House of Charity Breaks Ground on New Housing for the Homeless

Minneapolis, Minnesota (September 4, 2019) – House of Charity's ground breaking ceremony is Tuesday, September 10th at 3:00 p.m. for its Park7 building, located at 615 South 7th Street, Minneapolis. This new building will add 61 studio apartments with on-site services for people experiencing homelessness in Minneapolis.

House of Charity is honored to have Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Minnesota Housing Finance Agency Assistant Commissioner - Multifamily Division James Lehnhoff, Minneapolis City Council Member Lisa Goodman, Dan Colison, Executive Director of East Town Business Partnership, and Teresa Rasmussen, President and CEO of Thrivent Financial speak at the ground breaking and share their passion and support for this critical housing in Minneapolis.

Park7 will be a welcome addition to the fight to end homelessness. It is being built at a time when homelessness is still a crisis, but a solvable one. According to the 2018 Wilder Homelessness in Minnesota study there are 4,072 people experiencing homelessness on any given night in Hennepin County, 1,741 are experiencing long-term homelessness.

Park7 will be a four-story building with 61 smoke-free and pet friendly efficiency apartments for people experiencing long-term homelessness. The apartments range from 350 – 430 square feet. All 61 units are reserved for permanent affordable housing including ten for veterans, ten for young adults aged 18 – 24, and ten for people who are disabled or dual diagnosis of substance use disorder and mental illness.

Tenants will have 24-hour access to services including case managers on each of the three floors to help tenants make plans to retain housing and move to greater independence. They will also provide access to benefits, neighborhood orientation, and referrals for financial management, employment services and health care services. In addition, tenants will be in close proximity to other community support including Hennepin County Medical Center across the street, light rail two blocks away, the VA Medical Center on the blue line, and House of Charity's Food Centre and addiction and mental health outpatient treatment services a half block away. Affordable housing paired with supportive services is a proven strategy that increases housing stability for people experiencing long-term homelessness.

The building will be completed summer 2020.

House of Charity is partnering with Community Housing Development Corporation (CHDC) to develop the building and Urban Works is the project architect.

"House of Charity has decades of experience providing services to the homeless in downtown Minneapolis," says Heidi Rathmann, Senior Vice President of CHDC. "What CHDC brings is the experience of developing and owning supportive housing developments. Our role is to help House of Charity carry out its mission and to make its vision for this project a reality."

Special thanks to Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, the National Housing Trust Fund, the City of Minneapolis, Hennepin County, the Metropolitan Council, and private donors for their $11,222,000 in financial support of this critical expansion in Downtown Minneapolis.

"This project is a great example of what we can achieve when we collaborate. Public and private partners came together to address the need for more housing that is affordable in our community," said James Lehnhoff, Assistant Commissioner, Multifamily Division with Minnesota Housing. "We are excited to support a new building that provides deeper affordability, on-site services, and connections throughout the community."

An extra thank you to Thrivent Financial for their gift of $1 million that enables House of Charity to fully furnish the building and provide other amenities.

"House of Charity serves an important role in the Elliot Park/East Town neighborhood, and we're honored to support them as they fulfill their mission to feed those in need, house those experiencing homelessness and empower individuals to achieve independence," said Teresa Rasmussen, president and CEO of Thrivent. "We at Thrivent know that together we can make a difference by creating strong families, churches and communities."

"House of Charity has been providing comprehensive services to meet the needs of our homeless community since 1953. It has always been the vision of the program to work towards ending homelessness in our community," said Deb Moses, CEO/Executive Director of House of Charity. "The building of Park7 takes us one step closer in realizing that vision by providing

61 homeless individuals with a permanent housing solution combined with high quality support services to meet the needs of each individual served, in order to assist in maintaining stability and independence in their lives."

For updates on House of Charity's Park7 building, visit https://www.houseofcharity.org/expandinghope

Founded in 1953, House of Charity's mission is: Feed those in need, house those experiencing homelessness, and empower individuals to achieve independence. Our vision is to transform lives – one person at a time. With a variety of programs in housing, treatment, health and case management, and a Food Centre that provides free meals 365 days a year, House of Charity helps some of the most vulnerable people move off the streets and toward self-sufficiency. To learn more, visit http://www.houseofcharity.org.

Community Housing Development Corporation (CHDC) has provided stability to Minnesota residents and communities for more than 25 years as a nonprofit developer and is the owner of 44 properties with more than 4,000 affordable units.