A recent study conducted by the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation found that a growing number of Minnesotans do not have a place to call home.
The study, conducted every three years, found that homelessness in our state is six percent higher than in 2009. Over 10,000 Minnesotans, including roughly 3,500 children, rely on support from emergency shelters, battered women’s shelters, and transitional housing programs to survive every day. However, those figures do not reveal the true extent of the problem we’re facing.
The Wilder Foundation’s study underrepresents Minnesota’s total homeless population because it relies on counting people who are physically present at shelters. It’s hard to say how many people went uncounted, but the Wilder Foundation estimates that approximately 13,100 Minnesotans are homeless on any given night. About half of our state’s homeless population is 21 years old or younger.
This problem is not confined to the Twin Cities. It’s affecting communities in greater Minnesota as well, where the number of homeless Minnesotans age 55 and older nearly doubled between 2009 and 2012.
If we want to live up to our values as a state and as a society, we’ve got to change the status quo. Inaction is simply not an option. We cannot miss an opportunity to address real, immediate human needs.
That’s why I’ve introduced legislation with bipartisan support to tackle this problem head on.
My bill, HF 1194, invests $95 million over the next two years in the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency (MHFA), which is responsible for financing and advancing affordable housing for low and moderate income households, helping communities recover from the foreclosure crisis, and preventing and ending homelessness.
That amount of funding is $25 million higher than current levels. While some may favor delaying this investment until Minnesota’s fiscal house is on more stable footing, I believe it simply cannot wait—because providing our fellow Minnesotans with a place to call home is not only morally right, it’s fiscally responsible. In fact, ending homelessness is a key ingredient to getting our fiscal house in order.
By not solving this problem right away and allowing it to persist, we risk living in a state with generational poverty, crime, and educational achievement gaps. The investment required to prevent and end homeless will save Minnesota taxpayers in the long run. The cost of inaction is far greater than tackling this problem today.
Homelessness is the root of many problems that keep Minnesotans from reaching their full potential, especially children. Kids who are jumping from shelter to shelter are not able to grow and learn as well as those who live in stable housing. When these children fall behind in school and cannot rely on regular nutritious meals, they don’t develop the skills or knowledge that will help them get a job or start their own business later in life.
If we want to expand the middle class and increase educational achievement, we need to end homelessness. The only way we’ll succeed is if people like you demand action.
Homelessness is not inevitable. It is not something we have to accept. Solving this problem is a worthy goal and I hope you’ll join me to make it happen.
Jason Isaacson is serving his first term as State Representative for District 42B. He is a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and an Assistant Minnesota House Majority Leader. Rep. Isaacson can be reached by phone at (651) 296-8875, by email at rep.jason.isaacson@house.mn, or by postal mail at 545 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155.