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Higher rents and tightened tenant requirements at Meadowbrook Apartments in St. Louis Park meant hundreds of residents had to search for a new home last winter. In the midst of it all was Debbie Wells of the Meadowbook Collaborative, a community organization working on behalf of the Meadowbrook neighborhood. Wells…

For more than 50 years, people from across the Midwest visited what became known as the “Indian Bowl” to share in the culture and traditions of the Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe. On warm summer evenings, they gathered in the colosseum-like seats to marvel at the powwow dancers’ intricate footwork, watch…

Over the past decade, Mark had lived many places he didn’t call home. A state prison cell. A cockroach-infested motel room. An apartment complex populated with alcoholics and drug addicts — two substances he’d battled himself. He’d had setbacks with his sobriety that led to arrest and suffered a stroke…

I was still somewhat bleary eyed when I wrote about the frantic, late-night close of the Minnesota legislative session back in May. Little did I know the back-and-forth behind closed doors would keep us holding our breath for another three months. Sadly, after more political smoke about a…

At its August meeting, the board of the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency discussed a range of topics, including the state’s 2017 Affordable Housing Plan, the model collaboration that led to the grand opening of a supportive housing development in Grand Rapids and the increasing threat to manufactured housing…

“I couldn’t breathe,” Deb Foster recalls. It was June 2016 and the Executive Director of the Ain Dah Yung Center (ADYC) was on a conference call with half-a-dozen partners. For months, they had been working urgently to secure a site for an innovative urban American Indian youth permanent supportive…

During its July meeting, the board of the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency discussed the review of comments on its Affordable Housing Plan, increased demand for housing tax credits, the outcomes of the Agency’s Homeowner Capacity Initiative, and the use of Housing Trust Fund proceeds. Affordable Housing Plan In her introductory…

The slow simmer of political intrigue around a special legislative session continued this week with a packed committee hearing at the Capitol in St Paul. Along with our partners in the Homes for All coalition, MHP was  on hand as the Capital Investment conference committee heard testimony on…

At Minnesota Housing’s June board meeting, Commissioner Mary Tingerthal and agency staff discussed the tax exempt bonding authority, trends in the housing market, and updated the board on Agency news. The meeting began with a discussion on local jurisdictions requesting a portion of the Agency’s tax exempt bond authority. For…