“Affordable housing is something we are really in dire need of,” said Reid. “And that’s been across the metro and across the state.”
A new report from Prosperity’s Front Door shows that homelessness is up 10 percent in Minnesota since 2018, and the state has lost 50,000 affordably priced rental homes since 2013.
At the same time vacancy rates for apartments with rents below one thousand dollars are effectively zero percent in the metro area.
These factors are leading more families to double up. This can mean two families sharing a home, or someone living with family, friends, or other non-relatives.Reid says this is primarily how homeless looks in Anoka County. The county works with federal grants and developers to get more affordable housing in the area, and is also working to find ways to keep people in their homes.
“Anoka County has taken the best practices from Hennepin and Ramsey to create our housing law clinic. So every Monday and Wednesday there are opportunities for tenants and landlords who may be in dispute, and may have an eviction already filed come to get some resolution and some mediation to hopefully avoid the eviction in the first place,” said Reid.
The county is also finding ways to work with people who live outdoors. At a recent homelessness outreach event at Northtown Mall, Reid’s office, along with the Blaine Police Department, and several local organizations involved with the Heading Home Anoka Housing Collaborative, were able to provide services, including food, health care, vaccinations and referrals to 77 people identified as homeless.
“Homelessness and housing, they’re community issues, and we have to be able to walk together to impact that,” said Reid.
