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It’s been two weeks since applications opened for emergency rent relief funding for Minneapolis residents. The $2 million, one-time fund was created after some immigrant families couldn’t pay rent, because they were scared to leave their homes and go to work during Operation Metro Surge.

Hennepin County, which is administering the funds, said that in the first two weeks, 29 applications have been processed and $150,000 in rent relief has been dispersed. The county believes it’s on track to disperse $300,000 in the first month. Hennepin County is partnering with three partner organizations to help people apply.

One of the partner organizations Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio, or CLUES, said they are seeing continued demand for rent help. CLUES is Minnesota’s largest Latino-led nonprofit organization. Since the emergency funding became available CLUES has gotten more than 175 calls. Of those that were deemed eligible, CLUES said it has helped disperse $60,000 in the first two weeks. 

To be eligible, residents must live in Minneapolis, have a household income at or below 30 percent of the area median income and have received a 30-day pre-eviction filing notice from their landlord. The money given per home is not a strict dollar amount.

“We are administering assistance so that we can fully prevent a household's eviction, which means we typically don't establish a cap on assistance,” said Will Lehman, area manager of homelessness prevention for Hennepin County.

Even for families who are not eligible, CLUES said it works to help find other means of assistance. Jackie Pérez, vice president of programs at CLUES, said there is fear in the Latino community to ask for assistance, “but we've done a really good job of building relationship with the community, and so we're an organization that they know they can trust and come to.”

For families who do not qualify for the Minneapolis emergency funding, both CLUES and Hennepin County said they work to provide other resources. The county said it has prevented more than 700 evictions so far in 2026. 

Hennepin County said so far, it has not seen a spike in evictions. 

“I do want to point to mutual aid as a critical response of the community and grassroots level that won't necessarily show up in our evictions data, but certainly have prevented a number of eviction filings so far this year,” said Lehman. 

In total, Hennepin County has $12 million allocated for rental assistance this year, including the Minneapolis funding. 

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The Minneapolis city council approved $2 million in emergency rent relief funds. The funding is being administered by Hennepin County and three community organizations. In the first two weeks $150,000 has gone out to residents. 

Minneapolis emergency rent relief fund on track to dole out $300K in the first month

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