FACING RISE IN HOMELESSNESS, SUBURBAN FAITH COMMUNITIES TALK SOLUTIONS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
St. Paul, Minnesota, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) November 30, 2011 -- Homelessness is moving to the suburbs of the Twin Cities—but so is a series of conversations focused on how to end it.

Suburban homelessness, both here in Minnesota and across the nation, is gaining prevalence. Numbers from last January’s count of adults and families without housing found increases of 20-40% in some suburban metropolitan counties. A new advocacy project from Hearth Connection is helping faith communities explore the problem and the role they can play in addressing it.

Aiming to educate and empower residents, dialogues with several faith communities in Carver and Dakota Counties are taking place throughout November and early December. Hearth Connection is working with several different churches and congregations to provide members with information, local volunteer opportunities, and an understanding of advocacy and policy to end homelessness.

Hearth Connection, a nonprofit leader in supportive housing for people experiencing long-term homelessness in Minnesota, will be conducting dialogues with faith communities in Burnsville, Hastings, and Waconia. The first event in Dakota County was attended by members of Berean Baptist Church in Burnsville. Vanessa Edwards, Berean Neighborhood Care Director, noted that “We have definitely seen an increase in people in our suburban community dealing with homelessness. The dialogue was beneficial to us in that it opened up a discussion on this growing issue and how we as a church can engage in being part of the solution.” A summary of the community conversations will be produced by Hearth Connection.

The dialogues were designed by Eric Goldfischer, junior at Macalester College and Fellow/intern at Hearth Connection, and Richard Hooks Wayman, Executive Director of Hearth Connection.


ABOUT HEARTH CONNECTION

Hearth Connection is an innovative nonprofit dedicated to ending long-term homelessness in Minnesota. We bring together partners and resources from across the state to offer housing and supportive services to 1,300 families and individuals each year. Grounded in evaluation and best-practices, our collaborative approach breaks the cycle of homelessness for vulnerable Minnesotans and improves outcomes for participants, government, and community partners.

advocacy     faith community     Homelessness     minnesota     nonprofit