Supporting Unhoused Neighbors

The role of mutual aid in the housing crisis

By Marley Richmond, Jemma Keleher, and Sydni Rose

The Local Emergency Grows

Homelessness isn’t a new crisis in the Twin Cities or beyond. The conversation around aiding and housing those without a stable roof over their heads has been an urgent one. But with the onset of frigid Minnesota temperatures and a pandemic that has yet to be controlled, the urgency has only risen. In response, mutual aid organizations have taken to Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to increase awareness and combat the growing issue of homelessness.

Within the last five years, the number of people living in the Twin Cities without shelter has increased fivefold. According to a study by Wilder Research, more than 19,000 people across the state of Minnesota experienced homelessness on any given night in 2018, and over the course of the year, more than 50,000 people experienced homelessness.

A foundational reason behind the homelessness crisis is a severe lack of affordable housing. To add to that problem, many homeless shelters are now requiring overnight or monthly fees due to cuts in funding and a rise in demand. And when winter arrives, so do deathly low temperatures. The global crisis of Covid-19 has also resulted in shuttered public areas and a decreased number of open beds to those in need. 

There are even hoops to jump through when applying for Section 8 housing, through which the applicant receives assistance in paying their rent. In order to qualify, the applicant must meet the definition of a family, report their income level, be an American citizen or have eligible immigrant status, and must report their eviction history which can cause ineligibility. 

“When we think about the housing crisis, we need to realize that it’s driven by socio-economic injustices and disparities that have been systemic since the founding of this country,” said Sean Lim of St. Paul Camps Support. Racial inequalities compound the socio-economic gap that plays into homelessness. In the Twin Cities, BIPOC make up less than 15% of the population, but account for 65% of those experiencing homelessness.

“We’re no longer asking for your help. We’re demanding you do something,” said Alexis Kramer of Freedom from the Streets in response to the crisis.

Collective Aid Organizations

Racial discrimination was a factor in Kramer’s own experience with homelessness and her decision to fight for others in similar situations. Kramer’s children were removed from her care “mostly because of the color of my skin,” she said, and her fight to regain custody of her children left her unheard and unhoused. 

“I was in different hotels, I was jumping [from] shelter to shelter when I was homeless,” Kramer said. She was on a waiting list for permanent shelter for months. This slow timeline is common and unacceptable, leaving folks without homes for too long, especially if they do not meet shelter requirements.

Because of this experience, Kramer joined Freedom from the Streets, a mutual aid organization that helped her find her voice. “I’m going back to school to be a child protection attorney for parents that are low income,” she said. Uplifting the voices of people experiencing homelessness is a key role of mutual aid organizations. 

Like Kramer, Lim is involved with mutual aid to support folks experiencing homelessness. “I think that ever since the uprisings [last summer], you've seen all of these people suddenly get interested in practicing mutual aid and just helping ensure that their neighbors have what they need to survive,” Lim said. St. Paul Camps Support carries on this work by forming relationships with unhoused folks, crowdsourcing necessary supplies, and protecting encampments. 

Such communities become centralized places for aid organizations to reach and support folks. “There’s a sense of community [in encampments], right?” Lim said. “When you evict a camp, you are really dispersing people in a way that takes them away from their friends who have become their family.” 

Mutual aid relies on an even larger network of practitioners, though. “We help facilitate, but on the other side of it, it’s just ordinary people like you and me who are buying some Gatorade or other constant needs at Target and bringing it to our hub,” Lim said. Anyone can get involved at whatever level is accessible to them.

Independent Individual Attention

Sites like Twitter and Instagram have been vital to efforts to support those experiencing homelessness. Mahad Omar, a recent graduate of the University of Minnesota, harnessed this power to take on his own mutual aid initiative. In January, Omar began collecting donations for survival backpacks—kits with warm clothes, blankets, food, toiletries, and more—for community members experiencing homelessness.

In two days, Omar raised over $3,000, and the donations haven’t stopped. In early February, Omar (with help from St. Paul Camps Support) packed 120 backpacks and has the funds to double that amount in the coming weeks. 

“Mutual aid is powerful,” Omar said. “All it takes is a motivated person who sees an issue and wants to solve the issue… the community will see to it that they can support them in any way they can.”

Lani Hardwig, a young resident of St. Paul, also joins the fight against homelessness by dedicating her Instagram to mutual aid. “A lot of people don’t want to ask for help, so it’s important to reach out and offer it. I went through a similar situation when I was in high school, but my mom was too ashamed to ask for help, so I suffered.”

Hardwig facilitates mutual aid because they believe it is one of the most straightforward ways to help. “Mutual aid is super transparent. Me and my friends post where [the funds are] going, that the person has received it, and what it’s for. It goes directly to that person.”

Now that Hardwig has the means to do so, she focuses her attention on helping people of minority identities. “A lot of times when it comes to organized community help and gathering, white people and lighter skinned BIPOC people are prioritized. That is so dangerous.” 

“One of my friends was helping out a black mother of five. She was on the street begging for help, and tons of people just walked by her.” Hardwig notes that many people deem themselves anti-racist after the murder of George Floyd but still turn a blind eye. “It really speaks to how people will speak for a black person once they’re dead, but not while they’re alive.”

Hardwig also explained that donations to mutual aid funds rose alongside the subsequent summer of outrage that followed Floyd’s murder. “Not a lot of people donated to mutual aid [before]. It wasn’t something that people reposted or spread around. More people are aware of their whiteness and their privileges, and what they can do to help.” 

But as outrage from white people dies down, so do donations. “Are you really an ally if you’re clicking through these things where people are begging for help?” Hardwig expressed the importance of donation as a recurring act, as need in the Twin Cities community persists in face of a harsh winter.

Housing is a Human Right

Everyone is deserving of a safe and secure shelter, regardless of their past or present. Basic studies in psychology prove that humans have essential needs for survival: food, water, warmth and rest. Having a home is integral to fulfilling those needs. 

It’s clear in the numbers—with almost 600,000 people homeless across the nation—that housing has not been prioritized as a basic human right, and that reflects as a failure of society. While mutual aid work is a vital response to the housing crisis, it cannot address all community needs, “A home's guarantee is the cure: the notion that housing is a basic human right,” said Lim. “A warm safe, secure, clean and stable place to call home is a fundamental human right.”