As federal and state funds to city and county governments continue to shrink, Minnesotans are given a challenge, and an opportunity, to ensure family and community stability across the state. Local leaders are finding it increasingly difficult to execute critical services. The May 22nd tornado in North Minneapolis has left neighborhoods with the financial burden to reconstruct from catastrophic storm damage, foreclosed and boarded properties, and manage an overwhelming amount of displaced families and children.
Warren Hanson, President and CEO of The Greater Minnesota Housing Fund—a member of MFPC—is optimistic that we can turn the natural disaster in North Minneapolis into an opportunity to rebuild communities in the area. The Greater Minnesota Housing Fund addresses the urgent need for decent, affordable housing. “This is the time for neighborhood revitalization and investment in quality, affordable housing. We have a statewide crisis and an obligation to deter further neighborhood decline,” Hanson says.
Vacant and run-down buildings only continue to decrease property values in neighborhoods across the state. Housing authorities agree that preventing foreclosure on family, individual, and retail properties is the single best return on investments we can make to mitigate this national trauma’s effect on Minnesota families. Once a property is foreclosed, the cost to society is so much greater.
The Family Housing Fund is a service for low- and moderate-income families and individuals to become homeowners or find affordable rental housing. They work to fill vacant homes and bring new life to struggling neighborhoods. The organization’s President, Tom Fulton, maintains urgency in supporting government officials who actively invest in neighborhood reconstruction and in foreclosure prevention. “Actions against homelessness, and renovating neighborhoods, can happen when we support elected officials who actually care about the people they represent,” he says.
It is also critical to confront predatory lenders, take innovative and collaborative action to change policies, common practices, and the distribution of resources. MFPC believes in consumer education on ‘Pre-Purchase Foreclosure Prevention’ financial-assistance programs; such as home ownership training, pre-purchase counseling, foreclosure prevention counseling and products. Local partnerships between community-based redevelopment entities and the mortgage industry can create financial mechanisms to assist distressed homeowners and their neighborhood.
Public and private sectors must continue to combat the foreclosure crisis and continue to rebuild communities statewide. St. Paul Deputy Mayor Paul Williams says that he “appreciates this partnership of people coming together. Minnesota tends to do things better than everyone else, but we still have a lot of work to do. I thank families who buy renovated homes, because they are making a market investment in their neighborhoods”.
Mary Tingerthal, the Commissioner of Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, stresses the importance of preventing every single foreclosure possible. “[Mitigation] is the most cost-effective way to protect neighborhoods, families, and to preventing vacant buildings. We are beginning to see a different Frogtown— and North Minneapolis until the tornado. It’s easy to leave yesterday’s crisis behind…but it is not over yet,” she says. Minnesota Housing also finances affordable housing opportunities for low- and moderate-income Minnesotans to enhance the quality of life for all and to foster strong communities.
St. Paul City Council Member Melvin Carter (Frogtown) is very excited to see renovations being done to foreclosed homes and vacant buildings in his own neighborhood. “I’ve had to shovel snow, mow the grass, and deal with vacant property ‘squatters’. We’re seeing a renaissance of neighborhoods truly becoming a community.”
Since government officials tend to live in the neighborhoods they represent, they are usually the most responsive in identifying foreclosures issues and in implementing remediation-related efforts since they live in the community they represent. They are also a citizen’s first contact with the government because they can provide residents with information on the availability of local homeownership counseling and legal assistance services. “For every foreclosure prevented, we’re not just talking about the family that gets to stay. It’s the business it creates for construction companies and the neighborhoods who get to keep their neighbors,” Carter says.
The crisis is not over and the longer we wait to start fixing the problem, the more difficult it is to have a successful outcome. Ed Nelson, Spokesman of the Minnesota Home Ownership Center encourages families and individuals who are having mortgage trouble to seek help as soon as possible. “We are doing all we can to prevent foreclosures and to invest in neighborhood recovery, but there are still a number of homes we’re not able to save,” he says.
For more information on how you can help with constructive recovery in your neighborhood, visit the Minnesota Foreclosure Partners Council’s website, www.mnforeclosurerecovery.org. Homeowners with questions can call the Minnesota Home Ownership Center at (651) 659-9336.
