Minneapolis – Glendale Townhomes residents packed the Prospect Park United Methodist Church Tuesday, June 11, to hear the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority explain their plans for development and the privatization of the longest-standing section 9 public housing community in Minneapolis. Glendale residents voiced their opposition and explained their concerns at the meeting.
“We want to keep our housing public housing,’ said Kaaha Kaahiye, a resident of Glendale and an organizer with Defend Glendale, which was founded in 2014 to prevent the demolition of Glendale. “We want the same protections that public housing has.”
Defend Glendale voiced their opposition to MPHA’s plan to privatize public housing through the section 18 and Rental Assistance Demonstration programs. Section 18 and RAD were developed or modified by previous administrations, under Presidents Donald Trump, Joe Biden and Barack Obama. These programs are designed to provide a pathway to the conversion of section 9 public housing to section 8 privatized housing.
The conversions are appealing to investors because of the large amount of tax credits on offer from HUD for landlords who want to develop affordable housing. Investors can buy and sell these credits or use them to offset investment losses.
Due to a rule change at the end of 2024, public housing authorities are now able to convert more than 90 percent of their properties to section 8 through the section 18 and RAD blend. The two programs together qualify a larger amount of section 9 public housing properties for conversion than ever before.
Abdi Warsame, executive director and CEO of MPHA, said the lack of available funding for section 9 public housing drove the agency to pursue the privatization of properties because of the expanded subsidies and funding available for section 8. “The City of Minneapolis is not giving money to MPHA,” he said. “The state is not giving money to MPHA. And the money we give, we beg, we go and they give us very little.”
Noah Wexler, a volunteer academic researcher with Defend Glendale, disagreed with Warsame about state funding. Wexler noted that the Publicly Owned Housing Program, a program developed by the state legislature to provide funding specifically for public housing, was not taken full advantage of by MPHA. “POHP is a massive source of state funding,” he said. “It is a forgivable loan. This is literally free money. It can only be used for section 9 public housing, not for section 8.”
Warsame said the funds available through the POHP funding are insufficient to take care of MPHA’s $22 million capital backlog for repairs, renovations and upkeep. “We get 10 cents for every dollar we receive for our capital backlog,” he said.
Wexler said, “For every property you convert to section 8, you’re sacrificing the ability to use state funds. The point is that you have a tool at your disposal that can be used to rehabilitate section 9 housing and you’re shooting yourself in the foot.”
The data according to the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency show that out of the $107.65 million in funding gathered by the agency since 2020, MPHA only applied for $16.1 million. The total funding approved for the MPHA was $11.7 million. The MPHA did not request funding that was adequate enough to cover their $22 million backlog.
“We get more money on the section 8 platform because the section 8 platform has millions of landlords that benefit from it,” Warsame said. “And those landlords call their congressmen. So it always gets funded.”
Tracy Williams, a resident of Glendale, said, “They want investors to take this money so they can go section 8. This is what everyone is doing.”
With potential renovations comes potential displacement. Glendale residents voiced their concerns about the renovation options the MPHA is considering. The MPHA is deciding whether they will only renovate the property, renovate and add housing on available land, or demolish the entire community altogether and rebuild it into something modern.
“We opposed that from day one,” said an elder Oromo resident of 25 years through an interpreter, “and we will continue to oppose it. Even though we are very diverse and we come from different backgrounds, our families see one another as one family. You are displacing us. You are making us refugees again.”
“HUD does not track how many people come back from RAD conversions,” Kaahiye said. She cited a report by the Government Accountability Office that showed that HUD lacks the necessary procedures to track residents returning from RAD conversions. “Rad has shown that it doesn’t work. We say let’s find a different option. This is not what Glendale residents want.”
Marcus Jacocks, a 5-year resident, was homeless before being placed in Glendale. On the streets he faced violence and racism. After moving to Glendale, he finally felt at ease. “I love this area,” he said, “and I feel safe here.”
Jacocks was placed in a one-bedroom apartment and lived there for years until the day a roofing crew had an accident and a man nearly fell through his bedroom ceiling, poking a foot through. Jacocks said he was then moved to a two-bedroom temporarily while his unit was fixed. When the repairs were finally done, the new property manager moved a tenant into his old unit. Jacocks was then told that he didn’t fit the occupancy for the two-bedroom he was assigned. Through no fault of his own, Jacocks is now being moved into a tower and being forced to leave the one place he has felt safe in years.
“I am being relocated but I have one option,” Jacocks said. “If I don’t take that option, they boot me off the list. From clearly seeing the demolition of affordable housing in quite a few cities, these people don’t return. They just don’t return.”
Ladan Yusuf, founding member of Defend Glendale, said Glendale is keeping the vacant units on the property unoccupied. The property manager informed her they aren’t moving anybody in. One of the available one-bedrooms could accommodate Jacocks, but he is not being relocated there. “Marcus should be in Glendale but they’re going to push him out,” she said. “They’re evicting him now on a policy that is so outrageous. What they want to do, no matter the cost, is move us out.”
Christy Jackson, a 17-year resident of a section 9 unit converted to section 8, faced multiple eviction notices after being severely injured in a car accident and after suffering the loss of her brother in April. She said the MPHA repeatedly requested her to come in and speak with them despite her injuries. Her rent went up and fees were added with no explanation. Jackson said her rent increased from $600 to $2400 per month after MPHA pulled her subsidy. She said she had the choice to sign the new lease or face eviction. Despite being in contact with staff within the MPHA to appeal her case, nothing has been done.
“Over the last 17 years I have experienced what it feels like to be ignored,” Jackson said. She listed multiple repairs that went unfixed for years, and when staff finally addressed her problems the work was substandard. “The things that should have been repaired properly were covered up, nailed down, or painted over. I deserve a home that is safe, healthy and properly maintained.”
Yusuf said Glendale has no shortage of vacant homes, and they continue to be unoccupied despite a waiting list so long it can take years to be placed. “Why have you not filled these homes when there’s a long waiting list?” she said.
MPHA Director of Planning and Development Laura Dykema said, “That is because we are holding units vacant to be able to accommodate as much on-site relocation for existing residents once we do advance a project.”. When asked whether the MPHA had secured funding for the project, Dykema admitted they had not.
Because of the vacancies, Williams wanted her and her son, who had just turned 18 and had become eligible for housing of his own, to move into separate one-bedroom units. The manager explained that it couldn’t happen. “They told us they couldn’t do that until after they decide what they’re going to do.”
“I want accountability and change,” Jackson said. “And I want Minneapolis Housing [MPHA] to listen to its residents, communicate honestly, respond to concerns in a timely manner and treat every resident with fairness and respect.”
“After 17 years I believe that myself and hundreds of others deserve a stronger voice in the decisions that affect our homes and our lives,” Jackson said.
Dick Kain, a Prospect Park resident, shared the same concern for his neighbors. “This meeting has sounded to me like we’re fighting a monolith,” he said. “We don’t know who they report to, and who we can complain to about them. Somebody should be holding them accountable.”
Many left the meeting with more questions than answers. “There’s nobody moving in,” Jacocks said. “And there’s too many families that have to go. And there ain’t no money on the table. What is going on?”