Housing Navigator makes an impact in Greater Minnesota
A Place for You is the only homeless shelter for individual men and women in the 150-mile stretch between the Twin Cities and Duluth. This year, they are thankful to have a member of Heading Home Corps on their team for the first time.
Member Danni grew up in Pine City, where A Place for You (APFY) is located. After temporarily moving away, she returned to her hometown and searched for a career that would allow her to fulfill her passion for helping others. Serving as a Housing Resource Navigator has proven to be the perfect fit for her.
"I love the team I’m part of,” she says. “There’s not a day that I don’t look forward to coming to work. We have small victories at least once a day, and it’s very clear in the staff that we’re all here for the same reason.”
As a small organization, the added people power Danni provides is essential to serving clients and supporting them as they work toward achieving their goals. Mathew Viney, executive director of APFY, has served in several roles in his five years at the organization and has seen how Danni’s work has impacted it. “I was so excited when we had the opportunity to get Danni,” he says. “It took a huge burden off.”
Every day, Danni works closely with Michelle, the current shelter manager and mental health practitioner. They call themselves “the dream team” for their collaboration and problem-solving. While Michelle specializes in mental health and helping clients access county services, Danni provides support for finding and securing stable housing. She also works to find new resources and update the database at APFY with every new finding. “I don’t know how I could give the clients the care and attention they deserve without Danni’s role,” says Michelle.
“I feel like people don't expect it to be a full-time job, but there is so much to be learned about housing and trying to work towards overcoming barriers that any client may face,” notes Danni. “It's important to have someone so focused on housing because for most of my clients, it's their full-time job on top of the crisis they may currently be in, so me stepping in to assist in this aspect of it takes a huge load off."
APFY houses four men and five women in their 90-day program with two additional overnight spots reserved for emergencies. Because shelters are so sparse in their location, their beds are rarely open for even a day. This demand makes Danni’s work even more essential.
“Stepping into this role, it was the most amazing feeling being supported by everyone,” said Danni. “If I feel like I’m at a dead end, everyone’s willing to help in any way they can. It’s a very team-driven effort.”
The support comes from not only the staff at APFY, but also the greater Pine City community. “It’s pretty amazing,” says Michelle. “We have meals brought in probably four days out of the week. What we lack in social service access we make up in community.”
Overall, Danni's service is helping APFY build capacity and serve people in greater Minnesota. “It’s something that has to be done,” says Mathew. “It’s a great fit.”
Heading Home Corps locations
Of the 45 sites who partnered with Heading Home Corps in the 2022-2023 term, ten are located outside of the seven-county Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area, including A Place for You. Over 60 Housing Resource Navigators, 14 of which are located in greater Minnesota, are still needed to ensure all Minnesotans have a safe place to call home this winter. If you or someone you know are interested in increasing capacity at these sites visit Ampact.US/Heading-Home to learn more and apply by December 14, 2022.