Settled—the extremely-affordable-housing "community-first" initiative for people experiencing homelessness—finished its first full year of operational support from the Pohlad Foundation, after initial funding from the McKnight Foundation and Julia Dayton. MDC project lead Gabrielle Clowdus and her colleague, Anne Franz, leveraged the Pohlad funding to generate 12 times that amount in other cash and in-kind contributions.
READ MORE
The standard approach to homelessness is called Housing First: “providing four walls and a roof” and offering professional services. This approach falls short because the problem of homelessness is not a lack of housing and professional help alone, but just as critically, a lack of integration into a supportive and nurturing community. A Community First approach is an alternative that focuses not only on providing shelter, but on meeting relational and social needs in a holistic way. Settled adopts this approach and has built its first, prototype tiny home. The project is now in the process of developing its first Sacred Settlement with a faith community in the east metro.