Perhaps you read the editorial in the Wednesday, January 10 Star Tribune entitled “Affordable housing becomes a top priority.” Governor Dayton has just formed the Governor’s Task Force on Housing. He has appointed Representative Alice Hausman to that task force.
Why is it a crisis? Since 2000, the number of Minnesota households paying more than 30% of their wages for housing has increased by 58%. To make matters worse, our state is losing on average 100 units of affordable housing every week. One in four households in Minnesota are now over that 30% threshold. The lack of affordable housing is hurting workforce stability across the state, disrupting the education of our children, and adding cost to the state, the counties, and the cities as more of these families become homeless. In December, according to Project Home, the program of Interfaith Action of Greater Saint Paul that St. Matthew’s participates in, there were 85 families on a waiting list for emergency shelter. In other words, there was no place for them to go but to family, friends, their cars, or the street.
In response to this crisis Grant Abbott and Elaine Tarone attended the Metropolitan Interfaith Council on Affordable Housing (MICAH) meeting held January 9 at Ascension Episcopal Church, Stillwater. The purpose of the meeting was to inform people of MICAH’s legislative agenda for 2018 and to hear from local and state political officials. Around 70 people were in attendance, including Washington County Commissioner Gary Kriesel, Barb Dacey, Washington County Community Development Agency Director, Jo Emerson, Mayor of White Bear Lake, Rep. Bob Dettmeier, Rep. JoAnn Ward, Rep. Peter fischer, and Sen. Chuck Wiger.
MICAH Policy Director Amanda Kappes Peterson presented the 2018 MICAH legislative agenda, after which the politicians offered their response. The agenda is large, but MICAH’s primary focus is the shared legislative priority of the HOMES for ALL Coalition:
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$140 million in the bonding bill: $110 million for infrastructure bonds and $30 million for general obligation bonds.
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$10 million in appropriations: $6 million for the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency; $2 million for Local Housing Trust Funds; and $2 million for Homework Starts at Home
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$180,000 from taxes to restore Renter’s Credit to manufactured homes on rented lots.
This agenda is also a priority for the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition (JRLC), which holds its Annual Day on the Hill on Tuesday, March 13.
St. Matthew’s has served as a shelter for homeless families in Ramsey County since 2000. The Church and Project Home have always said their ultimate goal is to end the need for homeless shelters by making sure all families in Minnesota can afford a home. Engaging with MICAH and with JRLC is a way that St. Matthew’s can include advocacy with it compassionate service for homeless families. There are already enquiries to Project Home to open a third site every night of the year to accommodate the increasing number of homeless families. As a church that highlights hospitality as one of its Way of Jesus practices, St. Matthew’s will do what’s needed for these families, but it would be much better if there were adequate affordable housing in Minnesota. For more information on the Governor’s Task Force on Housing go to www.mnhousingtaskforce.com.
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