OneMPLS Fund Awards $325,000 in Housing Grants

Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative, the Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans, and PERIS Foundation recently received a total of $325,000 in OneMPLS grants. 

These grants were made possible by a $100,000 challenge grant from the Edward R. Bazinet Charitable Foundation, and by more than 60 Minneapolis Foundation fundholders and other community members who answered that call. 

“We are deeply grateful to the advisors of the Edward R. Bazinet Charitable Foundation and all the people in our generous community who stepped forward with us to take action for housing equity,” said Patrice Relerford, Vice President of Collective Impact and Giving at the Minneapolis Foundation. “These grants are fueling innovative projects that will not only preserve and create affordable housing in the metro area, but also build momentum for state policy and funding solutions to address Minnesota’s housing crisis.” 

One grant will advance the efforts of Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative to organize a statewide coalition to protect, sustain, and grow supportive housing in Minnesota.

Photo courtesy of Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative

“Ending homelessness in Minnesota requires a thriving supportive housing sector,” said Chris LaTondresse, Beacon’s President and CEO. “The mental health crisis, opioid epidemic, and aftershocks of the pandemic economy have hit residents hard. For many organizations like Beacon, this means operational challenges, surging costs, and declining revenues stacked on thin margins and old assumptions about the investment required to sustain supportive housing.

“We’re grateful to the Minneapolis Foundation for investing in efforts to launch a coalition that, if successful, will help ensure Minnesota remains a national leader on ending homelessness through supportive housing.”

A second grant will support the Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans as it renovates the former Robin Hotel in Robbinsdale to provide affordable supportive housing for local veterans. “This funding allows us to lease safe, dignified residences to more than a dozen veterans who have nowhere else to go,” said Sara Riegle, the organization’s Vice President of Property Operations.

Photo courtesy of Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans

The grants announced today build on $725,000 in grants awarded last year for fair and affordable housing, the current focus of the OneMPLS Fund. 

To learn more about the importance of this issue and the challenges of preserving existing affordable housing, read this recent Star Tribune article, which includes insights from two recent OneMPLS grantees, Beacon and Hope Community.

The OneMPLS Fund’s latest grants include: 

• $100,000 to Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative to launch and operate a multi-organization statewide Supportive Housing Coalition. The Coalition will be open to all housing providers in Minnesota that operate housing units with services designed to support individuals and families who have experienced homelessness or lack the housing resources they need to thrive. Beacon is one of the few Minnesota nonprofit housing providers with policy and advocacy staff. Through this Coalition, the organization is working to bolster public support and funding for innovative housing solutions. The Coalition will work to increase the sustainability of the sector by advocating for more coordinated public funding streams to provide residents with quality care and ensure adequate operating funding.  
• $125,000 to the Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans (MACV) to support its renovation of the former Robin Hotel at 41st and Hubbard avenues in Robbinsdale. The updated property will include sixteen housing units for veterans facing or at risk of homelessness. Hennepin County purchased the property for $2 million in 2022 and transferred ownership to the Minnesota Veterans Assistance Council last year. MACV is renovating the 125-year-old property to include a larger kitchen, new bathrooms and laundry facilities, and office space to ensure support services staff are available onsite.  
• $100,000 to PERIS Foundation to support the operations of PERIS Hill, an affordable housing building in Minneapolis with 45 efficiency and one-bedroom apartments for career-focused adults. Opened in 2021, the property is owned by PERIS Foundation and managed by Volunteers of America (VOA). Fifteen of the 45 units are reserved for young people aging out of foster care. The remaining 30 units are available for lease to individuals and families with incomes at or below 60 percent of the Twin Cities area median—about $70,000 in 2023, according to the University of Minnesota Center for Urban and Regional Affairs. PERIS Foundation partners with the YMCA of the North to offer employment assistance, food support, financial literacy and monthly budgeting assistance and connections to other community resources to promote the long-term stability of PERIS Hill residents.  

The OneMPLS Fund pools money from people and businesses across the community to respond nimbly to pressing local needs. We welcome contributions in any amount. Want to pitch in? 

TWO EASY WAYS TO GIVE: 

• If you have a Donor Advised Fund at the Minneapolis Foundation, log in to DonorView and click on the “Inter-Account Grant” button on the Fund Information page. 
• Make a tax-deductible credit card donation.