods look and feel today are a product of our shared history; one shaped by racist policies that barred households of color from homeownership and wealth accumulation for many years. It invited residents to learn more about the history and impetus of fair housing laws, and share knowledge about the history of their family and neighborhood.

After introductions from Cindy Booker, Sabathani’s Executive Director, and Andrea Jenkins, Minneapolis Councilmember for the 8th Ward, Kirsten Delegard set the stage for the night’s activity by explaining the work of Mapping Prejudice. “We’re making a new kind of map,” she explained. “This map will make structural racism visible. It will serve as a window on the histories of racism and white privilege that have been willfully forgotten by many people in Minneapolis.”

Read more: Mapping Neighborhood History: Reclaiming and Reframing Fair Housing