Dakota County Minnesota Churches Opens Their Doors to Homeless

Elevate Christian Network :: News and Events

Monica Nilsson, who has been running a traveling cold-weather crisis shelter at four Dakota County, Minnesota churches for more than a month, had just gotten the good news that she and others were hoping for: Money was donated that will keep the operation running another week.

On Thursday, several Dakota County churches donated about $9,000 to keep it open until Jan. 27, Nilsson said. “Without (the latest funding) people would have been back to sleeping in their cars or at places like bus stations,” said Nilsson, a longtime advocate for the state’s homeless population.

Permanent Shelter for Single Adults

She finds herself on the front lines of the fight against homelessness in Dakota County. In Minnesota’s third-most populous county, shelter space is limited, and the number of people living on the streets is increasing. Last fall, she was contracted by the county to begin work on getting a permanent shelter built for single adults.

But a forecasted stretch of dangerous subzero temperatures in mid-December changed the county’s focus to the short term. County officials put out a call to a coalition of about a dozen churches —  formed more than a year ago to tackle homelessness — and asked whether any of them would be willing to open their doors. Grace Lutheran Church was the first to say yes.

Read the full story…. twincities.com

 

Dakota County, MN Emergency Homeless Shelter (Video)

Homeless Consultant (Video): It shares his experience at a temporary rotating homeless shelter in Dakota County, Minnesota on Christmas Eve 2016. It is a continuation of his video “Near Death Experience,” and will be followed by another video that discusses what it is like to get to know so many other homeless people in a safe shelter, only to be sent back into the cold, alone, all over again, due to almost total apathy and lack of community/government support.

Thank you all from the Homeless Consultant:

“Thank you so much to Monica Nilsson and her staff (and Mary!) for working tirelessly to put all this together. We can’t express our gratitude!

And God bless the wonderful staff and volunteers at Grace Lutheran Church (Apple Valley), Prince of Peace Lutheran Church (Burnsville), and Spirit of Life Presbyterian Church (Apple Valley) for answering the call to provide emergency shelter, for providing so much generous support and sincere concern, and for helping us all to experience a relatively “normal” life again, however briefly. We can’t thank you enough! You all went so far beyond the call of duty, we were speechless.

Thank you also to the Burnsville, Eagan, Apple Valley and Lakeville police departments, for your kind support of this temporary shelter, and for empathizing with the unique needs of the homeless. We’re all very proud of you.”

 

• For the latest updates and information, visit them online at: http://graceofav.org

 

Social Media Comments:

David and his wife ended up homeless going from shelter to shelter. https://t.co/oHeVOtuwxK

— Invisible People (@invisiblepeople) January 20, 2017

 

More resources:

Homeless youth hide in plain sight – The Southerner Huseby explained “There’s only one hundred and twenty beds available for homeless youth in Minneapolis.” It is rare for homeless youth to have a place to stay even if it’s just for one night. This is not just a problem that Minnesota is facing but also …

 

 

Homeless are among us and so are caregivers – SW News Media … example is an organization called Families Moving Forward, a Minneapolis-based program that expanded to Scott and Carver counties in 2014. Program volunteers create shelters within congregation spaces, mostly churches, and house homeless families …

 

Metro Transit tries new ways to handle sleepers on trains, buses – Minneapolis Star Tribune Many homeless people tend to congregate on the trains at night — after commuters have come and gone. The Green Line, which links the downtowns of Minneapolis and St. Paul, runs all night and has an average weekday ridership of 43,642. The older Blue …

 

St. Paul’s new shelter will be more than just a place to sleep when it opens in January – TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press TwinCities.comWhen it opens in January, Higher Ground St. Paul will give more than 450 homeless people a dignified place to sleep each night and, its designers hope, a way out of homelessness. The new, L-shaped shelter in downtown St. … Higher Ground St. Paul will …

 

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