MICAH's News for December 2019

December Policy Highlights

2019 November Budget Forecast Minnesota’s budget and economic outlook has improved since the end of the 2019 legislative special session. With a $1.332 billion surplus! Join us in asking the Governor and Legislators to invest in: creating and preserving affordable housing for people with incomes below 30% of median income to ensure everyone has a safe, decent, accessible, and affordable home! at least doubling the funding for outreach, prevention, shelter, and transitional housing to people experiencing homelessness. Read more details from the Budget Forecast. Contact the Governor’s Office. Find your legislator.

Shelters Save Lives - excerpted from a WCCO report, 12/19/19 On any given winter night, more than 1,600 Minnesotans sleep outside. Governor Tim Walz is trying to do something to fix that. On Thursday, he announced the Minnesota Winter Homeless Initiative, which has already raised $4.82 million dollars, to make sure unsheltered Minnesotans stay warm this winter. “Homelessness is solvable, it’s a math problem, its not a character problem it is a math problem,” Walz said. “We are prepared to solve that math problem today and that’s what that initiative does.” Read the Minnesota Winter Homeless Initiative fact sheet.

Mark your calendar for February 18th! MICAH is helping to plan the Homes For All kickoff and Legislative Awards at Catholic Charities, starting around 4:30pm. More details forthcoming .

Housing and Homeless Funding Increases President Donald Trump averted a possible second government shutdown in 2019 by signing appropriation bills with little time to spare, before the current funding deadline expired at 11:59 p.m. Late Friday night, December 20th, h e signed two spending bills into law, securing full-year funding for all agencies through fiscal 2020. The spending package also included a 3.1% average federal pay raise for the civilian workforce, the largest such increase in at least a decade and secured new paid parental leave benefits. See attached for Housing and Homeless Funding increases .

MICAH Keys to Justice Housing NOW! 2020 On a slippery, snowy winter morning, on December 12th, we about 50 people attended our MICAH Keys to Justice Housing NOW! 2020 event. As we celebrated our 31 years of service, we watched the HOUSING NOW! 2020 video and remembered historical milestones that MICAH members participated in, such as the Housing NOW! 1989 march that led to the passage of the National Affordable Housing Act in 1990. We debuted our Keys to Justice Video featuring our Board Members from diverse backgrounds who have experienced homelessness, housing crisis and/or discrimination, and the importance of them being key decision makers for types of housing, homeless opportunities, and policies development.

Housing NOW 2020 Video released on November 4 as a part of our Interactive Discussion Series .

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Meet the People Who Make MICAH Happen

Junail Anderson Board Member Junail began working with MICAH in December 2018, joining the board in June 2019. She enjoys her position on the board and values the range of color and experience of the other members, saying, “seems like you can talk to anybody there and they understand you.” Junail brings a keen understanding of homelessness to her work, along with an invaluable outlook and her wholehearted desire to spread the truth of the homeless experience. “...There are so many ways to be homeless, to go through that. I’ve seen doctors and lawyers homeless. They have degrees and they are homeless. Anybody could be homeless.”

Learn more about Junail and MICAH's Board of Directors.

News From Our Chapters

Annual Breakfast With Legislators And Elected Officials Wednesday, January 29, 2020 7:00am Arrival/Continental Breakfast/               Meet & Greet Elected Officials 7:30 – 9:15am Panel & Dialogue Church of St. John Neumann 4030 Pilot Knob Road - Eagan Panelists: Madeline Kastler, Dakota Co. Sue Watlov Phillips, MICAH Libby Murphy, Minnesota Housing Partnership (MHP) Tony Schertler, Dakota County CDA Commissioner Mary Liz Holberg, Dakota County You will have the opportunity to dialogue with your Legislators & elected officials about housing & other issues of concern. RSVP@micah.org Read more details here . Dakota and Washington Counties are looking for interested providers of emergency shelter for youth ages 17 and under. Service and program expectations are listed at  https://www.co.dakota.mn.us/Government/DoingBusiness/BidProposalsInformation/Pages/emergency-sheltering-services.aspx   Letters of Interest are due by email on Wednesday, January 8, 2020 at 4:00pm.

The St. Paul chapter has had a whirlwind month! We began with an awesome turnout at City Hall for the public hearing on Mayor Carter’s budget address! We also had a great meeting to plan the Legislative Breakfast, which will be coming up January 30 th at St. Timothy’s Lutheran Church, 1465 Victoria St. North. Our Chapter meeting was blessed by the addition of a Fair Housing feedback session with Sarah Carthen Wilson , and people who were there gave testimonies on the intrusive nature of homeless screening question. We learned from the MICAH board members, who are also on the Envision project, about that project. We also discussed our Fair Housing agenda and scheduled two research visits – one with Council Member Prince and one with Council Member Mitra Jalali Nelson. As we wrap up the calendar year, the growth and quality of the MICAH St. Paul chapter has been phenomenal. We as organizers are glad to be on a journey of justice with all of you and look forward to a powerful 2020! Read more about our amazing mont h !

NorthEast Suburban Chapter Annual Legislative Breakfast January 12th, 7:30am Ascension Episcopal Church 214 3rd Street North, Stillwater. We will: have a panel discussion by MICAH and elected officials from a variety of cities and levels of government. hear the story of someone who is near to or experiencing homelessness. break into discussion tables by legislative district to give people an even more direct connection to their political representatives. If you can attend RSVP to John Slade at slade@micah.org or 651-491-2084. Fifty five years ago Dr Martin Luther King said “the time has come for an all-out world war against poverty… No individual or nation can be great if it does not have a concern for “the least of these”… If we feel this as a profound moral fact, we cannot be content to see men hungry, to see men victimized with starvation and ill health when we have the means to help them.” We have the means. We need the political will. Together we can build that. Read more event details here .

Minneapolis Chapter Minnesota Homeless Memorial March and Service Plymouth Congregational December 19, 2019 A candlelight service was held to recognize over 190 people who died as they experienced homelessness or were formerly homeless and advocates for the homeless community. MICAH Board Member, Junail Anderson Freeman, remembered her partner, Donald Brooks, who committed suicide because he was afraid he would become homeless again. MICAH Board and Staff Members attending the service included Rome Darring, Dewayne Parker, Freddy Toran, and Sue Watlov Phillips. ‌

Housing for All Annual Legislative Breakfast January 28, 7 - 9:00am St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church 7180 Hemlock Lane N, Maple Grove Business leaders and constituents will have the opportunity to meet with their legislators and local policy makers, ask questions and dialogue about housing and other issues of concern. The session will include short state and local policy presentations. A continental breakfast will be provided.

Freedom From the Streets December 25, 2019, about 75 attended the Holiday Dinner and took time to relax, rest, and be with caring and loving people at Elim Church . Sponsored by Freedom From the Streets, Elim Church, Hope Avenue, MICAH, and Integrated Community Solutions.

More News

Important and Urgent - The US Census Needs People in the Field and Office Getting a complete count for the census is vitally important! It affects funding and our representation. Minnesota is in danger of losing a seat in the House of Representatives, for example. In order to meet their hiring goals, the U.S. Census Bureau needs a large, diverse pool of applicants. Ramsey County alone needs at least 4100; and only 1521 applications have been received with less than 7 weeks until the application deadline of February 1, 2020. If you're looking for some flexible part-time work, and a chance to make a difference, go to https://2020census.gov/en/jobs/job-details.html

MICAH Funding Awards This Month: Pohlad - $25,000 for our work with Freedom From the Streets Mpls Foundation - $4,500 for technology capacity expansion

Because Being Homeless is not a Crime The National Coalition for the Homeless applauds the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court to deny a review of the Martin v. Boise case , leaving in place the decision by the 9 th Circuit that people experiencing homelessness cannot be punished for camping or sleeping on public property where there are no adequate alternatives. Read more about this.

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