Churches United team attends Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless conference
By Melissa Van der Stad
Last week, several members of the Churches United team travelled to Duluth for the annual conference of the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless.
It was a trip filled with learning opportunities for staff!
Throughout the two-day event, attendees from across the state shared personal stories of overcoming hardship, networked with leading professionals, and absorbed solutions-oriented workshop sessions: highlighting what works in a homelessness system that is rapidly expanding to absorb the 18% increase in nationwide homelessness that occurred from 2024 to 2025.
Going into 2027, Alysen Nesse with Momentum Advocacy shared her insights into the upcoming Minnesota Legislative session.
As this is a budget year, she said, it’s more important than ever for the experts on housing and homelessness policy to make their voices heard in the state capital.
Just like in years past, Churches United intends to send a delegation this March to the Homeless Day on the Hill to advise on local housing needs.
Last year, homelessness experts throughout the state worked with the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless to get several key legislative outcomes. Those state-wide outcomes include securing $40 million for family homeless prevention assistance, a total of $20 million to support neighborhood food shelves, and more.
Next year there will be a limited appetite at the state level for new programs, Nesse said, and existing programs can expect some level of scaling or modification as the state budget adjusts to the federal H.R.1 bill.
The event’s keynote speaker was an artist from rural Otter Tail County who spoke to the crowd about the connection between hope and power.
“You need both in the room to enact change,” Nancy XiáoRong Valentine said. She encouraged the room to return to their communities and keep doing good work for their neighbors.
“Hope without power is just wishing,” Valentine said. “Power without hope is exhausting to sustain.”