People Oriented Development (POD Power)…

The first quarter of 2021 pushed us into new places of growth and strength. While 2020 was a challenging year of reacting to traumatic and confusing events, 2021 has been a time to build on the relationships and trust deepened throughout such a difficult time.
In this first quarter of 2021:
- We hosted two virtual POD meetings with residents, with 23 residents attending (a POD is a group of UHW residents who live within two blocks or less of one another).
- We distributed $250 to three PODs for February community-building activities.
- Four of our residents attended a class hosted by our partner Hope Community to receive support in purchasing a duplex in the community.
We also paid out $125,000 to 70 different Minneapolis residents to help with overdue rent and utilities because of COVID-19 losses. Out of those individuals:
- 50% were UHW residents
- 25% were residents of Al Maa’uun housing (a partner organization we collaborated with)
- 25% were undocumented families who did not qualify for government assistance earlier in the pandemic
We have begun training with 10 of our residents to better organize and leverage power within their community as we work together for equity and justice. The class was a part of the Virtual Housing Justice Forum hosted by Urban Homeworks in partnership with elected officials, community members, and partner organizations on May 20th over Zoom. Visit www.urbanhomeworks.org/hjf to see highlights from the forum.
We’re grateful to directly hear the stories and see the impacts YOUR SUPPORT has in our community, like:
- The person who tears up every time she recounts how UHW helped her after the Drake fire left her and her five kids homeless;
- The family who, upon receiving their rent support check, invited us in and shared stories from the whole family about how COVID impacted them;
- And all the families who are grateful to have a safe home for their children to study and do school work thanks to the support you and our partner NAZ (Northside Achievement Zone) provide.