Minneapolis expands program to prevent child homelessness
A Minneapolis program designed to help prevent kids’ families from becoming homeless is expanding for the next school year, with the aim of helping twice as many families with children to avoid experiencing homelessness.
The Stable Homes Stable Schools program launched in 2019. City officials said it has since helped more than 4,200 children from 1,500 families to stay in homes close to the children’s schools. In the program, social workers at schools connect with families at risk of homelessness.
Interim Minneapolis Public Schools Superintendent Rochelle Cox said the district has about 2,500 students who are experiencing homelessness, about ten percent of the district’s student body. She said the program has given many students much-needed stability.
“When students don’t need to worry about where they’re going to sleep at night, they can focus on other things, like their schoolwork and activities, they can continue to build important relationships with their teachers and their classmates, they can stay at the same school without changing year after year,” Cox said. “This helps set them up for success.”
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It was during the pandemic that Knee’sha Lungelow started getting migraines that made it impossible to get to work. She lost her job and moved herself and her kids into her mom’s house, but it was cramped and far from the children’s school.
“I was all the way in St. Paul and my kids went to school in Minneapolis, so they were missing school,” Lungelow said. “So a social worker reached out to me, and was like, ‘Hey, there’s a program I want to let you know about because I noticed that the kids are missing school, and that’s not like you to have them missing school.’”
The social worker put Lungelow in touch with the Stable Homes Stable Schools program. It’s a partnership between the schools, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority and organizations like the YMCA of the North.
Lungelow said the new home and stability has made a big difference in her and her children’s lives.
“My kids are more like, ‘OK, I want to go to school,” she said. “All around, just more happy, knowing like, ‘This is my house. Nobody is going to come and say, you have to leave.’ This is my house.”
One tier of the program helps a family with one-time costs that can help keep families in their home. For instance, paying for car repairs required to keep a job. It’s now being extended to all 43 elementary schools in Minneapolis. Mayor Jacob Frey said they’ll be able to now serve 350 families a year.
The second part of the program includes ongoing rental assistance for families experiencing homelessness, which the city is extending to five additional elementary schools. Frey said that part of the program will now be able to serve double the number of families, increasing to about 250 families each year.
“This is a really historic investment, it’s one we’re making for the future of our children,” Frey said. “I know that there will be a longstanding impact for these kids, for their lives, for their families, and for the entire classroom where they go to school. It’s a huge deal.”
The expansion comes with a more than $4 million price tag. About $2.2 million in ongoing funding for the program comes from Minneapolis, with a $2 million investment from Hennepin County and additional contributions from the Pohlad Family Foundation.