Updates

March 25, 2021

We’re hiring!

Urban Homeworks is seeking an upbeat, dynamic, highly organized, detail oriented, eloquent and persuasive individual for grant writing and project management at an exceptionally busy, growing community development organization.

Primary Responsibilities:

  • Responsible for supporting the Development Department in the research, preparation and submission of all proposals and grant applications.
  • Maintain an organized system for tracking ongoing and upcoming grant projects and prospects.
  • Collaborate with program staff to develop project budgets and identify specific objectives and workplans for potential grant-funded projects.
  • Responsible for writing proposals for both unrestricted operating revenue and restricted projects and in submitting timely and accurate reports for all existing grant funded programs/projects.
  • Conduct prospect research for all grants and preparing written profiles of funders.
  • Manage grants budget, calendar, and strategy in partnership with Development Director.
  • Write clear, persuasive, concise grant proposals and meet deadlines for a robust grant schedule.

Specific Responsibilities:

  • Assemble grant requests, including letters, proposals, budgets and presentations
  • Establish and maintain current information, contact and relationships with foundation representatives and program officers
  • Maintain grant calendar to ensure timely submission of letters of inquiry, proposal deadlines and reports (other reporting and management documents as required)
  • Work with Development Director to conduct prospect research – and prepare prospect reports
  • Prioritize projects to keep multiple projects moving in a timely manner, meet deadlines and manage supplemental material required for proposals
  • Work with programs and Development Department to provide current program data, statistics and local statistics for grant content
  • Research data for populations served including needs, trends and other resources in the area
  • Maintain and provide timely reporting data for all grants (progress reports, year-end, financial reporting, data collection from programs and special reports as required)
  • Proofread funding documents
  • Work with Development Director and team to conduct all the duties for grants submissions and maintenance

Qualifications:

  • Committed resolve for the Urban Homeworks mission and values for the communities in which Urban Homeworks is implementing its community development strategies
  • Ability to articulate and support the mission of Urban Homeworks and its programs
  • BA/BS in Non-profit, Communication, related field OR 3-5 years of relevant grant writing experience
  • Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communications skills
  • Proficient in MS Office Suite, Raiser’s Edge, and Excel
  • Ability to meet multiple, concurrent deadlines under pressure
  • Ability to accept and mange fluctuating priorities with a positive and energetic attitude
  • Willing to work some flexible hours, including some weekends and evenings
  • Ability to effectively present Urban Homeworks’ program information and respond to questions from funders and potential donors
  • Enjoy working in a service-oriented, collaborative team environment

 

Click HERE to apply!

March 5, 2021

Important Announcement from Interim Board Chair, Claudia Oxley

March 2, 2021

On behalf of the Urban Homeworks Board of Directors, I am delighted to announce our unanimous appointment of AsaleSol Young as Executive Director.

Our decision reflects our confidence and appreciation for AsaleSol’s leadership, her powerful strategy for the organization the strength of her commitment to our community, and the vision of racial justice and equity that is at the heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Along with the rest of the remarkable UHW team, AsaleSol will continue to passionately pursue excellence in affordable housing and co-creation of avenues for BIPOC wealth building while simultaneously advocating for eliminating structural barriers at the local and state-wide level.

We are excited to continue this journey with AsaleSol!

We also want to thank all of you who have supported us during this transition, expressing your commitment to our shared vision. Now is not the time to ease up or sit back. There are both daunting challenges and tremendous opportunities in 2021. It will take all of us, together, to create the world we long to have realized.

We are excited and delighted to continue this journey with AsaleSol and with you!

 

 

With great appreciation,

Claudia Oxley

Interim Urban Homeworks Board Chair

March 3, 2021

Housing Justice is Racial Justice: The historical impact of racial discrimination on access to housing.

Minnesota has one of the highest homeownership rates in the nation for white folks, while this rate is one of the worst in the nation for Black households.1 This is but one example of how systemic racism persists from the long history of racial discrimination and white supremacy in the United States.  

Housing discrimination dates to the 1930s when communities built racial covenants to reserve land for white people exclusively.2 Maps like the one pictured here were colored based on the racial landscape of major cities in America. Banks and mortgage lenders then used these maps to reject loans for credit-worthy borrowers based on their race or location.3

 

(Credit: Mapping Inequality)

It was not until 1962 when the Minnesota State Legislature ended these discriminatory treaties and 1968 when they became illegal nationwide with The Fair Housing Act. While this was a step in the right direction, it did not repair the damage that had been done in keeping wealth-building tools like real estate from BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) communities. As well, it did not prevent individual lenders and sellers from acting from their own personal biases, which too often still exist today.  

An oversimplified analogy of the historical impact of racial discrimination commonly used is with the game of Monopoly. Imagine playing Monopoly for 400 years, never being able to purchase property or collect $200 when you pass Go. Then one day, those restrictions are lifted, rendering you now “equal” to the other players. The other players who owned all the property and were always able to collect their $200 have built up so much wealth over the years that the rule change did not fix any economic disparity. Not only that, but the generations to follow inherited all the wealth of those players creating generations of economic disparity to come.  

This explains why BIPOC communities have a higher percentage of their populations living under poverty levels than their white counterparts today. Of the total 382,621  individuals who make up the Black population in Minnesota, 26.8% live below that poverty line (2019). For our Indigenous communities, this figure is 30.2% and it sits at 14.9% for Hispanics.3   These are the same communities most likely to become long-term renters who also struggle due to low wages. Inherited housing disparities can result in greater instability when trying to afford monthly rent payments, resulting in evictions and homelessness. A study recently conducted by CURA – The University of Minnesota‘s Center for Urban and Regional Affairs – found that increased rent rates reflect underlying racism. Landlords raise rents at higher rates for African Americans across the Twin Cities than for any other groups.5   

Equity’s Role 

Racial Justice and Housing Justice are inextricably linked. At Urban Homeworks in 2019, 52% of renters and 55% of the people who purchased homes identified themselves as BIPOC.  In our vision of catalyzing powerful people by using equitable housing as a platform to build community, we use equitable housing as a platform to break up disparities by providing safe and affordable homes and integrating people-oriented development (POD). We are passionate about eliminating housing disparities and elevating the voices of BIPOC communities to create solutions from within their neighborhoods. 

In addition to centralizing the community in our work, we are actively working toward becoming an anti-racist organization. We are committed to providing opportunities for our staff, volunteers, supporters, and the broader community to learn how to take ownership over the role we can play in dismantling systems of oppression. One way that we are going to be doing this is through regular emails that prompt you to Take Action. If you would like to be included on our list to receive periodic Take Action emails, please visit this link to sign up.   

TAKE ACTION HERE

Sources: 

  1. Divided decade: how the housing market Changed in the last 10 years –  https://www.apmresearchlab.org/housingcost 
  2. Mapping Prejudice – Mapping Prejudice (umn.edu)
  3. Redlining’s legacy: Maps are gone, but the problem hasn’t disappeared – https://www.cbsnews.com/news/redlining-what-is-history-mike-bloomberg-comments/
  4. A project made possible by MNCompass.org  
  5. “The Illusion of Choice: Evictions and Profit in North Minneapolis” full report | The Illusion of Choice (umn.edu) 

 

February 4, 2021

With Deep Gratitude

Community – what a year!! We kicked off 2020 with big plans to celebrate our 25th anniversary as an organization. But as the coronavirus made its way through our communities, we were forced to shift our celebratory agenda and dig deeper into community relief, sustainability, health, and wellness. Then, the public lynching of George Floyd, a national outcry against racial injustice, and white nationalist terrorism reminded us all that the violent seeds of white supremacy remain in full bloom today.

Internally, we faced tough decisions. We were challenged to meet the moment head-on and make our stance on racial Justice and our fight for housing equity unmistakable and resolute, even when faced with opposition. What would Jesus have done? Jesus, who stated it is harder for the rich to enter his kingdom, Jesus who aggressively confronted the temple priests who cared more for themselves than the people’s health and wellness, Jesus, born an outsider. Jesus’ fight on earth was to ensure that the poor, the marginalized, and the dejected were not forgotten, but deeply and genuinely loved, protected, and cared for: “no need among us.”

There was nothing light or casual about 2020. The year demanded deep and focused attention on the places where our systems fail our wage poor, fail our elders, fail our Black and Indigenous, fail our children, fail the sustainability of this planet. There is sadness in my heart today for the ways too many of us refuse to show up for each other.

Thank you for being a light and for perpetuating hope during such a challenging year.  It is because of you that we can fight on. Look what we accomplished TOGETHER in 2020! Look how our collective light has shown:

  • We set a goal to reach 25 new Stability Makers (monthly donors) in honor of our 25th anniversary. We secured 42 new Stability Makers and increased our monthly revenue by over $2,000 a month.
  • With the shutdowns, residents were losing work and struggling to meet their rent. We had one month to raise $127,000 for rent relief, and we raised a total of $159,100! 
  • In partnership with Broadway Pizza and staff donations, we delivered pizzas to over 140 households to spread some love and let residents know that we were thinking about them.
  • After the murder of George Floyd, local uprisings shuttered essential businesses, and residents struggled to access groceries and other necessities for their families. Hundreds of donations poured into our office that staff distributed almost immediately. 
  • We hosted our first-ever virtual Perpetuate the Hope in August, with a fantastic turnout from our Urban Homeworks family! We were challenged on what equity looks like; we learned from community members and leaders at Urban Homeworks; we heard the organization’s story through the lens of our staff.
  • We raised $155,000 together through the Perpetuate the Hope event! 
  • COVID-19 prevented us from delivering our annual Thanksgiving baskets to each household, so we set a goal to raise $4,500 to purchase Gratitude Gift Cards for each UHW family. You blew our goal out of the water, and we raised $7,660!

In December, community partner Bell Lumber & Pole challenged us to raise $50,000 in new, renewed, or increased gifts to be matched dollar for dollar in one month. You showed up and collectively donated $104,611, exceeding our goal and securing our match of $50,000 for a total of $154,611.

All these incredible highlights were in addition to the ways that you personally show up every year to support our general operations. Whether you donated $5 or $50,000, you helped bring a collective light to an otherwise dark year. Your words of encouragement, often alongside increased donations, engendered hope and kept us moving forward. We only make progress together. We only manifest hope – together.

Thank you for your light. May we shine on in 2021!

 

 

 

AsaleSol Young,

Interim Executive Director

 

 

October 9, 2020

A Message from the Executive Director

For twenty-one years, I’ve had the life-changing gift of filling the role of Executive Director at Urban Homeworks.  My time has come to pass the baton of leadership. The organization is in courageous, competent, and powerful hands.  The team assembled is ready.  The board of directors is engaged.  And now is the right time.

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June 15, 2020

Weekly UHW Update from Jamie McDougall | Senior Accountant

This week we have the opportunity to hear from Jamie as she reflects on 2020 and more specifically on the last few weeks.

2020 has been an overwhelming year, first with the pandemic, and now with the murder of George Floyd. In all the chaos and uncertainty, I believe truth is being exposed.

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