Three well-known Minnesota foundations have teamed up to expand affordable housing access in the state.
The St. Paul & Minnesota Foundation in partnership with the F.R. Bigelow Foundation and Mardag Foundation announced Monday a five-year, $20 million initiative that aims to expand access to safe, stable and affordable housing across the state, according to a news release from the foundation.
The initiative, called Our Home State, will contribute to ongoing efforts by supporting shelters, preventing evictions, investing in community-led solutions and advancing policy innovation that promotes production.
“This fund represents our shared commitment to ensuring that everyone, no matter their income or ZIP code, has access to safe, stable and affordable housing,” said Chanda Smith Baker, the newly-appointed president and CEO of the St. Paul & Minnesota Foundation, in the release.
Early investments into the initiative will be used to focus on eviction prevention, shelter capacity, affordable housing development and “narrative change to influence housing policy and public perception,” per the release.
St. Paul-based chemical company Ecolab also has committed $3 million to Our Home State, bringing the total to $23 million.
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“Our Home State deepens our partnerships with communities that have long been working toward housing stability,” said Erik Takeshita, F. R. Bigelow Foundation board chair, in the release. “We’re aligning resources and power behind community leadership to help ensure every Minnesotan has the dignity of a safe, stable home.”
The St. Paul and Minnesota Foundation, which was led by Eric J. Jolly for the past decade until his retirement, is the largest community foundation in the state and has given out nearly $2 billion since its 1940 inception.
“When people have a place to call home, they have the stability to pursue opportunity, care for their families and contribute to the strength of our region,” Smith Baker said.
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