Beacon Interfaith: Empowering Churches to Build Affordable Housing, Part 2

Part One of this series introduced Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative. Beacon organizes and partners with faith congregations who have a vision to end homelessness and create affordable housing. Part Two walks through the congregational organizing process.

Allison Johnson

Along with her colleague Deb Rodgers, congregational organizer Allison Johnson helps congregations prepare themselves to engage in the full process of housing development through education and empowerment:

• Education: Assisting faith leaders in training members on housing challenges, demographics, and job information, and become equipped to share their learning with others;
• Empowerment: Enabling congregants to develop skills and tools to translate their passion into action – whether engaging their neighborhoods to take part, advocating at the state legislature for more funding, or attending city meetings to build support.

How does the organizing process work?

To launch the process, congregational organizers spend time with top leadership in a faith community, asking questions and exploring the level of commitment to ending homelessness. A big factor is whether or not a congregation is ready to lead publicly on a controversial issue, Allison notes – because creating new affordable housing is almost always controversial at some stage.

Beacon is currently partnering with The House of Hope Presbyterian Church to develop Prior Crossing, which will offer 44 apartments for homeless youth.

The congregation leaders sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Beacon, and recruit a housing task force. Invitations are extended to other leaders (lay and ordained); professionals working in real estate, architecture, construction, social services; and any congregant who’s passionate about ending homelessness through affordable housing.

Once the task force is in place, members team up with Allison to raise awareness about homelessness and affordable housing. They also work with Beacon’s housing development staff to set the project vision and answer critical questions.

Who needs affordable housing the most? What community resources are available at the state/local/city level to meet those needs? What type of housing might gain traction within the community?

“Once a congregation sets parameters around a vision for housing, it has essentially ‘bought in’ for the long haul,” Allison says. “The project is no longer Beacon’s – it’s their own.”

Coming soon: Part Three looks at a crucial organizing step, and how hundreds of people have found new homes as a result of Beacon’s partnerships with congregations.

Photos courtesy of Beacon.

—–

Beacon Interfaith’s story appears on pages 179–181 of Making Housing Happen. You can read an excerpt here, and find more info or purchase the book at the Wipf and Stock website.

Tags: affordable housing, Beacon Interfaith, congregational organizing, ending homelessness, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Twin Cities