Supportive Housing Strategy

About the Program

Category: Planning (Best in Category)

Year: 2020

In 2019, Hennepin County initiated a new supportive housing strategy to encourage development of affordable housing with supports for our most vulnerable residents through more intentional and proactive county investment. The county identifies housing gaps, recruits and partners with supportive housing developers and providers, and provides early-in funding for projects that serve the priority population: households who have both extremely low incomes and:•Need for significant assistance to live independently•A disabling condition increasing health safety risks if unhoused•No other access to existing supportive services.Request for Proposals (RFP) ask developers to respond to housing priorities and preferences identified by the priority population. A subgroup of participants also reviews and advises on proposals. By January of 2020, Hennepin County had awarded funds to four developments to award $3,840,000 in capital funding and thereby leveraging more than $100 million in federal, state, local, and private funding. These projects will create a total of 323 affordable housing units including 124 units serving the first priority population group: people experiencing chronic homelessness. By strategically investing capital, operating, and service funding (estimated at over $90 million during the next ten years), Hennepin County hopes to support development of 1,000 new supportive housing units.