Working in Partnership to Decrease Housing Disparities for American Indians in Hennepin County Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless Conference

Transcription

1 Working in Partnership to Decrease Housing Disparities for American Indians in Hennepin County Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless Conference October 11, 2016

2 Roadmap What we did Why we did it How we did it What happened What we learned (and how you can learn from our attempts to do it better in your community)

3 What we did Native Unsheltered Planning American Indian Advisory Group on homelessness prevention and rapid rehousing

4 Why we did it Diane Grooms, American Indian Community Development Corporation Alicia Smith, American Indian Policy Specialist, Department of Human Services Lisa Thornquist, Researcher and Supervisor, Hennepin County Office to End Homelessness Julia Welle Ayres, Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Rehousing Coordinator, Hennepin County

5 How we did it: Native Unsheltered Planning Partner in developing the projects Hand over the reins Focus on story-telling Government supports the work

6 How we did it: American Indian Advisory Group Start with coffee Partner in developing the projects Throw away assumptions Focus on story-telling Government supports the work Invited current providers for cross-learning in relationship

7 What happened: Native Unsheltered Planning Hired two Native staff (January) Opened up a hotline (January- February) Conducted interviews and focus groups (February-June) Created survey instrument to gather ideas for changes (April- June) Held community meetings and met with leaders to address homelessness April-June)

8 What happened: Native Unsheltered Planning What we learned - Native homelessness is larger than what we can measure - While most have accessed emergency services, most have not accessed housing specifically designed to people experiencing homelessness

9 What happened: Native Unsheltered Planning Recommendations - Street Outreach meet people where they are at, offer something they want so they seek us out - Shelter some use shelter but some feel safe - Daytime drop in space important way to reach people - Affordable housing and supportive housing CES without shelter - Services culturally sensitive, paced to serve

10 What happened: Native Unsheltered Planning Next steps and lessons learned - an implementation grant will be funded by HUD - ensure access to shelter but also ensure access to housing without going through shelter - exploration of new shelter in south Minneapolis that can address the concerns of unsheltered Native people - be part of conversation around Coordinated Entry System to ensure it can accommodate people who are unsheltered or doubled up in extremely overcrowded housing conditions

11 What happened: American Indian Advisory Group Stories and examples of American Indian homelessness (January) Barriers homelessness prevention and rapid rehousing services (January- February) Desired Outcomes (February- March) Actions to develop strategies (March-May) Recommendations to meet outcomes (June-July)

12 What happened: American Indian Advisory Group What we learned Access to homeless response system doesn t work for American Indians Access to Prevention and RRH services doesn t work for American Indians Providers aren t serving American Indians Providers aren t serving American Indians well American Indian culture isn t represented in homeless response system and services.

13 What happened: American Indian Advisory Group Recommendations Improve homeless and prevention outreach Change policies and practices Develop and intentionally support an American Indian provider Encourage practices that support American Indians

14 What happened: American Indian Advisory Group Next Steps and Lessons Learned Present Recommendations to FHPAP Advisory Committee Engage Advisory Group in supporting new American Indian providers Re-convene the Advisory Group in one year to assess progress Invite Advisory Group members to become voting members of the FHPAP Advisory Committee

15 What we learned Start with coffee Partnering in developing the projects Focus on stories and story-telling Hand over the reins Government supports the work Invite current providers for cross-learning in relationship

16 Continued barriers Housing doesn't exist for some people Excluding policies Few American Indians in leadership

17 What Hennepin missed Cultural training for providers Work with community on budget and scope

18 Questions and Discussion

19 Let s have coffee! Diane Grooms: dgrooms@aicdc-mn.org Alicia Smith: Alicia.smith@state.mn.us Lisa Thornquist: lisa.thornquist@hennepin.us Julia Welle Ayres: Julia.welleayres@Hennepin.us