South Chapter Update for June 2021 by Renee Pfenning
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
The MICAH South Chapter includes all of Dakota County, which has 587 square miles and just over 400,000 residents. It’s a very diverse county in terms of population and housing needs; with large, dense cities, open areas, and rural and semi-rural communities with sparse populations. Further, there is limited-to-no public transportation options in most of the county, other than community-to-downtown commuter buses to Minneapolis or St. Paul. These elements all complicate solutions for meeting housing needs.
MICAH South community and congregation involvement has been mostly in the south part of the county (Apple Valley, Eagan, Burnsville, and immediately surrounding areas) with less involvement in the northern communities of West and South St. Paul, Inver Grove Heights, and Hastings. The Leadership Team has been considering ways to increase involvement in these communities and will contact elected officials, community leaders, and clergy to explore ways MICAH can partner with them to bring more awareness of housing needs and issues, and assist in ways to find solutions.
AWARENESS EVENTS
Following a very successful Zoom Legislative Breakfast (February 2021), and a Zoom Bus Tour of area facilities and programs in December 2021, the Chapter has decided to do a virtual Bus Tour again in the fall of 2021.
DAKOTA COUNTY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AGENCY PROGRAMS
Housing Resources – Affordable Workforce Housing, Senior Housing & Homebuyer Education
The Dakota County Community Development Agency (CDA) will be opening a new apartment building (Gateway Place) in West St. Paul, October 2021. This project will provide affordable studio and one-bedroom apartments to households earning a modest wage.
All of the CDA’s senior housing waiting lists are currently open. Their Senior Housing Program has 29 properties located throughout the county that provide housing for over 1,700 households.
The CDA hosts a monthly Home Stretch homebuyer education workshop (currently through Zoom) and has dates scheduled through August.
For more information about the CDA’s programs and resources, visit www.dakotacda.org.
PARTNER ORGANIZATION NEWS AND EVENTS
MICAH’s member organization, CATCH (Coalition for Affordable Transitional Community Housing) supports transitional housing owned by CAP (Community Action Partnership) in Dakota Co. These faith communities are coming together to assist tenant households at CAP’s Lakeville location in being able to get out of doors and have some fun together. They’re purchasing a picnic table for this site and have invited the five families living here to join them for a Backyard Barbecue and yard games, prizes, and a good time with neighbors.