Simpson Housing Services receives $2.5 million in federal funding to build new shelter
Agency reaches final phase of $45 million fundraising campaign goal
JANUARY 18, 2023—MINNEAPOLIS, MN: Simpson Housing Services is thrilled to announce $2.5 million in federal, congressionally directed funding toward the new Simpson Community Shelter and Apartments. Thanks to the efforts of Representative Ilhan Omar, Senators Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar, and numerous partners, Simpson has reached the final phase of its $45 million Build-Up Campaign goal for the project.
The Build-Up Campaign is Simpson’s largest fundraising campaign in its 40 years of service. The Campaign supports a reimagined shelter and housing facility, new program and administration space, and funding for sustainability.
Simpson Community Shelter and Apartments is designed to be a dignified, welcoming space that meets the short-term housing needs of shelter guests and improves housing placements. The facility will have 70 shelter beds, 42 units of deeply affordable housing, and extensive on-site services, including a healthcare clinic, on the original site of the Simpson Shelter at 2740 1st Avenue South in Minneapolis’s Whittier Neighborhood.
This funding from the 2023 Omnibus Appropriations Bill comes at a key time for the Build-Up Campaign. Simpson has raised $32 million to date and remains on track to raise the remaining $13 million. Simpson Housing Services is grateful for all the government and community partners who were instrumental in securing the $2.5 million federal funding award, including the following:
Representative Ilhan Omar, Senators Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar, State Senator Aisha Gomez, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Minneapolis City Council President Andrea Jenkins, Minneapolis City Councilmember Aisha Chughtai, Project for Pride in Living, Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless, and Whittier Alliance.
“We are deeply grateful to Representative Omar and to the full Minnesota congressional delegation that supported this award,” says Executive Director Steve Horsfield. “Each of these significant investments in our project is an endorsement of the model that we’re pursuing. Shelters that are easy to access with rich services on site are our strongest resource in resolving homelessness, one person at a time.”
Last week, shelter operations were relocated from Simpson United Methodist Church to Zion Lutheran Church at 128 West 3rd Street in Minneapolis’s Lyndale neighborhood, a mile from the original shelter site. The shelter will continue to operate without gaps in services while construction is underway. Groundbreaking is expected in summer 2023.
For more information on the Simpson Community Shelter and Apartments and our funding partners, visit the Build-Up Campaign page. To donate to the campaign, click here.
Media Contact
Elisabeth Loeffler, Director of Advancement and Communications
(612) 210-2343 | eloeffler@simpsonhousing.org