News
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into the spotlight the role of “essential” workers — who are disproportionately low-wealth, immigrant and communities of color — and revealed the racialized and ableist gaps in the essential services those workers need to protect their health and meet their daily needs — including safe, reliable public transit. At our…
In recent election cycles in the Twin Cities, we’ve seen local organizing efforts and groundbreaking campaigns that have elevated leaders of color to local, county and state policy-making positions. But equity doesn’t end with representation. How are organizers and electeds working to advance participatory processes and co-governance that truly shift power and advance policies that…
(From left) ACER organizer, Hamza Hassan, with Huntington Place tenant leaders Fred, Annett and Barb The campaign to keep more than 3,000 residents in their homes in Brooklyn Park started long before the issues at Huntington Place made headlines in local media. Before the property was on the radar of a nonprofit buyer, before the…
For years, community-based organizations in St. Paul have been engaging and organizing with tenants who have been calling on city leaders to pass policies that protect the rights of the growing number of renter households. Today, the city council released a proposed ordinance that takes the first steps in following that lead toward tenant protections. …
To the general public, Michael McDowell might be a familiar face as one of the forefront leaders of Black Lives Matter Minneapolis during the height of public demonstrations around the police killings of Jamar Clark and Philando Castile. But, to local organizers, McDowell has been a force for justice on a number of issues, from…
In 2018 and 2019, community-based organizations that are members of Equity in Place received funding from the Fair Housing Implementation Council and the Heading Home Minnesota Funders Collaborative to conduct community engagement around fair housing issues in local communities. Through engagement with hundreds of renter households, African Career, Education and Resource Inc (ACER), Jewish Community…
The Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA) and the Alliance are issuing Housing Stability Grants to support BIPOC communities, people with disabilities, and low-wealth communities working to build power and advance systems and policy changes at the local level. These grants are intended to support organizations that have demonstrated capacity for systems/policy change and community engagement or organizing efforts in their communities
Minneapolis’ greatest asset is its people: the families and workers that pour their time, talent and love into the fabric of the community. But in a city where the majority of residents are renters, many feel the Minneapolis Department of Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED) prioritizes courting big developers and accentuating the property tax…
When the Green Line started construction through St. Paul’s central corridor in 2012, small businesses on University Avenue faced an uncertain future. Looking to not only preserve but promote the assets of their community, the Asian Economic Development Association (AEDA) deployed a still-new concept: creative placemaking. Nearly a decade later, AEDA has utilized that approach…
Equity in Place (EIP) is a diverse group of strategic partners from organizations led by people of color and housing advocacy organizations working to advance housing justice and equitable community development. Leading with a race equity lens to understand and center how power inequities in our region and society shape inequitable outcomes for our communities,…