Tom’s story was shared by Alliance Housing, a Homes for All MN endorsing organization. Homes for All MN collects and shares housing stories to to show lawmakers the challenges Minnesotans are facing when it comes to having a safe, stable and affordable home. By sharing your story, you play a key part in gaining the support and understanding of elected officials and furthering Homes for All’s mission to advance housing stability for all Minnesotans. Join Tom in sharing your story, and thanks for supporting Homes for All!

Tom is 75 years old. He has lived at our rooming house at 2011 Pillsbury Ave. since January of 2015. Before finding a place with Alliance, Tom spent three years living in his car, after five years of camping out in the Minnesota cold. With 30-year-old felony staining his record, finding affordable housing was nearly impossible. Having spent many years in prison, Tom only has seven years of work experience, which provide him with just enough in social security and other benefits to make ends meet. On top of rent, Tom has regular medical expenses that come along with the health conditions he is faced with as he ages.

If it wasn’t for Alliance Housing, Tom would be one of many aging adults who live day to day, not sure of where they will sleep that night. He would be left entering weekly lotteries for a shelter bed, only to end up in a crowded room, on a cot or a mat on the floor.  2011 Pillsbury provides people who are screened out elsewhere a room to call home. Whether it’s just a temporary transition or a permanent residence, our rooming houses and shared duplexes provide housing affordably and safely, regardless of what you did last month or last year.  

60% of the men and women who live at Pillsbury are 55 years or older.  Their bodies are 10-15 years older than their actual age due to past homelessness and un- or under- treated illness.  Soon many will need a few more conveniences, like an elevator, than Pillsbury provides.  Alliance Housing was able to secure $5.1 million in Housing Infrastructure Bonds from MN Housing in 2017.  It will break ground on Minnehaha Commons in summer 2018 – 44 studio apartment homes in a three story building with an elevator.  Rents due to public funding will be low enough for residents on a fixed income to support and there will be rent subsidies to assist.

Homes for All MN is once again asking the MN Legislature to authorize housing infrastructure bonds.  These resources were essential to keep rents at Minnehaha Commons low enough for low wage workers, those on a fixed income and those without incomes.  They will be the lynch pin to build or renovate additional units of housing that can become homes to adults and families with the lowest incomes and many barriers to finding and retaining affordable housing.