Welcome

Heading Home Hennepin is the City of Minneapolis and Hennepin County community's 10-year plan to end homelessness by 2016.  Championed by hundreds of government, business, faith, and advocacy leaders, Heading Home Hennepin brings together more than 120 local nonprofit organizations, as well as government agencies, faith-based alliances, businesses, and concerned citizens.  The plan's success in garnering comprehensive grassroots endorsement and bolstering community networks has made it a model for similar initiatives nationwide.  Heading Home Hennepin unites our entire community in the pursuit of permanently closing the door on homelessness in Minneapolis and Hennepin County.

Vision

By the year 2016, all people facing homelessness in Minneapolis and Hennepin County will have access to safe, decent, and affordable housing, and the resources and supports needed to sustain it.  

Mission

To end homelessness in Minneapolis and Hennepin County by 2016.

New Report from Heading Home Hennepin Available

Heading Home Hennepin has released a new report highlighting some of the work completed in the past 5 years. Click HERE to view or download the report.  If you would like a hard copy, please email Matthew.ayres @ co.hennepin.mn.us.

Free Training on History of Housing and Homelessness.

A collaboration of housing service agencies have created a training for people who want to learn about the history of homelessness, affordable housing solutions, and ways to get involved.  This training, entitled The Search for Home:Housing and Homelessness 101, is free and open to everyone. 

The next training is September 24, 6-8 p.m

If you have questions or to register, email cgiese@simpsonhousing.org or call (612) 455-0859 

Sponsored by: 

CommonBond Communities, Habitat for Humanity, Our Saviour’s Housing, St. Stephen’s Human Services, 

HandsOn Twin Cities and Simpson Housing Services

Veterans Homelessness on the Decline

On December 13th, 2011, the Department of Housing and Urban Development announces that data from a national point in time count indiacted a 12% reduction in veterans living in shelters, transitional housing programs, and on the streets. The local data from this same count, indicates a 33% reduction in veterans who were homeless in Hennepin County. Find out more about the report by clicking HERE.

New Vouchers for Homeless Veterans Announced

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development recently announced a new round of funding for the sucecssful Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) program.  Among the recipients for new vouchers was the Minneapolis VA and Minneapolis Public Housing Authority who work collaboratively to administer these vouchers.  The 50 new vouchers brings the total of VASH Vouchers to 205 in Minneapolis.  St. Paul recieved 25 additional vouchers as well.  FOr more information on the VASH program and the awards, visit the National Alliance to End Homelessness' website by clicking here.

Where We Are Now: Heading Home Hennepin 2011

Heading Home Hennepin recently completed a detailed report on the outcomes of the 10-year plan to end homelessness' implementation over the course of the past four years.  While the economic climate presented many unforeseen challenges and setbacks, this report undoubtedly shows that the plan has been a tremendous success to date, bringing together hundreds of nonprofits, service providers, businesses, government agencies, and societal leaders, ending homelessness for thousands of individuals, and transforming the community to invest in better public policy solutions to end homelessness rather than simply manage it.  Although we continue to face many challenges, Heading Home Hennepin's success proves that homelessness and its many negative costs, both economic and human, does not have to be an inevitable social problem.  Thank you to the thousands of community partners and collaborators who are an integral part of this initiative for your stalwart commitment and drive.  We carry on.  Together, we can end homelessness.  

The Cost of Homelessness

Cathy ten Broeke's most recent article in the Downtown Journal outlines the many negative costs and impacts of homelessness on our community.  Read it here. 

A wealth of services under one roof

On March 3, after 10 months of construction and renovation, YouthLink in downtown Minneapolis held a celebration for the official opening of the new Youth Opportunity Center, an important Heading Home Hennepin goal that has been several years in the making.  Using an innovative, collaborative service-delivery model that co-locates multiple nonprofit agencies, services and resources in one place, the Youth Opportunity Center is an integral tool for ending homelessness for youth and young adults in Minneapolis and Hennepin County. To read a Downtown Journal feature article about the Youth Opportunity Center, click here.

MPLS officials: focus on top 50 repeat offenders reduced downtown crime

MPR recently examined the collaboration between St. Stephen's Human Services and the Minneapolis Downtown Improvement District to track the top 50 criminal offenders in downtown and provide housing and chemical and medical health intervention services to stop their criminal behavior.  The project has been a strong success.  To read more, click here.  To read about it in the Star Tribune, click here.    

HUD and VA release veterans homelessness report

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently released a joint report on veterans homelessness across the United States.  The report, a supplement to the the 2009 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, can be read and downloaded here.

 

DCEH to host Legislative Update & Briefing

The Downtown Congregations to End Homelessness hosted a legislative update and briefing on ending homelessness, Monday, January 31.  The event, held at Westminster Presbyterian Church, featured Governor Mark Dayton.  Dayton discussed the priorities of ending homelessness and poverty in his administration.  To listen to MPR coverage, click here.  To watch video of State Rep. Morrie Lanning speak about ending homelessness, click here.

 

Cathy ten Broeke's Column in the Downtown & Southwest Journals

Read the second in a series of columns on homelessness by Cathy ten Broeke, featured in the Downtown and Southwest Journals.  This installment highlights the 10th Minneapolis-Hennepin County Project Homeless Connect event, which was held this past December 13th, 2010.  Click here.

MPR Reports on St. Stephen's Human Services Street Outreach

MPR recently featured St. Stephen's Human Services Street Outreach team and the great work they are doing to help people move off the streets and into safe, stable housing.  The Outreach team has housed over 200 people directly from the streets in its first several years of operation, resulting in increased community livability and a 14% reduction in arrests of people in downtown Minneapolis who have no permanent address.  To listen the feature, click here. 

NAEH releases State of Homelessness in the United States report

The National Alliance to End Homelessness has released a report on the state of homelessness across the nation.  To learn more and download or read a copy of the report, click here. 

26th Annual Homeless Memorial March

Simpson Housing Services hosted the 26th Annual Homeless Memorial March on December 16, 2010.  Hundreds of community members marched from Hennepin County's Government Center to Simpson United Methodist Church and shelter in South Minneapolis, where they gathered for a service honoring those who died while homeless in Minnesota during 2010.  Read more here.

Project Homeless Connect 10

Minneapolis and Hennepin County held their 10th Project Homeless Connect event this past Monday, December 13th.  Thanks to all of our wonderful volunteers and service providers who worked diligently throughout the day.  More than 900 volunteers braved the cold and the snow to help connect more than 1,900 people experiencing homelessness with vital resources.  More detailed results from the event are available here.

Cathy ten Broeke to write recurring column for Downtown & Southwest Journals

Minneapolis-Hennepin County Coordinator to End Homelessness Cathy ten Broeke has been asked to write an ongoing column on ending homelessness for the Downtown and Southwest Journals.  Read the first in the series here.

Adult Opportunity Center Opens

On November 1st, 2010, the new Adult Opportunity Center opened officially and began providing services to citizens in Hennepin County who are experiencing homelessness.  Located in the Elliot Park neighborhood of Minneapolis at Catholic Charities former Branch 3 building, the Adult Opportunity Center provides a continuum of co-located, wraparound services to people experiencing poverty and homelessness.  Individuals and families can visit the center to receive services that include meals, mail delivery, voicemail, haircuts, access to employment training programs & job search assistance, medical care, access to mental health care and chemical dependency programs, rapid re-housing, transition support for housing and housing search assistance, Veterans outreach, and assistance with benefits application processes, among others.  In addition, multiple nonprofit agencies offering a variety of important resources will have staff who work out of the Opportunity Center or offer service hours there several times per week.  

On November 9th, the Heading Home Hennepin community came together to honor and celebrate the time spent and hard work that occurred to make the Adult Opportunity Center a reality. This new, cutting-edge service-delivery model is an integral tool in the plan to end homelessness in Minneapolis and Hennepin County, as there is now a place where people can come to obtain multiple services and resources each day, making their transition out of homelessness more efficient and expeditious.  

Congratulations to the Heading Home Hennepin community for their diligence and determination in seeing this project through and helping to make the greater community a better, healthier place for everyone! 

To learn more or take a virtual tour of the facility, click here.

NAEH Features Heading Home Hennepin as a Top 10-Year Plan

The National Alliance to End Homelessness recently released a new paper on strategies for successfully implementing 10-year plans to end homelessness, based on the practices of communities across the country who have implemented plans of their own. Hennepin County's Heading Home Hennepin "has achieved tremendous success" and "serves as the main focus of article," according to the NAEH.  Read it here.

Homeless Is My Address, Not My Name

 

Heading Home Hennepin, St. Stephens Human Services and the Family Housing Fund are sponsoring an audio-visual oral history art exhibition, entitled Homeless Is My Address, Not My name, hosted at The Chambers Hotel Burnett Gallery. The exhibition is the result of several years of photographic and audio documentation of people experiencing homelessness who have shared their stories in their own words. It is free and the public is encouraged to attend. At certain times the gallery may be closed for private events, so please call 612-767-6900 in advance if you are planning on visiting the exhibition. On Wednesday, September 15th, from 7pm to 9pm, there will be a public celebration of the exhibition and the oral history project. For more information, please click here.  To read a MinnPost feature article on the exhibit, click here; to listen to an MPR feature, click here.

New Youth Opportunity Center Breaks Ground

YouthLink, a youth human services nonprofit in downtown Minneapolis, recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Youth Opportunity Center that will be constructed at their site.

Currie Avenue Partnership honored by Hennepin County Board of Commissioners

The Currie Avenue Partnership, which exceeded the goal of raising $350,000 in funding to hire 10 case managers to house 150 people with disabilities living in the Currie Avenue shelters, was recently honored by the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners.  View a video that shares the story of the Currie Avenue partnership here.