Five UHW staff members smile for a group photo inside the Capitol Rotunda, some holding signs that say "Start With Home" or "Rent Support Now!"
Temi Ogunrinde speaking into a microphone, testifying at the MN House
Two UHW staff members, 2 UHW residents, and a guest presenter stand together for a group photo, all smiling and holding bags that say "Geico"

Equity & Engagement Updates

This January, Urban Homeworks began doing Restorative Circles with our residents and with our staff. Restorative Circles, sometimes called “Talking Circles” or “Peacemaking Circles”, are an Indigenous creation and practice. Circles can be used for a variety of reasons, but for UHW, our goal is to build and strengthen relationships between residents and to heal harms, increase accountability, embody antiracism, and foster connectivity between staff. We are grateful to work with the Conflict Resolution Center to host these circles and look forward to the growth of both groups over the next few months.

In addition to our Circles, UHW has already had 3 POD meetings this year with our residents! In January we discussed how the state government works, taking a special look at upcoming rent voucher and rent stabilization policies and how they might affect residents; in February we had a special guest from community give a presentation all about renter’s insurance; and this month we are hosting a special watch party of our Housing Justice Forum! It’s been a joy to do this work with our residents!

Attending rallies for Bring It Home, Minnesota, testifying at hearings for important legislation like HB 685, and meeting one-on-one with representatives—the UHW team has been hard at work on policy this year! Of special note, Temi Ogunrinde, UHW’s Equity & Engagement Director, testified at a February hearing of Bring It Home—check out Temi’s portion HERE.

It takes more than $350,000 in donor support to fund and fuel UHW’s Equity and Engagement work each year. Your gifts provide the resources to advocate, empower, and organize our neighbors toward a more equitable future. Though the year has just begun, we are already so proud of what we have done and especially proud of what is to come! 💪

an image of Ravie
a photo of Sadaqah smiling
a photo of Tiffany smiling, she is dressed in a red blazer and blue dress shirt.
an image of Katie Rein smiling

Staff & Board Updates

We are happy to announce that Board Members Rev. Jim Bear Jacobs and Danyika Leonard will be serving as our 2023 Board Co-Chairs. Former Co-Chair Claudia Oxley will be our 2023 Board Secretary and Board Member Lee Schafer will be our 2023 Board Treasurer. We are also welcoming four new members to our 2023 Board! All already deeply connected to UHW and the work, please join us in welcoming Ravie Singh, Sadaqah Jones, Lindsey Hunter, and Tiffany Dykes to the board! 

We also welcome Katie Rein to staff this year, joining our Development and Marketing team as our Development Coordinator! View our full staff and board HERE.

Sound like a team you want to be a part of? We are currently hiring an Asset Manager, learn more and apply HERE! 💼

before and afters of the 3335 Vincent house

Real Estate Updates

Our newest renovation at 3335 Vincent is now listed on the market! If you’d like to learn more about this story or just see the inside of one of our renovated homes, join us at an Open House on Saturday, March 25th. Learn more and register HERE.

We are also excited to share that our newly-built property at 2131 Bryant sold at the end of February! Here’s to building ownership and wealth for one more family in North Minneapolis!

We are equally excited to begin construction on five new passive-certified homes in North Minneapolis this year. These homes will bring incredible energy efficiency and cost savings to their future owner. Our plans for construction have been approved and we plan on breaking ground as soon as it thaws!

UHW has the incredible privilege of matching your dollars, community priorities, and staff expertise to make these home are possible. It takes $120,000 each year, and as we step up into even more developments in 2023, we hope you’ll step up with us. If you’re interested in learning more, contact us or donate here.

General Updates

We are SO excited to share that we have kicked off a rebranding effort with Neka Creative! Taking time to review our mission, vision, values, branding language, and overall appearance, we seek to ensure that the way we discuss our work best reflects the heart of it—our residents, community members, and neighbors. 

Check out our upcoming events HERE.

Check our our past events HERE.