The U.S. is in the midst of a housing crisis, with a shortage of affordable homes and concerns about people facing homelessness. Minnesota is using extra aid recently approved by lawmakers, and community groups hope it helps meet the demand.

This spring, the state adopted a $1 billion housing omnibus bill, which has several provisions aimed at creating more housing stability for those who struggle with access.

Emma Schmit, housing director for Lakes and Prairies Community Action Partnership in northwestern Minnesota, said the funding boost is timely, as her team can only help about one in five people requesting assistance.

"Obviously, that's a large number of folks that we're not able to help simply because we just don't have the funding," Schmit pointed out. "That really just shows the need we have in our community for this type of funding."

One way they will put extra funding to use is through the Family Homeless Prevention and Assistance program. It got an extra $50 million earlier this year, and another $45 million in the new housing bill. A quarter-cent sales tax increase for the Twin Cities area will fund some of the housing package. Republicans blasted the move because of the state's budget surplus.

Wendy Todd, director of outreach and emergency services for the Southeastern Minnesota Citizens Action Council, said their grant is six times more than what they typically get for housing aid. And with requests for help at higher levels, they are in a better position to provide robust assistance.

"We're going to be able to serve a lot more households," Todd stated. "And you know, the goal is always that they're going to be able to maintain that housing, so we also provide them with referrals to other resources. We don't just say, 'Oh, here, here's a check.' We try to provide some case management."

Meanwhile, there is extra state funding for down-payment assistance for homeownership.

Annie Shapiro, advocacy director for the Minnesota Community Action Partnership, said action agencies help with various aspects of guiding lower-income families toward their goals.

"It is really critical that people with low incomes have access to asset-building opportunities, and obviously, homeownership is a big one," Shapiro noted. "Especially thinking about intergenerational wealth that's been particularly withheld from people of color in Minnesota and Black Minnesotans."

The Des Moines City Council has passed an ordinance to reduce the homeless population and help people find alternatives to being on the street. Critics call it mean-spirited and regressive.

The ordinance bans tent camping, and makes sleeping in public a crime that can result in a $15 fine.

City officials say the move is designed to get people off the street, adding that Des Moines' ultimate goal is to help them find permanent shelter.

But American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa Executive Director Mark Stringer argued that unhoused people should not be criminalized.

"If you don't have anywhere to sleep and you fall asleep in a public place, you are now a criminal in the eyes of this ordinance," said Stringer. "It's a small fine, but it's still a fine - and that fine puts you into the criminal justice system."

Des Moines announced over the summer that it would take a harder-line approach to getting people off the street, and would help get them into assistance programs to improve their lives.

Documents uncovered by a local group show the city has been working with companies and nonprofits to penalize homelessness in Des Moines since early 2023.

Stringer said he believes the ordinance is driven by people who want to shape the image of the city.

The focus has been on gentrifying its downtown with high-end housing, restaurants and entertainment venues - where he added that people living on the streets can be considered an eyesore.

"It seems like there are people who want to not have to look at the homeless, and that's really what's driving this," said Stringer. "The presentation of the idea has its gloss of 'we want to help the homeless.' Well, you don't help the homeless by criminalizing them."

Stringer added that the downtown Des Moines makeover has added to the city's affordable housing shortage, and increased the number of unsheltered people - a problem many U.S. cities currently face.




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New Mexico houses cost less to buy than in many other states but there's also less inventory and one data expert does not expect a building boom to return.

Ali Wolf, chief economist for the data and consulting firm Zonda, said in the three years leading up to the 2008 Great Recession, homebuilders started about 2 million homes a year. Because the pandemic followed the financial crisis, housing starts never fully rebounded.

"We are seeing reasonable levels of growth," Wolf explained. "A lot more construction in the Southeast and the Southwest but these regions are really trying to play catch-up with the amount of in-migration that they've seen."

Since 2010, builders nationwide have started about 1 million new homes a year on average, far below the 1.6 million needed to keep up with population growth. Across New Mexico, there is a shortage of rental homes affordable and available to extremely low-income households with incomes at or below the poverty guideline of 30% of the area's median income.

To offer more inventory, Wolf argued builders need to feel comfortable that they can sell a home. At the same time, developers getting vacant lots ready need to feel confident that somebody's going to buy the land. Right now, she said, the number of vacant developed lots is still 40% below its pre-Great Recession level.

"The building community is saying, 'We don't want to get over our skis,'" Wolf observed. "I think that we will continue to see growth in housing starts. I just don't think we're going to see housing starts look anything similar to what we had seen before the great financial crisis."

Federal housing assistance used to focus on poverty, which helped New Mexico families where immigrants make up slightly more than 11% of the labor force. Now it is also a middle-class support program. If elected, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has promised financial assistance for both first-time homebuyers and developers who build their housing.


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Renewal Village, a converted Clarion Inn featuring 215 units of permanent supportive and transitional housing for people experiencing homelessness, has officially opened in Denver's Globeville neighborhood.

Darrell Watson, a Denver city council member, said his family frequently faced housing insecurity while he was growing up and his adult sister died while living on the streets. He emphasized the project, spearheaded by the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, is an important step to ensure that more people can exit the cycle of homelessness.

"Oftentimes when you throw out numbers and they feel like simply digits," Watson observed. "But each of those 215 folks to me are the faces of my sister, the faces of many others who are struggling to live in this city."

Per-unit housing costs for converting existing buildings, like hotels, are typically less than half the cost of new construction. Clarion's old bar and cafe are now common areas featuring a coffee lounge and dining room. The old ballroom is now where case managers connect clients to mental and medical health care, substance use treatment, job placement and other services they need to get back on their feet.

Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., said homelessness has long been a top issue for her constituents. She noted the project's strong partnerships, including with the Colorado Division of Housing, Adams County and the city and county of Denver, helped tap $4 million in federal funding to create a new home for families.

"Not just that, and this is the important thing, they'll have a place to call home and they'll have the supportive services that they need to be able to achieve more and more for themselves and their families," DeGette stressed.

Last year, more than 75,000 people received homelessness services in Colorado, recently named the eighth-least-affordable state in the nation.

Mike Johnston, mayor of Denver, said he is committed to creating more opportunities like Renewal Village in coming years.

"When you have traveled a very hard road, you've been on the street or unhoused or been on friend's couches or not sure you would ever find your way back to your own unit, with your own key, and your own space," Johnston outlined. "This offers that new hope again, that sense of renewal."


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