Minnesota Women’s Press publisher Mikki Morrissette was selected to be part of a small cohort of entrepreneurs being trained in a seven-month “Streetwise MBA” program, funded by Hennepin County, to enhance business models for success. One of the cohort members is Adriane Epps, who recently finished the challenging process of getting approved to develop his first City of Minneapolis affordable housing project. The recent groundbreaking for the property is an example of the work people statewide are doing to try to correct issues that need to be addressed in order to (literally) lay the foundation for healthier communities.
Irene Ruiz-Briseno, of Greater Minnesota Housing Fund (GMHF), is program manager for the Emerging Developers Program, which offers resources to support diverse housing developers statewide as they get access in the industry. As a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (or CDFI), GMHF is providing the construction financing for this East Phillips project.
“Projects like this are especially important at this moment in time,” she said. “Median home sale prices have increased 4.5 percent over the past year, and rising interest rates have decreased buyers’ purchasing power, particularly our low- and moderate-income families. Most typical Minnesotans can’t afford a median price home right now. Affordability is exacerbated by our state’s inventory shortage, which drives up home prices and increases competition. There is a high demand for affordable, single-family homes that is likely to continue well into the future.”
Ruiz-Briseno talked about the significance of this home being built in East Phillips, which was heavily affected by redlining — a discriminatory practice that largely started in the 1930s, in which banks, investors, and local governments declared Black residents as ‘too risky.’ Color-coded maps were used to declare entire neighborhoods as unworthy of investment. The Federal Housing Administration’s Underwriting Manual stated that “incompatible racial groups should not be permitted to live in the same communities.”
The effect was to limit access to homeownership for Black families at a time when white home ownership was booming. “White” neighborhoods had investments of healthy foods, transportation access, and local businesses, leading to greater economic and physical health for generations of families. The effects of this practice still impact communities today. Formerly red-lined areas, like East Phillips, generally remains more segregated and economically disadvantaged. As Ruiz-Briseno put it, “They have lower median household incomes, lower home values, older housing stock — and more cost-burdened renters.”
Ruiz-Briseno grew up in east Saint Paul — also a red-lined community. She said being part of correcting injustices from decades ago, which impacts home ownership today, is a personal passion.
“This is why developers like Adriane are so important — developers who care about revitalizing our inner-city neighborhoods, about promoting equitable development, about creating community resilience. It is hard and frustrating work, as Adriane can tell you, but we have to remove those barriers so that more families can access high-quality, affordable, and sustainable homes, and build generational wealth one house at a time,” she said.
“When our housing developers come from within our communities, they know and they see first-hand the ways in which our housing system leaves our people behind, and those developers are in a unique position to come to the table with innovative solutions and better housing options. This project is a great example of a community-aware project,” said Ruiz-Briseno.
Epps credited GMHF for understanding “that real change happens when you invest in people, and not just projects. … I stand here as living proof that no matter where you start, you can rise. You can turn setbacks into steppingstones. One day, you can stand on a site like this and say, ‘I built that.’”
Read the full story online from the Minnesota Women’s Press.
Photo credit: Minnesota Women’s Press
Why More Minnesotans are Struggling to Find an Affordable Place to Live